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The Secretary of State, being the designated[1] Minister for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972[2] in relation to measures relating to the prevention and limitation of the effects of accidents involving dangerous substances, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by the said section 2 and by sections 15(1), (2), (3), (4)(a) and (5)(b), 43(2) and (6) and 82(3)(a) of, and paragraphs 1(1) and (2), 15(1), 16, and 20 of Schedule 3 to, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974[3] ("the 1974 Act") and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf and for the purpose of giving effect with modifications to proposals submitted to him by the Health and Safety Commission under section 11(2)(d) of the 1974 Act after the carrying out by the Commission of consultations in accordance with section 50(3) of that Act and after the Secretary of State consulting the Commission in respect of those modifications in accordance with section 50(2) of the Act, hereby makes the following regulations - 

"the 1984 Regulations" means the Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1984[4];

"the Agency" in relation to an establishment in - 

(a) England and Wales, means the Environment Agency,

(b) Scotland, means the Scottish Environment Protection Agency;

"CIMAH report" means a report sent to the Executive pursuant to regulations 7 or 8 of the 1984 regulations;

"competent authority" means the Executive and the Agency acting jointly;

"control" in relation to a person means control in the course of a trade, business or other undertaking carried on by him;

"dangerous substance" means (subject to regulation 3(3)(b)) a substance, mixture or preparation - 

(a) listed in column 1 of Part 2 of Schedule 1, or,

(b) within a category specified in column 1 of Part 3 of Schedule 1,

and present as a raw material, product, by-product, residue or intermediate;

"the Directive" means Council Directive 96/82/EC on the control of major accident hazards involving dangerous substances[5];

"emergency services" means - 

(a) those police, fire and ambulance services who are liable to be required to respond to an emergency at the establishment,

(b) where appropriate, Her Majesty's Coastguard;

"establishment" means the whole area under the control of the same person where dangerous substances are present in one or more installations, and for this purpose two or more areas under the control of the same person and separated only by a road, railway or inland waterway shall be treated as one whole area;

"the Executive" means the Health and Safety Executive;

"existing establishment" shall be construed in accordance with paragraph (7);

"hazardous substances consent" means a hazardous substances consent granted under the Planning (Hazardous Substances) Act 1990[6] or the Planning (Hazardous Substances) (Scotland) Act 1997[7];

"health authority", in relation to England and Wales means a health authority established under section 8 of the National Health Service Act 1977[8] and in relation to Scotland, means a health board established under section 2 of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978[9];

"industrial activity" has the same meaning as in the 1984 Regulations;

"installation" means a unit in which dangerous substances present are, or are intended to be, produced, used, handled or stored, and it includes - 

(a) equipment, structures, pipework, machinery and tools,

(b) railway sidings, docks and unloading quays serving the unit, and

(c) jetties, warehouses or similar structures, whether floating or not,

which are necessary for the operation of the unit;

"local authority" means - 

(a) for the purposes of regulation 14, in relation to - 


(i) the City of London, the Common Council for the City of London;

(ii) an area in the rest of London, the London Borough Council for that area;

(iii) the Isles of Scilly, the Council of the Isles of Scilly;

(iv) an area in the rest of England, the district council for that area or where there is no district council for that area, the county council for that area;

(v) an area in Scotland, the council for the local government area, and

(vi) an area in Wales, the county council or the county borough council for that area;



(b) for the purposes of other regulations, in relation to - 



(i) London, the London Fire and Civil Defence Authority;

(ii) an area where there is a fire and civil defence authority, that authority;

(iii) the Isles of Scilly, the Council of the Isles of Scilly;

(iv) an area in the rest of England, the county council for that area, or where there is no county council for that area, the district council for that area;

(v) an area in Scotland, the council for the local government area;

(vi) an area in Wales, the county council or the county borough council for that area;

"major accident" means an occurrence (including in particular, a major emission, fire or explosion) resulting from uncontrolled developments in the course of the operation of any establishment and leading to serious danger to human health or the environment, immediate or delayed, inside or outside the establishment, and involving one or more dangerous substances;

"major accident prevention policy document" shall be construed in accordance with regulation 5(1);

"notify" means notify in writing and "notification" shall be construed accordingly;

"off-site emergency plan" shall be construed in accordance with regulation 10(1);

"on-site emergency plan" shall be construed in accordance with regulation 9(1);

"operator" shall be construed in accordance with paragraph (2);

"pipeline" means a pipeline to which the Pipelines Safety Regulations 1996[10] applies;

"road" means - 

(a) in relation to England and Wales, a road within the meaning of section 192(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988[11];

(b) in relation to Scotland, a road within the meaning of the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984[12];

"safety report" means a report sent to the competent authority pursuant to regulation 7 or a part of a report sent to the competent authority pursuant to regulation 7(10) except that where any such report or part has been revised pursuant to regulation 8, it means the report or part as so revised.

