The Workplace Safety and Health (Major Hazard Installations) Regulations 2017 and Workplace Safety and Health (Registration of Factories)(Amendment) Regulations 2017 have been gazetted on 2nd May 2017. It will come into operation on 1st September 2017.
Key provisions of the WSH (MHI) Regulations are:
1) Registration of MHIs:
Under the Regulations, workplaces which carry out specific trade activities and possess dangerous substances at or above a specified threshold quantity will need to be registered as MHI prior to operation. Previously, such premises are required to be registered under the WSH (Registration of Factories) Regulations. The WSH (Registration of Factories) Regulations have been amended to require such workplaces to be registered under the WSH (MHI) Regulations instead.
2) Safety Case review and submission:
The Regulations will require MHIs to demonstrate the risk reduction measures in place are effective, reliable and the risks of major hazard accidents have been reduced to ALARP (As Low as Reasonably Practicable) to allow the installations to operate in a safe and sustainable manner. In ensuring that the Safety Case is kept effective and updated, the Regulations will require occupier of MHIs to maintain and submit a Safety Case for assessment once in every five years. In addition, occupiers are also required to review a Safety Case when there are new facts, knowledge or changes which are significant in preventing or limiting the impact of a major accident.
3) Mandatory sharing of information:
To manage potential domino effects in the event of an accident, MHIs will be required to share information pertaining to the nature and extent of off-site risks which may affect other workplaces within area. This will allow the affected neighbouring workplaces to factor in this information in their risk management processes and emergency response plan.
4) Notification and reporting of incidents:
The proposed Regulations will require MHIs to notify and report any process-related incidents which have led to explosion, fire or release of dangerous substances, including those which do not result in any injury or fatality. This serves to alert regulators about potential systemic issues within the MHI industry and the lessons learnt from such incidents can be shared with the industry.
Consequential amendments are made to the WSH (Registration of Factories) Regulations to require MHIs to register their premises as an MHI under the WSH (MHI) Regulations.
To view the Gazette in full, click here.