Environment and Human Settlements
CONVENTION ON THE TRANSBOUNDARY
EFFECTS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS
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1. In order to harmonize the presentation of national data, guidelines
for the provision of information have been prepared on the basis of the
guidelines adopted at the first meeting of the Signatories (ENVWA/WG.4/2,
annexes I and III). The guidelines cover only those sections (B-I) that
require standard presentation of information to help users to analyse
or compare it.
B. Policies and legislation
5. The information should outline in particular national policies
for:
(a) Reducing the risks of industrial accidents and improving preventive,
preparedness and response measures;
(b) The siting of new hazardous activities and significant modifications
to existing hazardous activities and developments in areas which could
be affected by an industrial accident, so as to minimize the risk;
(c) Encouraging operators to take action to reduce the risk of industrial
accidents and to demonstrate the safe performance of the hazardous activity
by providing information concerning the process;
(d) Providing information to the public and allowing the public to
participate in relevant procedures concerning preventive, preparedness
and response measures for industrial accidents;
(e) Scientific and technological cooperation, including research into
less hazardous processes, and the development of scenarios of industrial
accidents that may arise from hazardous activities;
(f) On-site and off-site contingency plans for hazardous activities,
including joint off-site contingency plans;
(g) Establishing and operating ECE compatible industrial accident
notification systems at all appropriate levels.
6. Information for legislation should cover national legislation and
regulations that are either completely devoted to industrial accidents
or contain special provisions on the subject. For each legal instrument
the information should include:
(a) The title of the legislation or regulation in at least one of
the ECE working languages;
(b) The date of entry into force;
(c) The scope or field of application and the content of the legislation/regulation;
(d) A summary of the main provisions of the legislation/regulation
concerning industrial accident prevention, preparedness and response;
(e) A brief explanation on how the legislation/regulation fits in
with the provisions of the Convention.
C. National institutional framework
7. This section covers the national institutional framework set up
to develop, implement and monitor compliance with policies, strategies
and legislation dealing with industrial accidents. The framework may include
ministries, national centres, other competent authorities or bodies completely
or partly involved in the prevention of, preparedness for and response
to industrial accidents. The information provided should describe, inter
alia:
(a) The responsibilities of the ministries and other institutions
involved in the prevention of, preparedness for and response to industrial
accidents;
(b) The activities of the national centres or bodies dealing with
industrial accidents: their names, addresses, telephone and fax numbers
and a description of their functions;
(c) The existing or planned national coordinating mechanisms dealing
with industrial accidents and their main functions and any information
needed to communicate with them as indicated in subparagraph (b) above;
(d) Any other national mechanism dealing with industrial accidents
not mentioned above.
E. Bilateral and multilateral agreements
8. This section lists bilateral and multilateral agreements dealing
with industrial accidents or agreements containing provisions concerning
industrial accidents which have already entered into force or are being
negotiated. The information provided for each agreement should include:
(a) The title of the agreement in one of the ECE working languages;
(b) The date and place of signature;
(c) The date of entry into force;
(d) The Signatories or Contracting Parties;
(e) A summary of the agreement, including its scope or field of application;
(f) The body responsible for its implementation;
(g) The activities carried out under the agreement;
(h) Its relevance as an instrument for the implementation of the Convention;
(i) Reference material and sources of additional information concerning
the agreement.
F. Bilateral and multilateral assistance arrangements
9. This section covers recent or planned assistance arrangements for
the activities under the Convention, such as the development of legislation
dealing with industrial accidents; the identification, auditing or inspection
of hazardous activities; (joint) training courses on industrial accident
prevention, preparedness and response; (joint) exercises to test emergency
preparedness and response to industrial accidents; mutual assistance in
the event of an industrial accident; assistance to mitigate the consequences
of an industrial accident; the exchange/transfer of safe technology, etc.
10. The information provided for each arrangement should include:
(a) The type of arrangement (e.g. joint project/programme etc.);
(b) Donors and recipients/beneficiaries;
(c) The date that the arrangement was concluded and the date that
it expires;
(d) The financial contributions or the contributions in kind and the
sources of funds (e.g. national, provincial or local budgets; ordinary
or extraordinary budgets; regular or special funds; funds from voluntary
organizations, private industry, banks);
(e) The results of the arrangement.
G. Past industrial accidents
11. The Meeting of the Signatories has recently invited the delegations
to provide voluntarily information on past industrial accidents by using
the accident evaluation form.
12. For those accidents which cause or are capable of causing transboundary
effects, the accident evaluation form drawn up by the Bureau for Risk
and Industrial Pollution Analysis (BARPI), Lyons, France, should be completed
as part of the new UN/ECE accident notification system together with the
short form regarding the transboundary effects of the accidents. Completed
forms should be sent directly to BARPI (Bureau d'analyse des risques et
pollutions industrielles), 146 rue Pierre Corneille, F - 69426 Lyon Cedex
03, France, tel. +33 - 72 61 52 02, fax. +33 - 78 60 47 60.
13. BARPI will evaluate and analyse the information that it receives,
including experience gained from past industrial accidents, in order to
promote the prevention of, preparedness for and response to similar accidents
and their adverse effects and prepare loose leaves for each examined case.
14. The short forms meet two main objectives:
(a) Their standardized format facilitates the compilation, organization
and classification of available information and data, ensures efficient
processing and encourages future use; and
(b) They give an insight into how procedures set out in the Convention
were implemented when an accident causing transboundary effects occurred.
H. Focal points for the Convention
15. A network of focal points was established in order to provide
a mechanism for communicating directly and promptly information on the
prevention of, preparedness for and response to industrial accidents to
couintries, international institutions and the secretariat and for disseminating
and collectiing such information.
16. The focal ponts are expected to play a particularly important
role in the development and updating of the manual and the dissemination
of the information contained therein.
17. The information provided by focal points (in principle one per
country or international institution) should include: their names, addresses,
telephone and fax numbers, professional occupation and an indication of
the ECE working language(s) in which they wish to receive documents.
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Industrial accident manual - UN/ECE
2001