The Department of Employment and Labour is set to publish amendments to the Major Hazards Installations (MHI) Regulations in efforts to ensure increased safety in this sector.
“MHI is a highly hazardous field, and should be controlled in such a manner to prevent major incidents,” said the department.
Part of the amendments will focus on emergency preparedness plans. The department will also work closely with municipalities to formulate strategies to be better prepared in case of major hazards installations catastrophes.
A major hazard installation is an industrial facility that manufactures and/or stores relatively large quantities of chemical materials, which if they were to lose containment, would result in effects that could cause harm to personnel and members of the public outside the facility.
The department on Wednesday hosted an MHI workhop at eThekwini Electrical Springfield in Durban. The workshop formed part of a series of workshops to be held where the department is sensitising local authorities on the amendments.
The workshops are also being held to collect inputs to develop an MHI technical document.
The department said the floods which hit Durban earlier this year, should be used as an example of the state of readiness of cities to deal with disasters.
The department is currently collecting inputs in the three provinces (KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape and Gauteng) with the highest numbers of MHI to improve its services.
The inputs will assist in developing a Memorandum of Understanding to effectively control and regulate the MHI industry.
The Western Cape is scheduled to host the next round of workshops at the Tygerberg Hospital premises in Parow on 21 and 22 November. - SAnews.gov.za
