Assessment criteria-an overview [Control of major accident hazards (COMAH)]

The purpose of this paper is to provide some basic information about the indicators for which inspectors will be looking when they assess COMAH safety reports. Under European Union Council Directive 96/82/EC the United Kingdom is obliged to introduce new legislation to replace the Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazards (CIMAH) Regulations 1984. To implement this directive, the Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations came into force on 1 April 1999. Reports submitted under these regulations will be assessed in accordance with the HSE COMAH safety report assessment manual, which covers guiding principles, procedures and assessment criteria. Those criteria include information on the safety management system, description of the establishment, predictions about the consequences of major accidents, and technical risk reduction measures. This paper is mainly about the assessment criteria that are relevant to control and power engineers