Explanatory Notes on the

Major Hazard Installation

Regulations

April 2005

Chief Directorate of Occupational Health and SafetyCONTENTS
  1. Introduction3
  1. Definitions3
  1. Scope of application4
  1. Notification of installation5
  1. Temporary installations5
  1. Risk assessment5
  1. On-site emergency plan6
  1. Reporting of risk and emergency occurrences6
  1. General duties of suppliers6
  1. General duties of local government6
  1. Closure7

  1. Introduction

The Major Hazard Installation Regulations (MHI Regulations) were first promulgated in Government Gazette No. 18608 as Government Notice No. R. 96 of16 January 1998.

At the request of the industry the Regulations were reviewed and promulgated a second time in Government Gazette No. 22506 as Government Notice No. R. 692 of 30 July 2001.

The first Regulation was repealed in Government Gazette No. 22580 as Government Notice No. 767 of 24 August 2001.

The purpose of this document is to give an explanation to the user of what the intention of the author was with the Regulations. It is important to remember that this document is only the opinion of the author and that only a Court of Law can give an absolute ruling on legislation.

The big difference between these Regulations and other Regulations in terms of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993, is that these Regulations do not only addresses the health and safety of the employer and workers but also that of the general public.

This is clearly indicated in Section 43(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

2.Definitions

Some of the terms of the MHI Regulations are defined in the Act itself and are not repeated in the Regulations. The terms defined in the Regulations do not contradict those defined in the Act.

This document explains the Regulations. The first two definitions are from the Act:

  • “ major hazard installation” means an installation-

(a)where more than the prescribed quantity of any substance is or may be kept, whether permanently or temporarily; or

(b)where any substance is produced, used, handled or stored in such a form and quantity that it has the potential to cause a major incident.

What is important here is to know that there are two reasons that can determine when an installation is a major hazard installation (MHI). The first reason is when there is more than the prescribed quantity of a substance. The quantities and type of substances are prescribed in the General Machinery Regulation 8 and its Schedule A, on notifiable substances.

The second reason is where substances are produced, used, handled or stored in such a form and quantity that it has the potential to cause a major incident. The important issue is the potential of an incident and not whether the incident is a major incident or not. The potential will be determined by the risk assessment.

  • “major incident” means an occurrence of catastrophic proportions, resulting from the use of plant or machinery, or from activities at a workplace.

It is impossible to put a specific value to “catastrophic” because it will always differ from person to person and from place to place. However, when the outcome of a risk assessment indicates that there is a possibility that the public will be involved in an incident, then the incident can be seen as catastrophic.

  • “emergency plan” This plan consists of two types namely the on-site and off-site plans. The on-site plan is the responsibility of the employer of the major hazard installation and the off-site one that of the local government. Both plans are the outcome of the risk assessment and must provide for the hazards identified in the risk assessment. Both plans must provide for the safety and evacuation or sheltering of the workers as well as that of the public. These emergency plans have to be compiled with the input and cooperation of both the employer and the local government.
  • “local government” Local government was named “local

authority” in the past. Presently it is the same organisation

defined in the same Act.

  • “near miss” Near misses are very important incidents in the

workplace. They provide the opportunity to review and change existing emergency plans and ensure that risk assessments are still applicable.

  • “temporary installations” This definition provides for stopovers between starting points and final destinations where hazardous substances are not in transit and regulated by other legislation. As more than one employer’s vehicle can be present in that stopover the owner of the temporary installation is the responsible person. The owner of the vehicle must provide the owner of the installation with all necessary information on the hazards of the contents of the vehicle.

3. Scope of application

These Regulations are in line with the long title of the Act, which makes the employer responsible for the health and safety of his workers as well as the public in or in the vicinity of his workplace. For the application of these Regulations the threat must be against the workers and the publicIf the threat is only against the workers, the other regulations of the Act must be applied.

The definition in the Act of a “major hazard installation” defines very clearly when an installation is a major hazard installation.

Nuclear installations and installations regulated by the Department of Minerals and Energy are exempted from these Regulations.

  1. Notification of installation

In this Regulation the employer is instructed to notify the three governing bodies namely the provincial office of the Department of Labour, the Chief Inspector and local government of existing, new and changes to MHIs.

Even modifications to installations that will increase production or storage capacities must be reported.

Sub-regulation 4 gives all the information that must form part of the notification.

Rolling stock is exempted from this regulation and their method of informing is addressed in Regulation 5(7).

To inform the public in the vicinity of the MHI, the employer of the installation must publish the notification to the governing bodies in a newspaper serving the public in that area and by way of a notice posted within those communities.

Sub-regulation 7 must be read with Sub-regulation 6, that is within 60 days after people with an interest to or who are affected by a MHI, were informed of a MHI, can make representations in writing to the local government or Provincial Executive Manager of the Department of Labour if the MHI is not acceptable to them.

  1. Temporary installations

If material is temporarily stored on a premise or discharged in such a manner that the quantity of the material or the procedure of discharge result in a threat to the workers and the public, that installation shall be deemed a Temporary Hazard Installation.

The owner of the installation is responsible for the risk assessment and informing the governing bodies.

The owner is also responsible to reduce the risk in the temporary installation, if possible.

6. Risk assessment

It is the responsibility of the Chief Executive Officer of the installation to see to it that the risk assessment must be carried out by an approved inspection authority (AIA).

The risk assessment must be carried out on all existing MHIs, all new MHIs prior to their erection, and all modifications due to the change in procedures and capacity and at intervals not exceeding 5 years.

The safety representative or committee must be consulted and informed by the employer on all risk assessment issues.

The minimum information that must be included in the risk assessment can be found in Sub-regulation (5)(b). An executive summary of the assessment is adequate to be sent to governing bodies. If the governing bodies require the complete assessment, they can request it from the employer.

Risk assessments for rolling stock are addressed in Sub-regulation 7.

People who have an interest or who are affected by a MHI can request that the risk assessment be available to them at a time, place and a manner that is agreed upon between the parties.

The rest of the Sub-regulations are self-explaining.

  1. On-site emergency plan

This Regulation places a duty on the employer to draw up an on-site emergency plan and review it every 3 years in consultation with the safety representatives or committee and local government to ensure the continuous safety of the workers and the public.

All workers must be conversant with the plan and the plan must at least be tested in practice once a year and a record of the exercise must be kept.

In the case of a pipeline the plan must be drawn up jointly between the owners and local government.

Requirements for the plan for rolling stock are provided in Sub-regulation 3.

  1. Reporting of risk and emergency occurrences

The employer must inform the Provincial Executive Manager of the Department of Labour, local government and the supplier of the substance responsible for the incident, about:

  • a major incident
  • an incident that brought the emergency plan into operation
  • near miss.

This must be done within 24 hours and followed up with a report within 7 days.

A register must be kept on all incidents and near misses and must be available on the premises.

  1. General duties of suppliers

The supplier of a substance to a MHI:

  • must provide a material safety data sheet to the user
  • shall assess the circumstances of substances involved in an incident
  • must provide a 24-hour information service in the case of an incident.
  1. General duties of local government

The local government has the authority to prevent a new MHI to be erected on a separation distance less than that which poses a risk to:

  • airports
  • neighboring independent MHIs
  • housing and other centers of population
  • other similar facilities.
They must also prevent that a facility be erected next to an existing facility, which will cause the non-MHI be declared a MHI because of the facility being erected next to it.

The local government must also provide emergency facilities for incidents, even if they have to arrange it with neighboring local governments or others.

  1. Closure.

This Regulation is self-explanatory.

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