Dangerous chemical companies still not up to scratch on safety

Odfjell’s terminal in Botlek. Photo: Odfjell SE

While there have been some safety improvements at Dutch companies which deal with dangerous chemicals there are still many problems which need to be solved, the Dutch safety board OVV says in a new report.

The report looked at changes made following the shut-down of the bulk chemical storage company Odfjell in Rotterdam port in 2012, after officials said it faced an ‘unmanaged safety situation’.

The report concludes that ‘worthwhile improvements in safety management at high-risk companies’ have been made. However, the board is not yet convinced the sector operates appropriate and sustainable safety levels.

‘Preventing long-term unsafe situations at high-risk companies requires a robust set of structural measures to limit the risks as much as reasonably possible,’ the board said. ‘This is a joint responsibility of the companies and the government.’

The Netherlands has some 400 companies which are subject to ‘major accident risk decrees’.

The safety board report said that Odjell has since ‘addressed its safety deficiencies’ and ‘made many improvements in order to manage safety at the terminal’. The drastic nature of the shut-down was a ‘wake-up call’ and a warning to all high-risk companies in the Netherlands, the report said.

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