Necessary measures for preventing major accidents at petroleum storage depots : Key points and conclusions, mutual joint visit on seveso inspections 7 - 9 December 2005, Brussels

Sites for the storage and handling of petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel and gas oil, so called “petroleum depots” are widely spread over Europe. With the 2003 amendment of the Seveso II Directive (2003/105/CE), the number of such depots coming under the scope of the Directive increased significantly due to the lowering of the thresholds for the substances in question. Petroleum storage depots have been defined by EU Seveso inspectors as one of its topics of high interest. Therefore, a “Mutual Joint Visit” (MJV) workshop was formed around this topic to solicit expert opinions on good practice and key elements for enforcing the Directive in these types of establishments. This document, Necessary Measures for Preventing Major Accidents at Petroleum Storage Depots: Key Points and Conclusions, summarises the key points and conclusions on this topic generated by discussions between Seveso inspectors from 20 different countries, including 16 EU Member States, 2 candidate countries and 2 EFTA countries who participated in this event. This document is the first publication in the Seveso Inspections Series. The Seveso Inspections Series is intended to be a set of publications reflecting conclusions and key points from technical exchanges, research and analyses on topics relevant to the effective implementation of the inspection requirements of the Seveso II Directive. These publications are aimed to facilitate sharing of information about Member States experiences and practices for the purpose of fostering greater effectiveness, consistency and transparency in the implementation of Article 18 of the Directive. The series is managed by the European Commission’s Technical Working Group on Seveso II Inspections (TWG 2), consisting of inspectors appointed by members of the Committee of the Competent Authorities for Implementation of the Seveso II Directive (CCA) to represent Seveso inspection programmes throughout the European Union