Determine whether the critical quantity of Schedule 1 substances is or will be exceeded
A place is a major hazard facility (MHF) if:
- it stores, handles or processes quantities of specified dangerous goods that exceed specified threshold quantities
- a major incident could occur at that place; and
- the department’s Chief Dangerous Goods Officer has determined it to be an MHF.
Examples of MHFs include:
- oil refineries
- gas processing plants
- large chemical manufacturing plants
Regulations 7, 8, 9 and 10, and Tables 1 and 2 of Schedule 1 of the Dangerous Goods Safety (Major Hazard Facilities) Regulations 2007 describe the requirements for determining whether the critical quantity of Schedule 1 substances is or will be exceeded.
For more information on this step, see:
- Are you a possible major hazard facility?
- When is a dangerous goods site also a major hazard facility (MHF)?
Prepare a safety report documentation
Once the site has been classified as a major hazard facility by the Chief Officer, the operator is required to prepare a safety report and submit for approval.
A safety report is a legislative requirement to be approved by the Chief Officer and must be in force for all MHF operations before the storage, handling or processing of Schedule 1 substances in excess of the critical quantity, commences at the facility.
See Preparing a safety report for a major hazard facility (MHF) for more information.
Submission and assessment of a safety report
Once the safety report for a facility has been developed and approved by the operator, an application for the approval of the safety report must be made to the Chief Officer in an approved form [r. 26(a)].
The purpose of this document is to provide guidance as to the form of a safety report which is acceptable to the Chief Officer (refer to r. 25(2)(d)).
When submitting the safety report for approval by the Chief Officer for the first time, the application must be accompanied by the relevant fee [sch. 3, cl. 1].
The Chief Officer is required to consult with the operator on the submitted safety report before deciding to refuse, approve or withdraw an approval of a safety report.
See Preparing a safety report for a major hazard facility (MHF) for more information.
Revision of a safety report
An operator of a facility must review and update the safety report, including the risk assessment and safety management system within the safety report [r. 30 (1)]:
- before implementing a significant change to:
- any plant, process or substance used at the facility, including the introduction of any new plant, process or substance
- the layout of the facility or where dangerous goods are to be stored, handled or transported within the facility
- as soon as practicable after a dangerous goods incident or major incident occurs at the facility
- as soon as practicable after becoming aware of a change in land use or zoning for the area surrounding the facility
- as soon as practicable after receiving information provided by a direction given under r.31(1)
- as soon as practicable after a request by the Chief Officer
- on the operator’s own initiative to review the safety report, risk assessment or safety management system for the facility.
Revision after five years
The operator is required to conduct a review of the safety report for the facility as soon as practicable after the expiry of:
- five years since the last review under r. 30
- five years since the safety report for the facility was first approved under r. 27(1) if a review has not been conducted.
See Revision of a major hazard facility safety report for more information.
Decommissioning a major hazard facility
Regulation 32 of the Dangerous Goods Safety (Major Hazard Facilities) Regulations 2007 provides that if a decision is made to permanently close down a major hazard facility, the operator of the facility must give the Chief Officer written notice of the intended closure.
This is commonly executed in the form of an addendum to the approved safety report as an operator plans the path to removal of Schedule 1 dangerous goods and applies for rescindment of MHF classification.
Typically, the operator would be:
- staging elimination of Schedule 1 dangerous goods via consumption, processing, effluent management or transporting off-site etc.
- describing the transition to a non-MHF site, e.g. decommissioning equipment, removing equipment or preserving processing vessels
- articulating the relevant removal of major incident scenarios or major incident hazards and confirming the residual risk profile
- making the case for rescindment of MHF status.