Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000

4.  The following issues shall be addressed by the safety management system—

(a) organisation and personnel—the roles and responsibilities of personnel involved in the management of major hazards at all levels in the organisation. The identification of training needs of such personnel and the provision of the training so identified. The involvement of employees and, where appropriate, sub-contractors;

(b) identification and evaluation of major hazards — adoption and implementation of procedures for systematically identifying major hazards arising from normal and abnormal operation and the assessment of their likelihood and severity;

(c) operational control—adoption and implementation of procedures and instructions for safe operation, including maintenance of plant, processes, equipment and temporary stoppages;

(d) management of change—adoption and implementation of procedures for planning modifications to, or the design of new, installations, processes or storage facilities;

(e) planning for emergencies—adoption and implementation of procedures to identify foreseeable emergencies by systematic analysis and to prepare, test and review emergency plans to respond to such emergencies;

(f) monitoring performance — adoption and implementation of procedures for the on-going assessment of compliance with the objectives set by the operator’s major accident prevention policy and safety management system, and the mechanisms for investigation and taking corrective action in the case of non-compliance. The procedures should cover the operator’s system for reporting major accidents or near misses, particularly those involving failure of protective measures, and their investigation and follow-up on the basis of lessons learnt;

(g) audit and review — adoption and implementation of procedures for periodic systematic assessment of the major accident prevention policy and the effectiveness and suitability of the safety management system; the documented review of performance of the policy and safety management system and its updating by senior management.