General Regulations and Implementation Steps for the Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents Reviewed

Rapidly evolving and changing living conditions bring with them new needs and alter working conditions. Particularly in the last 50 years, when industrialisation has developed at a very rapid pace, many new chemicals, new products and new processes have come into use. These new developments have also brought with them new hazards and risks for workers and workplaces. In the face of these developments, systematic identification, control and continuous improvement of risks in process safety have become among the most important requirements of modern enterprises. In the past, accidents occurring in large industrial facilities and their serious consequences necessitated action by the competent authorities to establish regulations on this matter. One of the most significant of these was the accident that led to the publication of the SEVESO Directive, which occurred in 1976 in a small town located approximately 20 kilometres north of Milan in the Lombardy region of Italy, at a chemical production facility. As a result of this accident, more than 6 tonnes of chemical substance, including a highly toxic substance called Tetrachloro-Dibenzo-Dioxin (TCDD), was released into the air affecting an area of 18 square kilometres, thousands of people and animals were affected, and many pregnant women were forced to terminate their pregnancies. As a result, the area most heavily affected by the chemicals was completely evacuated and a quarantine and decontamination operation estimated at more than EUR 120 million was carried out. These events made humanity aware of the impact of major industrial accidents on people and the environment and what needed to be done. As a result, the European Union carried out the necessary work and published directives (SEVESO) concerning its policy on the prevention of major accidents. First published on 24 June 1982, Directive 82/501/EEC was followed by the SEVESO II Directive 96/82/ECS published in 1996 to strengthen the effectiveness and broaden the scope of the directive following continuing accidents in Europe, and was again reviewed and revised as Directive 2003/105/EC in 2003. Finally, SEVESO III Directive 2012/18/EU, published on 24 July 2012, began to be implemented within the EU as of 1 June 2015. The directive applies to more than 10,000 industrial facilities in the chemistry, petrochemistry, logistics and metal refining sectors where hazardous substances may be present in quantities above certain thresholds, used or stored in significant quantities. In Turkey, the "Regulation on the Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents and Mitigation of Their Effects" numbered 28867 was published in the Official Gazette dated 30 December 2013 and entered into force, and took its final form with the Regulation on the Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents and Mitigation of Their Effects dated 2 March 2019 and numbered 30702. This regulation aims to prevent accidents and disasters that may arise from facilities containing hazardous substances and to ensure high-level, effective and continuous protection in facilities. Particularly from the second half of 2020, SEVESO inspections began, but these inspections were suspended for a period due to the effects of the pandemic. In 2021, inspections resumed and continue unabated in all regions. As a result of inspections, many organisations have undertaken and continue to undertake very serious work to comply with legal requirements. Particularly from the second half of 2020, SEVESO inspections began, but these inspections were suspended for a period due to the effects of the pandemic. In 2021, inspections resumed and continue unabated in all regions. As a result of inspections, many organisations have undertaken and continue to undertake very serious work to comply with legal requirements.

SEVESO Directives SEVESO Directives Process

A set of rules determining the procedures and principles necessary to take measures to ensure high-level, effective and continuous protection in facilities containing hazardous substances in order to prevent major industrial accidents and to minimise the damage of possible accidents to people and the environment. SEVESO Directives: • Ensure the safe operation of facilities carrying high operational risk, • Reduce the likelihood of high-risk accidents occurring, • Establish completely safe operation by applying technical and organisational measures such as minimising and controlling possible damage to human health, the environment and the enterprise in the event that such risks occur.

Definition of Major Industrial Accident

Fires, explosions and toxic releases containing hazardous substances that threaten the health of a large number of people, cause permanent or long-term contamination of the natural environment, cause significant material damage, and require extensive emergency response are classified as major industrial accidents.

