Risk Management of Explosives Storage
Abstract
The use of Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) procedures to manage the safety and control of explosives has been stimulated by ever increasing demands for more efficient operation, and by the requirements of recently extended Health and Safety Legislation in Europe. The MOD safety policy statement makes it clear that the Department will meet the standards demanded by such legislation even when MOD is not formally required to do so. The arrangements established by MOD to control the safety of explosives storage have recently been updated along the lines discussed at the previous seminar in this series. A procedure has been approved, and a protocol which summarises the procedure is shown at Figure 1. The new MOD procedure reflects the European emphasis on risk of harm to people and meets UK legislation. The site operator must be able to show that each risk he generates is both tolerable and as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP). However, if a risk can be shown to be negligible, then it may be concluded that expenditure to reduce the risk still further is unjustified. QRA is not essential to the procedure, but is recommended as a valuable decision aid. A QRA procedure for explosives storage facilities has been established by the MOD's Explosives Storage and Transport Committee(ESTC). A description of the structure of the procedure, and a paper dealing with a specific segment of the method have been published previously. This paper provides further data from the ESTC risk assessment study and shows the risk of fatality to exposed members of the public from MOD explosives storage facilities which meet the requirements of existing regulations based on Quantity-Distance (QD) principles. Evidence is presented to support the view that these risks can almost certainly be defended as tolerable. The paper also indicates ways in which the site management can use the results to support their case that risks are ALARP.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA507250
Entities
People
- D. J. Hewkin
- G. B. Jones
- I. Self
- R. A. Drake
- V. J. Gill
Organizations
- Ministry of Defense