    (2) Any reference in these Regulations to an operator is a reference to a person who is in control of the operation of an establishment or installation (or in relation to an establishment or installation which is to be constructed or operated, the person who proposes to control its operation or, if that person is not known, the person who in the course of a trade, business or other undertaking carried on by him has commissioned its design and construction); and any duty imposed by these Regulations on him shall extend only in relation to that establishment or installation.

    (3) Any reference in these Regulations to the presence of dangerous substances includes a reference to the anticipated presence of such substances and the presence of those which it is reasonable to believe may be generated during the loss of control of an industrial chemical process.

    (4) Any reference in these Regulations to the storage of dangerous substances includes a reference to the presence of dangerous substances for the purposes of warehousing, depositing in safe custody or keeping in stock.

    (5) Any reference in these Regulations to the start of construction or operation of an establishment is, subject to paragraph (6), a reference to the start of construction or operation, as the case may be, of the installation in the establishment, or where there is or is to be more than one installation in the establishment, the one whose construction or operation, as the case may be, is first started, and where an installation in an establishment has been constructed, or its construction has been started, before the coming into force of these Regulations, regulations 6(1) and 7(1) shall not apply in respect of that establishment.

    (6) Where after the coming into force of these Regulations an establishment becomes subject to any of these Regulations by reason of any increase in the quantity of dangerous substances present there, any reference in that regulation to the start of operation of the establishment, is a reference to the time when the establishment first becomes so subject.

    (7) Any reference in a regulation to an existing establishment is a reference to an establishment whose operation commenced before the coming into force of these Regulations and which, on the coming into force of these Regulations, is an establishment to which that regulation applies.

    (8) The columns in Parts 2 and 3 of Schedule 1 shall be applied in accordance with the provisions of Part 1 of that Schedule and notes set out in each of those Parts.

    (9) Any reference in these Regulations to - 

(a) a numbered regulation or Schedule is a reference to the regulation in or Schedule to these Regulations so numbered, and

(b) a numbered paragraph is a reference to the paragraph so numbered in the Regulation or Schedule in which the reference appears.

Application
     3.  - (1) These Regulations shall apply to an establishment where a dangerous substance listed in column 1 of Parts 2 or 3 of Schedule 1 is present in a quantity equal to or exceeding the quantity listed in the entry for that substance in column 2 of those Parts, except that regulations 7 to 14 shall apply only to an establishment where such a dangerous substance is present in a quantity equal to or exceeding the quantity listed in the entry for that substance in column 3 of those Parts.

    (2) The reference in paragraph (1) to the presence of dangerous substances shall not include the presence of dangerous substances in the following activities - 

(a) the transport of those substances and their intermediate temporary storage by road, rail, inland waterways, sea or air, including their loading and unloading and transport to and from another means of transport at docks, wharves and marshalling yards; or

(b) the transport of those substances in a pipeline or pumping station.

    (3) These Regulations shall not apply to - 

(a) an establishment which is under the control of - 


(i) the Secretary of State for the purposes of the Ministry of Defence,

(ii) a headquarters or organisation designated for the purposes of the International Headquarters and Defence Organisations Act 1964[13] or the service authorities of a visiting force within the meaning of any of the provisions of Part 1 of the Visiting Forces Act 1952[14];



(b) substances which create a hazard from ionising radiation if present on a site for which a nuclear site licence has been granted or is required for the purposes of section 1 of the Nuclear Installations Act 1965[15];

(c) the activities of the extractive industries concerned with exploration for, and the exploitation of, minerals in mines and quarries or by means of boreholes;

(d) waste land-fill sites.

    (4) Where, by reason of any change in - 

(a) the classification of a substance (as referred to in note 1 of Part 3 of Schedule 1), or

(b) knowledge of what dangerous substances may be generated during the loss of control of an industrial chemical process;

the area of land on which the substance is present becomes an establishment after the coming into force of these Regulations (in this paragraph referred to as a "new entrant establishment"), any requirement imposed by these Regulations on an operator which is to be performed by him before an establishment starts to operate shall apply to the operator of the new entrant establishment as if that requirement had to be performed within 12 months after the change in classification takes effect or the change in knowledge occurs.

