COMAH and Hazardous Substances Legislation

For updated legislation following Brexit, please refer to the pdf document downloadable from the Home & News Page.

Health and Safety at Work Act 1974	The Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974 is the primary piece of legislation covering occupational health and safety in Great Britain. The Bill came into force later that year.
The Biocidal Products and Chemicals (Appointment of Authorities and Enforcement) Regulations 2013	These regulations implement EU Regulation 1272/2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures and appoint the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Health and Safety Executive as the national authorities for the export and import of hazardous chemicals, under EU regulation 649/2021.
The Control of Major Accident Hazards (Amendment) Regulations 2015	These Regulations came into force on 13 July 2015 and apply to England, Scotland and Wales. They correct an error in the text of the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 2015.
The Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 2015	The new Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations came into force in the UK on 1 June 2015. The main COMAH requirements will not change but a number of important changes particularly on how dangerous substances are classified and information that has to be made available to the public will change as a result of the new regulations. For the first time, lower tier operators will have to provide public information about their site and its hazards. Both top tier (now referred to as upper tier) and lower tier operators will need to provide public information electronically and keep it up to date. The Regulations were updated in March 2017 to highlight that they do not include the transport of dangerous substances in pipelines, by road, rail, internal waterways, sea or air except where that activity takes place at a site which is an establishment despite that activity.
The Control Of Major Accident Hazards Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015	These regulations apply to Northern Ireland only and establish procedures with regard to the control of major accident hazards involving dangerous substances.
The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (as amended)	The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002 are a health and safety regulations that are applicable to the environment with regards to chemical storage. COSHH is the law that requires employers to control substances that are hazardous to health. The COSHH Regulations 2002 came into force on 21 November 2002 and have since been amended in 2004, coming into force on 6 April 2005.
The Hazardous Waste Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005	These regulations implement Directive 2008/98/EC. This places controls on the management and movement of hazardous waste as well as implementing reporting requirements for producers, holders and carriers of hazardous waste. This legislation was most recently amended by Hazardous Waste (Amendment No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 which implements Commission Decision 2014/955/EU amending Decision 2000/532/EC on the list of waste. This amendment removes any reference to the Hazardous List of Wastes Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 which were revoked by this amendment.
The Offshore Installations (Offshore Safety Directive) (Safety Case, etc.) Regulations 2015	The Offshore Installation (Offshore Safety Directive) (Safety Case etc.) Regulations 2015 came into force on the 19 July 2015 replacing the 2005 Safety Case Regulations. The 2015 Regulations will implement the EC Directive on safety of offshore oil and gas operations 2013/30/EU. The EU has put Directive in place a set of rules to help prevent accidents, as well as respond promptly and efficiency should one occur. The 2015 Regulations provide for the preparation of safety cases for offshore installations and the notification of specified activities to the competent authority. Guidance was published in July 2015 on the Offshore Installations (Offshore Safety Directive) (Safety Case etc) Regulations 2015.
The Offshore Petroleum Licensing (Offshore Safety Directive) Regulations 2015	They implement Directive 2013/30/EU, on safety of offshore oil and gas operations, and make provisions regarding offshore licenses and came into force on 19 July 2015. The Regulations implement the Offshore Safety Directives requirements relating to licensing and certain environmental matters relating to emergency response, and are produced by DECC.
The Planning (Control of Major Accident Hazards) (Scotland) Regulations 2000	The Planning (Control of Major-Accident Hazards) (Scotland) Regulations 2000 came into force on 6 July 2000.
The Planning (Control of Major Accident Hazards) (Scotland) Regulations 2009	These Regulations may be cited as the Planning (Control of Major–Accident Hazards) (Scotland) Regulations 2009 and come into force on 23 November 2009.
The Planning (Hazardous Substances) Act 1990	Under these Regulations, if a site contains a hazardous substance on or under land above a specified quantity, then it is necessary to obtain consent from the hazardous substances authority. This Act came fully into force on 1 June 1992 and applies to England and Wales only.
The Planning (Hazardous Substances) (No.2) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016	Applying to Northern Ireland only, these Regulations came into force on 9 May 2016 and amend the Planning (Hazardous Substances) (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 in order to specify that Defra must be consulted before an application for hazardous substance consent is determined.
The Planning (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 2015	These Regulations (2015/627) which apply to England only amend planning procedures in relation to sites where hazardous substances are held and land near those sites. The amendments are required in order to implement the land-use planning aspects of Directive 2012/18/EU on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances. These regulations also revoke The Planning (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 1992 and The Planning (Control of Major-Accident Hazards) Regulations 1999, and came into force on 1 June 2015.
The Planning (Hazardous Substances) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015	The Planning (Hazardous Substances) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 revoke the 1993 Regulations with the same name. The 2015 Regulations came in to force on 1 April 2015, and apply only to Northern Ireland. The Regulations were implement aspects of Directive 2012/18/EU on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances.
The Planning (Hazardous Substances) (Scotland) Act 1997	An Act to consolidate certain enactments relating to special controls in respect of hazardous substances with amendments to give effect to recommendations of the Scottish Law Commission. The Act was introduced into Scottish law in 1997.
The Planning (Hazardous Substances) Wales Regulations 2015	These Regulations came into force on 4 September 2015 and apply to Wales only. They consolidate along with amendments, the Planning (Hazardous Substances) Regulations SI 1992/656, and include provisions for the determination period of procedures relating to applications to the Secretary of State and appeals against decisions under the Planning (Hazardous Substances) Act 1990. These Regulations also implement the land-use aspects of Directive 2012/18/EU on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances.
The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR)	Requires the reporting of work related accidents, diseases and dangerous occurrences. It applies to all work activities but not to all incidents. These Regulations came into force on 1 October 2013.