Serious accidents directive: New requirements and implications

On 10th June, an industrial safety conference was held at the offices of Foment del Treball Nacional, where participants were informed about the requirements of new Directive 2012/18/UE, relating to the control of inherent hazards to serious accidents involving hazardous substances, which modify and repeal SEVESO III.

This new law, which introduces changes in the field of application, inspections and public information, not only has implications in the industrial safety field, but also in other areas such as those resulting from civil protection, administrative intervention or environmental responsibility obligations.

Different players interested in the subject took part in the event, enabling the issue to be approached from different perspectives.

The General Office of Civil Protection and Emergencies of the Ministry of the Interior emphasised the most significant differences between new and current legislation, and the perspective of the administration was presented by authorities from the Government of Catalonia and the Office of Unified Environmental Management

 (OGAU) from Barcelona. Representatives of the companies ERCROS, BASF and UQUIFA presented outlined their business point of view with regard to the new directive.

TEMA, the safety and environmental consultancy associated with LITOCLEAN, sponsored the event and also took part by explaining specific implementation cases.