General health and safety legislation in the UK is set in the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 which places general duties on employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of their employees and others who might be affected by their work.
The Act is supported by the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (1999) which requires employers to carry out risk assessments to identify measures that can be implemented to prevent accidents and protect people against accidents.
Onshore regulatory regime
The onshore regulatory regime is based around the Control of Major Accident Hazard Regulations (COMAH) 2005 which implements the Seveso II Directive. The aim of the COMAH Regulations is to prevent major accidents involving dangerous substances and limit the consequences of any which do occur.
The COMAH regulations specify 2 classification thresholds for substances namely a lower-tier threshold and a top-tier threshold. The most important duty on establishments which fall under the lower-tier regime is preparation of a Major Accident Prevention Policy (MAPP).
Top-tier establishments are required to submit a written safety report. The information in the safety report should include:
· Information on management system and organisation of the establishment to prevent major accident
· Presentation of the environment of the establishment
· Description of the installation
· Identification and accidental risks analysis and prevention methods
· Measures of protection and intervention to limit the consequences of an accident.
Other major regulations which have direct relevance to fire and explosion hazard management include the Dangerous Substances and Explosives Atmospheres Regulations (DSEAR) 2002 which implement the European ATEX 137 Directive and the Equipment and Protective Systems (EPS) Intended for Use in Potentially Explosive Atmospheres Regulations which implement the Equipment Directive.