    (5) These Regulations shall not apply in Northern Ireland.

    (4) In the event of the modification of the establishment or installation, the process carried on there, or the nature or quantity of dangerous substances present there which could (in each case) have significant repercussions with respect to the prevention of major accidents, the operator shall review and where necessary revise the major accident prevention policy document.

    (5) The operator shall implement the policy set out in his major accident prevention policy document.

    (6) Subject to paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 4 and paragraph 1 of Part 2 of that Schedule, this regulation shall not apply to an establishment to which regulation 7 applies.

Notifications
     6.  - (1) Within a reasonable period of time prior to the start of construction of an establishment the operator of the establishment shall send to the competent authority a notification containing the information specified in Schedule 3.

    (2) Within a reasonable period of time prior to the start of the operation of an establishment, or in the case of an existing establishment by 3rd February 2000, the operator of the establishment shall send to the competent authority a notification containing the information specified in Schedule 3, except that this paragraph shall not require the notification to contain information already contained in a notification sent pursuant to paragraph (1) if that information is still valid.

    (3) Paragraph (2) shall not apply to an existing establishment in respect of which a report has been sent to the Executive in accordance with regulation 7 of the 1984 Regulations.

    (4) The operator shall notify the competent authority forthwith in the event of - 

(a) there being any significant increase in the quantity of dangerous substances notified - 


(i) under this regulation, or

(ii) in the report referred to in paragraph (3);



(b) there being any significant change in - 



(i) the nature or physical form of the dangerous substances so notified,

(ii) the processes employing them, or

(iii) any other information notified to the competent authority in respect of the establishment;



(c) regulation 7 ceasing to apply to the establishment by virtue of a change in the quantity of dangerous substances present there; or

(d) permanent closure of an installation in the establishment.

    (5) This regulation shall not require the notification of any information which has been included in a safety report.

    (11) All or part of the information required to be included in a safety report may be so included in a safety report by reference to information contained in another report or notification sent to the competent authority, the Executive or the Agency pursuant to a requirement imposed by or under any enactment or contained in an application for a hazardous substances consent.

    (12) Where it is demonstrated by the operator of the establishment to the satisfaction of the competent authority that particular dangerous substances present at an establishment, or any part thereof, are in a state incapable of creating a major accident hazard, the competent authority may in writing and in accordance with criteria established by the European Commission pursuant to Article 9.6(b) of the Directive, limit the information required to be included in the safety report for the establishment to those matters which are relevant to the prevention of residual major accident hazards and the limitation of their consequences for persons and the environment.

    (13) An operator shall provide to the competent authority such further information as it may reasonably request in writing following its examination of the safety report, and the information shall be so provided within such period as the competent authority specifies in the request.

Review and revision of safety report
     8.  - (1) Where a safety report has been sent to the competent authority the operator shall, subject to paragraph (3), review it - 

(a) at least every 5 years;

(b) whenever such a review is necessary because of new facts or to take account of new technical knowledge about safety matters; and

(c) whenever the operator makes a change to the safety management system (referred to in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 4) which could have significant repercussions with respect to the prevention of major accidents or the limitation of consequences of major accidents to persons and the environment;

and where in consequence of that review it is necessary to revise the report, the operator shall do so forthwith and inform the competent authority of the details of such revision.

    (2) Where a safety report has been reviewed pursuant to paragraph (1)(a) but not revised, the operator shall inform the competent authority of that fact.

    (3) Where, pursuant to regulation 7(10), a report has been sent to the competent authority in parts, each part shall be reviewed pursuant to paragraph (1)(a) within 5 years from the time that part was sent and at least every 5 years after that review; and every review of the last part sent shall include consideration of whether the parts together contain, in relation to the establishment, all the information referred to in regulation 7(7).

    (4) Where an operator proposes to modify the establishment or installation in it, the process carried on there or the nature or quantity of dangerous substances present there and that modification could have significant repercussions with respect to the prevention of major accidents or the limitation of consequences of major accidents to persons and the environment, he shall in advance of such modification - 

(a) review, and where necessary revise, the safety report prepared in respect of the establishment, installation, process or dangerous substances as the case may be; and

(b) inform the competent authority of the details of such revision.

on the preparation of the on-site emergency plan.

    (4) The operator shall consult the local authority in whose area the establishment is situated on the preparation of an on-site emergency plan, except this shall not apply where the local authority has been exempted from the requirement to prepare an off-site emergency plan in respect of the establishment pursuant to regulation 10(7).

