A Dutch Safety Board report says there are still shortcomings among some companies handling hazardous materials (hazmats) four years after the forced shutdown of Odfjell’s storage facility in port of Rotterdam.

While the report makes the general conclusion that companies involved in the hazmat sector and public sector bodies have taken measures to improve safety within high-risk companies, this is “no less than could be expected of them in view of the severity of the safety situation at Odfjell in the period up to the shutdown in 2012”.

The efforts of the various parties involved have resulted in worthwhile improvements in safety management at high-risk companies, the Safety Board found. However, the board “is not yet convinced” that the measures taken as a whole lead to “an appropriate and sustainable safety level” for high-risk companies.
“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 report concludes. “This is a joint responsibility of the companies and government. The board feels that there are still vulnerabilities and a number of shortcomings in the interpretation of this responsibility.”

A full summary of the report will be featured in the next issue of Storage Terminals Magazine.

8th March 2017

9th March 2017