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.