Management of Major Industrial Accidents and Process Steps

The primary objective of SEVESO Directives is to reduce the likelihood of high-risk accidents occurring for the safe operation of facilities carrying high operational risk and, in the event of such a risk, to minimise occupational health and safety losses and material damage by requiring facilities to establish a Safety Management System and organisations to prepare a Safety Report or Major Accident Prevention Policy according to their size. System documentation includes all the objectives of the facility owner and the action principles related to the control of major accident hazards, and the Major Accident Prevention Policy Document is prepared in writing. The safety management system is part of the overall management system that includes the organisational structure, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and resources necessary for the determination and implementation of the major accident prevention policy, and the following parameters are considered in system establishment: • Safety measures necessary for process control and process control instruments, • Major Industrial Accidents that may result from Process Design and Operating Hazards, • Process operation and maintenance activities, • Human activities in process control and operation. Reports prepared under the SEVESO scope can be prepared by the company working with its own specialists or consultants. However, the essential matter is the correct determination and interpretation of the contents of the reports. The most important point here is that the contents of the reports must meet legal requirements, and it must be ensured that the prepared documents do not only remain within the legal framework but also that the necessary work has been carried out with a risk-based perspective. Of course, the prepared reports require serious technical knowledge and experience, and generally it is expected that the following main headings are addressed: • The organisation of the facility for the prevention of major industrial accidents, • Safety report / major accident prevention policy report, • Establishment and continuity of safety management system documentation, • Hazardous substance safety data sheet, • Public information text, • Classification of dangerous chemicals and their mutual interactions, • Assessment of chemical exposure from human and/or environmental perspective, • Preparation of major accident scenario documents, • Identification and classification of hazardous substances, • Identification of dangerous equipment using nationally and internationally accepted methods, • Identification of internal hazards from identified dangerous equipment, • Identification of external hazards that may affect dangerous equipment and may originate from outside the facility, • Creation, analysis and evaluation of major accident scenarios, • Conducting risk assessment, Identification of mutual interactions between process hazards and process equipment and/or instruments, • Methodologically realistic conduct of process hazard analyses, • Reliability assessment and certification of process instruments and emergency shutdown systems (Functional Safety), • Maintenance carried out with a reliability-focused approach and risk-based inspection methods, • Major accident scenario documents and root cause and consequence analysis of these scenarios, • Addressing process safety within the scope of emergency plans and preparation of internal emergency plans, • Provision of necessary training within the scope of process safety and raising awareness.

*Hazardous Substance: Raw material, product, by-product, waste and/or intermediate product listed in Section 1 Column 1 of Annex 1 of the Regulation on the Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents and Mitigation of Their Effects dated 02.03.2019 or within a category listed in Section 2 Column 1 of Annex 1, or a substance or mixture that may be formed during loss of control of an industrial chemical process.

In addition to all this documentation prepared by organisations, taking into account the possible domino effect of an industrial accident, the completion of the SEVESO package by the "External Emergency Plans" to be prepared by AFAD and the taking of necessary measures is of great importance. In this context, major industrial accidents do not only include the responsibilities of the organisations. In addition to these organisations, society and the following other organisations also have some responsibility and/or interaction. These organisations are: At Central Government Level: AFAD, Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation, Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice, At Local Level: Provincial Administration, Provincial Directorate of Environment and Urbanisation, Ministry of Labour and Social Security, (Turkish Employment Agency) Regional Directorates, AFAD Provincial Directorates, Municipalities, Chambers of Commerce, Fire Departments Social Partners: TOBB, Turkish Chemical Manufacturers Association, universities with relevant centres working on this matter and Civil Society Organisations. Conclusion Today, meeting the growing consumer needs is possible with the increasing number of large industrial facilities. This increase naturally brings with it more industrialisation, more new raw materials, more new products and as a result an increased likelihood of major industrial accidents occurring. Therefore, in facilities containing hazardous substances, to ensure high-level, effective and continuous protection necessary to prevent major industrial accidents and to minimise the damage of possible accidents to people and the environment, institutions and organisations must ensure that the necessary measures are taken and the state must conduct inspections at every step to ensure that events that could lead to major accidents are kept under control. Consequently, in order to prevent major industrial accidents that have caused many casualties and losses or to keep the effects that may occur after an event to a minimum level, necessary work and plans must be carried out in cooperation between the state and enterprises, awareness of enterprises must be increased, the sustainability of the work done must be ensured, and the state must conduct regular inspections and controls before an event occurs to ensure that preventive measures are being taken rather than after an event. This will increase the quality of work done in this field and as a result, the damage/loss to people and the environment can be minimised.