The document discusses three projects initiated by the OECD Working Group on Chemical Accidents to address ongoing safety concerns. The projects focus on corporate governance for process safety, managing hazardous facilities during ownership changes, and the aging of hazardous installations. For each project, the Working Group has analyzed evidence, organized sessions to discuss issues, and plans to publish guidance documents with self-assessment questions to help improve chemical safety.

1. HCF 2016:
Plant safety and OECD
activities
Peter Kearns and Marie-Ange Baucher
(OECD ENV/EHS)
1

2. The Guiding
Principles address all
aspects of preventing
and managing
chemical accidents.
They can be added to
and updated.
The Guidance on Safety Performance
Indicators serves as a guide for key
stakeholders to determine if their
implementation of the Guiding Principles has
led to improved chemical safety.
OECD FLAGSHIP PUBLICATIONS CHEMICAL
ACCIDENT, PREVENTION, PREPAREDNESS,
RESPONSE

3. Despite national policies, regulations and experiences,
Together with OECD’s Guiding Principles, Safety Performance
Indicators as well as other international instruments and guidance;
Incidents still occur.
Three projects are described which were initiated by the Working
Group on Chemical Accidents (WGCA) because of concerns that safety
is not always at the forefront:
• Corporate governance for process safety;
• Managing hazardous facilities which shift ownership
• Ageing of hazardous installations.
PLANT SAFETY AND OECD ACTIVITIES
3

4. Corporate
Governance for
Process Safety:
Guidance for
Senior Leaders in
High Hazard
Industries
Available in 11
languages.
Launched as the
result of an OECD
Conference (June
2012). Conference
Proceedings
available on
OECD web site.
ENV/JM/
MONO(2012)38
Collaborative
effort involving a
large number of
experts from
many countries
and organisations,
in both the public
and private
sector.
‘In times of financial and
economic upheavals, it would
be easy for governments,
industry and others to be
distracted from the core task
of maintaining a vigilant
watch over the safety of
hazardous installations. It is
important to ensure that this
does not happen. ’ Simon
Upton
OECD’s Director of
Environment
Key Self-Check Questions
Do you know what the major accident risks are
for your organisation?
Do you know what your main vulnerabilities
are?
What are you doing about them?
How concerned are you about the level of risk?
How confident are you that all the safety
systems are performing as they should?
Do you seek out the
bad as well as the
good?
If there is an incident,
who do you blame?
Others, or yourself?
Are you doing all you
can to prevent a major
accident?
OECD Activity on Corporate Governance for Process
Safety: Launched because of continuing safety
concerns

5. Two uncompleted/ continuing OECD projects
were also initiated by the Working Group on
Chemical Accidents (WGCA) because of
concerns that safety is not always at the
forefront:
• Managing hazardous facilities which shift
ownership
• Ageing of hazardous installations
OTHER RELEVANT PROJECTS CURRENTLY
UNDERWAY
5

6. This project has shown evidence that incidents can occur
following ownership change due to (amongst other things):
• Failure to pass on critical knowledge to the new owners, the
loss of key personnel, commitment, knowledge and expertise;
the loss of corporate memory;
• Limited knowledge, ability and resources of the new operator;
• Lack of managerial experience in chemical/process hazards
and failure to appreciate the dangers and need for process
safety management;
• Lack of continuity and the potential instability created by the
transaction;
• Poor plant condition: e.g. the plant has been allowed to
deteriorate, there are poor inspection and test records; there
are issues linked to ageing.
Managing hazardous facilities which shift
ownership
6

7. • OECD’s Working Group on Chemical Accidents
held a special session on the topic which
analyses the evidence, (October 2014)
• The report of the session will be published
imminently;
• In addition to the report, OECD’s WGCA will also
prepare guidance along the lines of the
Guidance on Corporate Governance, which will
be published during 2017-2018;
• This guidance will (likely) include self-
assessment questions.
Managing hazardous facilities which shift
ownership (cont’d)
7

8. • This project was initiated because worldwide
(especially in OECD countries) there are
many hazardous installations that are more
than 25 years old and still in service.
• Most of the operating chemical plants in
OECD countries were built between 1960
and 1980.
Ageing of hazardous installations
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9. To date, OECD’s WGCA has:
• Collected information on countries' ageing
programmes, regulations, policies and experiences;
• Prepared an analysis of past accidents associated
with ageing based on delegations reporting of
accidents from countries;
• Organised a Special Session on Ageing of Hazardous
Installations (October 2015) to be published in mid-
2016;
• Planned to include guidance on ageing in a future
revision of the Guiding Principles.
Ageing of hazardous installations (cont’d)
9

10. In summary, the three projects which have been described were
initiated by the Working Group on Chemical Accidents (WGCA)
because of concerns (of countries) that safety is not always at
the forefront:
• Corporate governance for process safety;
• Managing hazardous facilities which shift ownership
• Ageing of hazardous installations.
The WGCA will continue to address these concerns during the
coming years.
RECAP
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11. Thank you!
Peter Kearns, Principal Administrator
Email: peter.kearns@oecd.org
Marie-Ange Baucher, Administrator
E-mail: marie-ange.baucher@oecd.org
OECD
Environment, Health and Safety Division (EHS)
2, rue André Pascal
75775 Paris Cedex 16; France
OECD Chemical Accidents web site (including publications):
http://www.oecd.org/chemicalsafety/chemical-accidents/