Off-site emergency plan
     10.  - (1) The local authority, in whose area there is an establishment, shall prepare an emergency plan (in these Regulations referred to as an "off-site emergency plan") in respect of that establishment, and such a plan shall be adequate for securing the objectives specified in Part 1 of Schedule 5 and shall contain the information specified in Part 3 of that Schedule.

    (2) The off-site emergency plan shall be prepared no later than 6 months (or such longer period, not exceeding 9 months, as the competent authority may agree in writing) after - 

(a) the receipt by the local authority of a notice from the competent authority informing the local authority of the need to prepare an off-site emergency plan in respect of the establishment;

(b) the time an on-site emergency plan is required to be prepared for the establishment pursuant to regulation 9; or

(c) the receipt by the local authority of the information referred to in paragraphs (3) and (5);

whichever is later.

    (3) An operator shall supply to the local authority in whose area the establishment is situated the information necessary for the purpose of enabling the authority to prepare the off-site emergency plan.

    (4) The information referred to in paragraph (3) shall be supplied no later than the time an on-site emergency plan is required to be prepared for the establishment pursuant to regulation 9.

    (5) The operator shall supply to the local authority any additional information it may reasonably request in writing to enable the off-site emergency plan to be prepared, and the information shall be so provided within such period as the local authority specifies in the request.

    (6) The local authority shall consult the operator, the competent authority, the emergency services, each health authority for the area in the vicinity of the establishment and such members of the public as it considers appropriate on the preparation of the off-site emergency plan.

    (7) The competent authority may in view of the information contained in a safety report exempt a local authority from the requirement to prepare an off-site emergency plan in respect of an establishment, and any such exemption shall be in writing and state the reasons for granting it.

    (8) Where an exemption has been given under paragraph (7), the local authority shall, for the purposes of these Regulations and while the exemption is in force, have no function in relation to the preparation, review, testing and putting into effect of an off-site emergency plan for the establishment concerned.

Review and testing of emergency plans
     11.  - (1) A person who has prepared an emergency plan pursuant to a duty imposed on him by these Regulations shall at suitable intervals not exceeding three years - 

(a) review and where necessary revise the plan; and

(b) test the plan and take reasonable steps to arrange for the emergency services to participate in the test to such extent as is necessary,

and any such review shall take into account changes occurring in the establishment to which the plan relates and within the emergency services concerned, new technical knowledge, and knowledge concerning the response to major accidents.

    (2) The local authority shall endeavour to reach agreement with the operator and the emergency services as to how the off-site emergency plan is to be tested.

Implementing emergency plans
     12. A person who has prepared an emergency plan pursuant to a duty imposed on him by these Regulations shall take reasonable steps to put it into effect without delay when - 

(a) a major accident occurs; or

(b) an uncontrolled event occurs which could reasonably be expected to lead to a major accident.

Charge for preparation, review and testing of off-site emergency plan
     13.  - (1) A local authority may charge the operator a fee for performing its functions under regulations 10 and 11.

    (2) The fee shall not exceed the sum of the costs reasonably incurred by the local authority in performing the functions referred to in paragraph (1) in relation to the establishment concerned, including (but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision of this paragraph) any costs reasonably incurred by the local authority in arranging for the emergency services to participate in the testing of the off-site emergency plan.

    (3) When requiring payment the local authority shall send or give to the operator a detailed statement of the work done and costs incurred including the dates of any visits to the establishment and the period to which the statement relates; and the fee, which shall be recoverable only as a civil debt, shall become payable one month after the statement has been sent or given.

[2] 1972 c. 68.back

[3] 1974 c. 37, Sections 15 and 50 were amended by the Employment Protection Act 1975 (c. 71) Schedule 15, paragraphs 6 to 16 respectively.back

[4] S.I. 1984/1902; amended by S.I. 1988/1462 and S.I. 1994/118.back

[5] OJ L10/13 14.1.97.back

[6] 1990 c. 10.back

[7] 1997 c. 10.back

[8] 1977 c. 49; section 8 was substituted by section 1(1) of the Health Authorities Act 1995 c. 17.back

[9] 1978 c. 29.back

[10] S.I. 1996/825.back

[11] 1988 c. 52.back

[12] 1984 c. 54.back

[13] 1964 c. 5.back

[14] 1952 c. 67.back

[15] 1965 c. 57; section 1 was amended by S.I. 1974/2056 and S.I. 1990/1918.back