Mike Nicholas , regulation officer at the Environment Agency, has advised COMAH sites to implement the Chemical and Downstream Oil Industries Forum (CDOIF) risk methodology.
Mr Nicholas made his comments at the Tank Storage Association’s annual conference at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry.
“There is a general expectation, as within any other guidance, that operators will consider this publication when reviewing safety reports,” he said.
Mr Nicholas explained that the measures had been set up to address key issues in the areas of regulation and health and safety.
“A few years ago, following the Buncefield incident, the Competence Authority published the COMAH containment policy designed at implementing lessons from Buncefield and ensuring that containment standards are implemented as necessary to ensure compliance with the COMAH regime.”
The policy states that new sites “needed” to introduce the measures whilst existing sites, he added, were required to implement them “so far as is reasonably practical”.
