Implementation of SEVESO-2 requirements in The Netherlands

In early 1997, the Seveso-2 Directive came into force as an EU-legislation on the identification and prevention of major chemical hazard accidents. The Directive is mandatory for implementation in all fifteen EU Member States. The experiences with Seveso-1 had led to understanding that industry needs to apply more emphasis to safety management systems—this is a major addition resulting from the new Directive. Consequence modeling and risk quantification for ultimate use in land-use planning, accounting for domino effects are also aspects of the new Directive. Implementation into national laws and regulations will be completed throughout the EU countries during the first half of 1999. In the Netherlands, the introduction of Seveso-2 was also used to integrate requirements from various earlier statutoly requirements: external and environmental hazards, occupational safety, and on-site/off-site emergency response. Up to now, these disciplines were treated rather separately, and they obliged industries to report to and communicate with three separate authorities. All parties involved desired more integration of the various requirements to reduce wasted effort and avoid costly confusion. During the past two years, some pilot projects on the preparation of integrated safety reporting (obligatoiy for higher tier establishments), and on the development of related safety management systems have been carried out. The most extensive pilot was the one for ARCO Chemical (now Lyondell Chemical) in Botlek/Rotterdam. Close cooperation among industry, competent authorities (regulators), and consultants have contributed to a successful result, which has clarified the boundary limits of a safety report and which will contribute to efficient implementation of the Seveso-2 requirements over the coming years