SEVESO ll to SEVESO lll
SEVESO ll to SEVESO lll. DIRECTIVE 2012/18/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 4 July 2012 on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances, amending and subsequently repealing Council Directive 96/82/EC
WHY THE CHANGE?
A new Directive is required because the hazard-based classification system for chemicals, upon which the scope of Seveso is determined, is being replaced and as a consequence Seveso II will not function unless there is a link with the new classification system.
Seveso III is based on the European Regulations on classification, labelling and packagingof substances (CLP). The CLP Regulations adopt the globally harmonised system (GHS) on the classification and labelling of chemicals throughout the EU and will replace Chemicals (Hazard Information and Packaging for Supply) Regulations. (CHIP) in June 2015 which is when the Seveso III Directive has to be transposed into UK law.
Companies have a duty to self classify the chemicals they use or store and to consider whether COMAH applies to them or whether they have changed their status within COMAH. Those companies should notify the Competent Authority (CA) i.e. HSE/EA/SEPA when the change of classification brings them within scope of COMAH or changes their status from an upper tier to a lower tier COMAH site or vice versa.
Seveso III will link to CLP from the 1 June 2015 and could mean that a number of sites may:
enter the Seveso (COMAH) regime at the lower or upper tier threshold, move from the lower tier to the upper tier, or vice versa, or
leave the regime completely in some cases.
In addition Seveso III requires (transposed into UK Law by the new COMAH Regulations) all COMAH sites to provide more information to the public(‘the public’means ‘natural’ or ‘legal persons’, ‘associations’, ‘organisations’ or ‘groups) information to be provided electronically
In practice this will mean Public Information on safety measures for all establishments’ not just Top Tier sites.Annex 5 of DIRECTIVE 2012/18/EU details the public information to be made available Part 1 for all establishments, Part 2 for Top Tier only.Information to be held electronically and permanently available Guidance will be published on the new COMAH Regulations three months before the regulations come into force i.e. around the beginning of March 2015. Further information is available from the HSE website www.hse.gov.uk/COMAH.