From Compliance to Excellence
Reviewing the Barry Chemical Complex COMAH Offsite Plan
Introductions
New Emergency Planning Unit:Debbie Spargo (Principal Officer)Dominic Mellon (Senior Officer)John Howcroft (Officer)
Why review the plan?
Regulations:Require the plan to be reviewed not
less than once every three yearsRequire the plan to be reviewed in
light of changes to legislation, regulations, operations and lessons learnt from incidents
Why review the plan?
Recent incidentsOffsite alarm sounded three times in
2005Concerns over how the incidents were
handledMulti-agency debriefingDesire to improve arrangements
Whose plan?
Written by Local Authority Written for Barry Chemical Complex
Domino Group Used by Emergency Services and
supporting agencies Regulated by the Competent Authority
(Heath & Safety Executive and Environment Agency)
Who reviews?
Local Authority must review the plan Emergency Planning Unit provides
expertise and resources Planning Group established with key
partners Consultation with stakeholders
including public through Council
How is it reviewed?
Preliminary meeting Review of old plan document Risk Assessment Review of activation and escalation
arrangements GIS! Review of response actions Draft document produced Primary Consultation Secondary Consultation
Preliminary Meeting
Held with key partners Laid out framework for plan review
process Identified key areas for consideration Introduced new team and put faces to
names
Review of old plan
Systematic review of the plan Pro’s & Con’s Best practice Compliance with the regulations Compliance with Civil Contingencies
Act 2004 Pruning!
Risk Assessment
Basis for all emergency planning Requires information from site
operators Considers likely scenarios for
responses Includes socially/environmentally
vulnerable/sensitive areas
Activation & Escalation
What kind of emergency? When to activate the plan? When to sound the alarm? Who responds? How may respond?
GIS!
…where to respond? Geographical Information System Used by Council for Planning etc. Can be used by all agencies Little effort – BIG rewards!
Example map…
Response Actions
‘…right hand knowing what the left hand is doing…’
Drives changes to individual agency updates
Objectives for exercises Landmarks for debriefs
Publication & Consultation
Regulations require…Consultation with respondersConsultation with regulatorsConsultation with public
Primary Consultation with Planning Group
Secondary Consultation with Council
Questions (from me to you)
Is the klaxon sufficient for warning of ‘offsite emergency’?
How important is it for the plan document to be ‘in the public domain’?
Do you feel it is sufficient to consult with the local Council on behalf of the public?
What information about emergency planning would you like to receive in the future?
How would you like emergency advice to be presented/distributed?
Has this presentation been valuable/interesting?
Questions (from you to me)
Any questions? Thank you.