The supervision of the chemical industry is a sham, with inspections rarely leading to tough action such as closure and inspectors merely having ‘a quiet word’ with the management, the AD reports on Wednesday

The paper bases its claim on an analysis of 17 new inspection reports made after visits to refineries and storage facilities in the Rotterdam port area.
Twelve of the companies inspected violated safety procedures. These violations, 47 in total, lead to unacceptable risks because in the case of fire or leaks, dangerous chemicals can be released into the air, the AD said.
New problems

In many cases problems are not solved, or new violations of safety rules are uncovered when the plants are inspected again.
The chemical sector is subject to inspection by various supervisory organisations, ranging from the Rotterdam environment service to the fire service.
Earlier this year, a report into a fire at chemicals storage plant Chemie-Pack said the company failed to meet operating permit conditions and did not keep to its own policy or procedures.