Industrial Accidents and Environmental Pollution
Industrial Accidents: the Department for Business, Enterprise and
Regulatory Reform (DBERR) [External website] is the
lead department for England and Wales, with the Scottish
Executive [External website] and Northern
Ireland Executive [External website].
Pollution on the land is managed by Defra
[External website] working with the Environment
Agency [External website] and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency
(SEPA) [External website] in Scotland and the Department for
Environment, Planning and Countryside [External
website] in Wales.
Pollution from vessels and offshore installations is managed in the UK by
Counter Pollution Branch of Department for
Transport's Maritime & Coastguard Agency [External
website]. In Scotland it is as for UK but with SEPA [External
website] involvement.
Site Clearance is the responsibility of the Department for
Communities and Local Government (DCLG) [External
website].
See the CBRN
pages for further details on Chemical, Biological, Radiological and
Nuclear incidents.
On this page:
The Level of Risk
The UK has one of the most sophisticated regimes for maintaining industrial
safety and tackling pollution, building on a strong track record which
dates back to the nineteenth century.
The UK's record is already commendable, with fatal accidents reduced by
over two thirds since the introduction of the landmark Health and Safety at
Work etc Act in 1974. And rivers and bathing waters are the cleanest on
record thanks to years of investment by industry. Clearly hazards remain
however, and everyone in the workplace has a responsibility to identify
them and take steps to mitigate the risks as far as possible.
On the basis of historical data and statistical analysis, the Government
assesses that it is both reasonable and sensible to plan for a variety of
different industrial accidents and environmental pollution hazards.
The key hazards involve fire or explosion in our petrochemical (gas and oil
- including pipelines, storage, refineries and platforms) industry;
releases of toxic chemicals, radioactive material (from a nuclear reactor
accident or an accidental release from incorrectly handled or disposed of
sources) and a controlled biological substance; a major contamination
incident with widespread implications for the food chain; maritime
pollution (a major crude oil spillage and a more localised pollution
incident in controlled waters); a major land contamination incident (i.e.
as a result of a chemical spillage); a major air quality incident and an
industrial explosion.
Examples
The table below shows some examples of the specific risks which are
assessed as part of the national risk assessment framework. The framework
applies locally, regionally, in the devolved administrations and at the UK
level. Details of the framework and risk assessment methodology can be
found in the risk section of
this site.
Risk Evaluation
|
Type of Risk
|
Risk Categories
|
Outcome Description for Planning Purposes
|
|
Hazard
|
Fire or explosion at a gas terminal or involving a gas pipeline
|
Up to 3km around site causing up to 10 fatalities and 100 casualties.
|
|
Hazard
|
Fire or explosion at an onshore fuel pipeline
|
Up to 1km around site causing up to 100 fatalities and up to 500
casualties. Explosions would cause primarily crush / cuts &
bruises type injuries, as well as burns - fires would cause
predominantly burn-type injuries.
|
|
Hazard
|
Industrial accident involving toxic release
|
Up to 1km from site causing up to 10 fatalities and up to 100
casualties.
|
|
Hazard
|
Maritime Pollution
|
Spillage of up to 100,000 tonnes of crude oil into the sea, polluting
up to 200km of coastline. Potentially significant damage to amenity
value (i.e. tourism), agriculture/commerce and aquatic ecosystem.
|
Key Guidance Documents
-
DBERR -
Downstream Oil Emergency Response Plan [External
website] The Downstream Oil Emergency Response Plan identifies
how the resources of the downstream oil industry and the Government can
be used in an emergency. The DBERR conducted a command and control
exercise, known as Exercise Gemini, with Defra and
representatives of the oil and the food supply industries on May 10th in
order to test and strengthen business continuity processes.
("Downstream" means the supply of oil products after they leave
the refineries to their use by consumers.)
-
National Chemical Emergency
Centre [External website] - UK's 24-hour
response centre, with clear, impartial advice for chemical
health-and-safety compliance and for emergencies
-
HAZCHEM
UK [External website] - information for emergency
services
Further Links
-
MOD: Directorate of Safety
& Claims - Nuclear Accident Response [External
website] The Ministry of Defence maintains a Nuclear Accident
Response Organisation (NARO) to deal with the consequences of any
accident (including one arising through terrorist acts) affecting the UK,
or Overseas Territories, involving nuclear weapons, special nuclear
materials, nuclear facilities or naval reactors.
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