Respecting your obligations as a Seveso company

All Seveso authorised companies: high and low threshold

1. Notification

• WHO? An obligation for everyone: high and low thresholds
• WHEN?
  • This notification must be made four months before you start your activity, as soon as you submit your permit application for a new or expanded establishment
  • You have three months to notify our Major Accident Risks (MAR) unit for establishments that fall within the scope of the cooperation agreement for a reason unrelated to a permit application.
• HOW?
  • Use the SecuriWal tool to declare yourself as a Seveso establishment
  • Request access to SecuriWal by email to risques.environnement@spw.wallonie.be
  • Has there been a change in your activity? SecuriWal allows you to update your notification
• WHAT?
  • Information to be completed: your company number (CBE), the list of dangerous substances, their quantity, the risk class, the physical form, the risk category, the quantities as well as the description of the activity and the immediate environment
• WHY?
  • To avoid major accidents
  • The notification is the starting point for notifying all key people who play a role in security
• YOUR CONTACT: the Major Accident Risks Unit (RAM): risques.environnement@spw.wallonie.be

2. The major accident prevention policy and safety management system

• WHO? An obligation for everyone: high and low thresholds
• WHEN? From the start of your activity
• HOW? Done by your company
  • Low threshold: an internal document must be made available to us
  • High threshold: describe in a safety report
• WHAT? Content described in Annex II of the Cooperation Agreement
  • Annex II of the cooperation agreement
  • Consult more information on the management system and on the organisation of the establishment with a view to major-accident prevention

• WHY?
  • The major accident prevention policy reveals the risks linked to storage, the objectives and general principles for controlling major accident risks and the implementation of all the necessary technical and organisational means
  • The safety management system covers the part of the establishment's general management system that contains the organisational structure, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and resources for determining and implementing the major-accident prevention policy (MAPP), taking account of the best available practices
• YOUR CONTACT: the Major Accident Risks Unit (RAM)

3) The safety report (SR)

• WHO? A specific obligation for high thresholds
• WHEN?
  • Submission of the safety report (SR): no later than three months before the start of the operation or modification of your facilities/activities which bring you into the high threshold category
  • Analysis of the SR: transmission of the evaluation services' conclusions within nine months
  • Review of the SR: every five years, following a major accident or at the request of the coordination service, the RAM unit
• HOW?
  • DRAFTING: consult the guide for the drafting of the safety report in the useful documents below
  • SENDING: use SecuriWal to send your security report
  • ANALYSIS: several services (our RAM unit, the FPS Interior, the FPS Employment, the Crisis Center and the fire department) analyse the document within the framework of their competences
  • COMMUNICATION: the SR is provided to the relevant evaluation and control services, the governor and the mayor
  • DISSEMINATION: it is not disseminated on our website
  • CONSULTATION: this document is available for public consultation (except for the confidential parts concerning data sensitive to the economy and state security). Contact the RAM unit to consult it on site
• WHAT? The safety report (SR) makes it possible to:
  • identify sources of risk, possible accidents and their effects on the neighbouring population and/or the environment
  • present the security and protection measures implemented (or to be implemented) to guarantee the security of the establishment's facilities
  • serve as a basis for the development of contingency plans (external emergency plans) and provide communication with the public
• WHY?
  • Demonstrate that a prevention policy has been implemented
  • Demonstrate that dangers have been identified
  • Demonstrate reliable design and construction
  • Demonstrate the existence of internal emergency plans
  • Ensure that the competent land use planning authority is sufficiently informed
• YOUR CONTACT: the Major Accident Risks Unit (RAM)

4) Control of establishments

• WHO? An obligation for everyone: high and low thresholds
• WHEN? every one to three years depending on the dangers of the facility
• HOW?
  • In Wallonia, controls are carried out by a control team composed of a civil servant from the FPS Employment and a civil servant from our Major Accident Risks (RAM) Unit. For companies holding explosives, the team also includes a civil servant from the FPS Economy
  • The inspection team establishes a control programme for each establishment
  • The programme is evaluated regularly and updated annually
  • This programme mentions:     
    • the nature of the planned testing    
    • the method to be applied   
    • the control services responsible for the actual execution of the controls   
• WHAT? All actions, including site visits, testing of internal measurements, systems and reports, follow-up documentation and any necessary follow-up activities, carried out by inspectors to verify, encourage and, where appropriate, enforce compliance by operators with the provisions of the Cooperation Agreement are controls
• WHY?
  • The main objective of the Walloon inspector is to test the risk installations in the field of their competences, i.e. the external and environmental risk.  The objective is to reduce the risk of a major accident to the minimum acceptable level and test on site all the measures that have allowed the risk to be accepted.
  • The control tools are available and must not only allow the testing of the points or measures that allowed the risk to be accepted (mainly the scope of effects or frequency) but also ensure:
    • the correct sizing of the installations (tanks, piping, valves, etc.) and their prevention and safety systems
    • the maintenance of all these elements in good condition
    • the regular control of these elements by the operator with an adequate frequency etc.
• YOUR CONTACT: the FPS Employment, the coordination service for the control and the RAM unit for Walloon controls

5) The internal emergency plan

• WHO? An obligation for everyone: high and low thresholds
• WHEN?
  • New Seveso: before the start of the operation
  • For facilities that fall within the scope of the cooperation agreement for a reason unrelated to a permit application: one year after the date on which the facility falls within the scope of the cooperation agreement
• HOW?
  • Done by your company
  • We check that this internal plan is complete
• WHAT?
  • Content described in Annex IV of the Cooperation Agreement
  • This plan specifies the role of each person, the list of services to be contacted in the event of a crisis and the list of accident and near-miss scenarios.
  • Content specified in the Modular Guide
• WHY?
  • Contain and control incidents to limit the consequences and damage
  • implement the measures to protect humans and the environment from the consequences of major accidents
• YOUR CONTACT: the Major Accident Risks Unit (RAM)

6) The external emergency plan

• WHO? The emergency zones establish an external emergency plan based on the zones likely to be affected by a major accident, as calculated by the operators of high-threshold establishments
• WHEN? The areas likely to be affected by a major accident are indicated in the safety reports (see above for the deadlines for safety reports)
• WHAT?
  • The content is described in Annex IV of the Cooperation Agreement
  • The limit values, types of accidents, atmospheric conditions and scenarios to be taken into consideration by the operator to define the zones are specified in the Ministerial Decree establishing the criteria to be taken into consideration by the operator to define the territory that may be affected in the event of a major accident
  • The external emergency plan contains, among other things, the areas to be evacuated, calculated by each operator in their safety report (you provide scenarios)
• HOW?
  • Carried out by the emergency zones, based on your calculations and with public consultation
  • In each province, the governor uses the data received to create the external emergency plan
  •  NCCN: Guide for drafting the safety report of a company classified as Seveso high threshold
• WHY?
  • Organise emergency planning in the event of a major accident
  • implement the measures to protect humans and the environment from the consequences of major accidents
  • Communicate the necessary information to the public and to the services and authorities concerned;
• YOUR CONTACT: The National Crisis Center

• Seveso Directive III: Directive 2012/18/EU of 4 July 2012 on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances
• Cooperation agreement of 16 February 2016 between the Federal State, the Flemish Region, the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances