The Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015

PART 5 N.I. INFORMATION

Provision of information to the public N.I.

17.—(1) The competent authority shall make the following information available to the public, including by electronic means, in relation to every establishment—

(a) the name of the operator and the address of the establishment;

(b) confirmation that these Regulations apply to the establishment and that the notification required by regulation 6, and the safety report required by regulation 9, has been sent to the competent authority;

(c) an explanation in simple terms of the activity or activities undertaken at the establishment;

(d) the hazard classification of the relevant dangerous substances involved at the establishment which could give rise to a major accident, with an indication of their principal dangerous characteristics in simple terms;

(e) general information about how the public will be warned, if necessary, and adequate information about the appropriate behaviour in the event of a major accident or an indication of where that information can be accessed electronically;

(f) the date of the last site visit carried out further to a programme for routine inspections under regulation 25(5), and where more detailed information about the inspection and the related inspection plan can be obtained upon request;

(g) details of where further relevant information can be obtained.

(2) In addition to the information in paragraph (1), the competent authority shall make the following information available to the public, including by electronic means, in relation to every upper tier establishment—

(a) general information relating to the nature of the major accident hazards, including their potential consequences on human health and the environment, summary details of the main types of major accident scenarios and the control measures to address them;

(b) confirmation that the operator is required to make adequate arrangements within the establishment, in particular liaison with the emergency services, to deal with major accidents and to minimise their consequences;

(c) appropriate information from the external emergency plan in relation to dealing with any consequences outside the establishment from a major accident, which shall include advice about co-operating with any instructions or requests from the emergency services at the time of an accident;

(d) where applicable, an indication as to whether the establishment is close to the territory of another [F1 country] with the possibility of a major accident with trans-boundary consequences under the Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents M1 .

(3) The competent authority shall ensure that the information in paragraph (1)—

(a) is made available to the public within a reasonable period of time from the date on which the establishment becomes subject to these Regulations; and

(b) is kept updated.

(4) The competent authority shall ensure that the information in paragraph (2)—

(a) is made available to the public within a reasonable period of time from the date on which the establishment becomes an upper tier establishment; and

(b) is kept updated.

(5) The operator of an establishment shall—

(a) provide the competent authority with—

(i) the information specified at paragraph (1)(a) to (e) and, in the case of an upper tier establishment, the information specified at paragraph (2); and

(ii) revisions to that information when it becomes necessary to update it;

(b) comply with any reasonable request for information from the competent authority, within such period specified in the request, in connection with the preparation of information by the competent authority under paragraph (1) or (2).

(6) The competent authority shall specify in advance in writing—

(a) the means by which operators shall provide information under paragraph (5); and

(b) the format in which it shall be provided.

(7) The Environment and Safety Information (Northern Ireland) Order 1993 M2 applies to a notice served under—

(a) regulation 23 (Prohibition of operation) as it applies to a notice served under Article 24 of the 1978 Order; or

(b) Article 23 of the 1978 Order in respect of a contravention of these Regulations,

as if the reference in the second column of the Schedule to the 1993 Order to an enforcing authority as defined in Article 2(2) of the 1978 Order were a reference to the competent authority.

Textual Amendments

F1 Word in reg. 17(2)(d) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Health and Safety (Amendments and Revocation) (EU Exit) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 (S.R. 2020/330), regs. 1(2), 9(2)

Marginal Citations

M1 O.J. No. L326, 3.12.1998, p. 1

M2 S.I. 1993/3159 (N.I. 14)

Provision of information to persons likely to be affected by a major accident at an upper tier establishment N.I.

18.—(1) An operator of an upper tier establishment shall ensure that—

(a) every person who is likely to be in the area referred to in paragraph (2); and

(b) every school, hospital or other area of public use which is in the area referred to in paragraph (2),

is sent in the most appropriate form, without having to request it, clear and intelligible information on safety measures and requisite behaviour in the event of a major accident at the establishment.

(2) The area referred to in paragraph (1), is the area notified to the operator by the competent authority as being the area within which, in the opinion of the competent authority, persons are liable to be affected by a major accident occurring at the establishment.

(3) The information sent under paragraph (1) shall include at least the information required to be made available to the public under regulation 17(1) and (2).

(4) In preparing the information under paragraph (1), the operator shall consult with the Executive.

(5) The operator shall review and, where necessary revise, the information sent under paragraph (1)—

(a) at intervals not exceeding 3 years; or

(b) in the event of any modification of the establishment or an installation which could have significant consequences in terms of major accident hazards.

(6) The information required under paragraph (1) shall be sent to every person and every school, hospital or other area of public use referred to in that paragraph—

(a) if it is revised following a review under paragraph (5); or

(b) otherwise, at intervals not exceeding 5 years.

Provision of information pursuant to a request N.I.

19.—(1) Where an operator is of the opinion that environmental information which it sends to the competent authority under these Regulations should not be made available on request by reason of an exception in regulation 12 or 13 of the 2004 Regulations, the operator shall, when it sends that information to the competent authority, inform the competent authority in writing of its opinion and the reasons for it.

(2) Where it receives a request for environmental information under the 2004 Regulations the competent authority shall, in dealing with that request, take into account any opinion and reasons provided by the operator in accordance with paragraph (1) in relation to that information.

(3) In this regulation—

(a) “the 2004 Regulations” means the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 M3 ; and

(b) “environmental information” has the meaning, in the case of information sent to the Executive or the Department of the Environment, given by regulation 2(1) of the 2004 Regulations.

Marginal Citations

M3 S.I. 2004/3391, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations

Trans-boundary consequences N.I.

20.—(1) Where an upper tier establishment presents a major accident hazard with possible trans-boundary consequences the competent authority shall provide sufficient information to the potentially affected [F2 country] so that the [F2 country] can take this into account in preparing emergency plans and in preparing land use planning policies, or in making land use planning decisions in respect of applications.

F3 (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

F2 Word in reg. 20(1) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Health and Safety (Amendments and Revocation) (EU Exit) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 (S.R. 2020/330), regs. 1(2), 9(3)(a)

F3 Reg. 20(2) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Health and Safety (Amendments and Revocation) (EU Exit) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 (S.R. 2020/330), regs. 1(2), 9(3)(b)

Power of the competent authority to accept information in another document N.I.

21.—(1) Where the competent authority considers it to be expedient, it may permit an operator to provide all or part of the information that the operator is required to include in—

(a) a notification under regulation 6;

(b) a major accident prevention policy;

(c) a safety report;

(d) an internal emergency plan; or

(e) details of action to be taken following a major accident provided under regulation 26(1),

by reference to information contained in another document sent to the Department of the Environment pursuant to a requirement imposed under the Pollution Prevention and Control (Industrial Emissions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013 M4 (“the relevant document”).

(2) Where the competent authority grants permission under paragraph (1), an operator shall, at the time of sending the information contained in the relevant document inform the competent authority in writing, if it is seeking to rely on paragraph (1) and the extent of that reliance by reference to the relevant sub-paragraphs of that paragraph.

(3) The competent authority shall assess whether the information contained in the relevant document satisfies the requirements of the relevant provisions of these Regulations and inform the operator of its decision in writing.

(4) If the competent authority is of the opinion that the information contained in the relevant document does not satisfy the requirements of the relevant provisions of these Regulations, the operator may not rely on that document as satisfying the requirements of those provisions.

Marginal Citations

M4 S.R. 2013 No. 160