Local Industrial Risks - COMAH Sites

 

Understanding COMAH Sites

COMAH stands for Control of Major Accident Hazards.

It is a set of regulations in the United Kingdom that apply to any establishment storing or handling large quantities of industrial chemicals of a hazardous nature. The regulations are designed to prevent major accidents involving dangerous substances such as Buncefield, and to limit the consequences to people and the environment of any accidents that do occur.

COMAH is enforced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the relevant regional environmental agencies such as the Environment Agency (EA), the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) – working together as the COMAH Competent Authority (CCA)5

There are approximately 950 sites located all across Great Britain which are monitored under The Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 2015 (COMAH)6. The regulations mainly apply to businesses within the chemical industry as well as on land oil/gas refineries.  However, the regulations also apply to many seemingly inconspicuous sites, including those involved in Scotch whisky industry. COMAH sites are split into either the ‘Upper Tier’ or ‘Lower Tier’ COMAH regime, which is dependent on the quantities of material the site processes.

• Upper Tier COMAH sites are those facilities that store, handle, or process significant quantities of hazardous substances, such as oil refiners.
• Lower Tier COMAH sites cover a diverse range of businesses such as logistic and distribution centres, smaller oil terminals, gasholders and some power stations. Although deemed to be less hazardous, poorly managed Lower Tier COMAH sites have the potential to cause serious harm and damage.  

For example, less than a year after the Buncefield fire, in September 2006 a chemical leak caused a fire at a Cotswold factory. The site was used for mixing and packaging swimming pool chemicals. A fireball over 20m high was reported on the site and the building was completely destroyed.

Additionally, the leaking chemicals from the factory and firefighting discharged into the nearby River Coln, causing vast ecosystem damage.  Consequently, the site operators were fined £66,000 for failure to take all measures to prevent the accident and limit the consequences plus pay £80,00 in costs. The factory is now closed and chemicals are not stored on site.

For more detail on COMAH regulations - Please click on the link here

 

The affected Industries and Activities 

COMAH regulations apply to a wide range of industries and activities that involve the handling, storage, and processing of hazardous substances. Dangerous substances covered by the COMAH regulations include named substances such as hydrogen and ammonium nitrate, as well as substances with health hazards (including acute toxics), physical hazards (including explosives and flammable liquids and gases), environmental hazards (acute and chronic hazards to the aquatic environment), and others that react with water (including those that evolve toxic or flammable gases). 

Sectors likely to be designated under COMAH are those which include the following:

• Chemical manufacturing and storage,
• Oil and gas production and storage,
• Petrochemical plants,
• Explosives manufacturing,
• Nuclear power generation,
• Large-scale storage of hazardous or dangerous substance

 

For further information regarding COMAH sites - Please vist The Health & Safty Executives COMAH webpages here