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What are Major Hazards?
A Major Hazard can involve, Oil & Chemical spills, Gas leaks Fire, Explosions In most cases this can effect people on a large scale and can have devastating effect on industry.
Major hazard facilities are industrial sites that store, handle or process large quantities of hazardous chemicals and dangerous goods, including petroleum products.
Examples include:
- Oil refineries: Fire, Explosions, spills
- Chemical manufacturing sites: Spills, Fire Poisonous Gas
- Gas-processing plants: Fire Explosions Fumes
- LPG facilities: Fire Explosions
- Some warehouses and transport depots: Chemical Spills
Victoria has approximately 45 of these sites, which must comply with stringent legal requirements, including preparation of a Safety Case, to ensure they are operated safely.
All facilities must establish and implement a documented safety management system as the primary means of ensuring the safe operation of the facility.
A safety management system must:
- provide a comprehensive and integrated management system for the control of risk
- be accessible and comprehensible
- set out the operator’s safety policy
- describe safety objectives and the systems and procedures to achieve them
- set out how legal duties will be complied with
- include all additional matters specified in schedule 10 of the regulations (e.g. organisation and personnel, operational controls, management of change, performance monitoring and auditing).
You must also prepare a Safety Case to demonstrate the adequacy of the safety management system and the control measures in preventing major incidents.
Because of the risks involved in operating a major hazard facility, operators have specific obligations to consult with employees and the community.
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