COMAH Operations

A key area of our expertise is compliance with the requirements of the Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations 2015. We specialise in helping our clients understand and manage complex risk. Only once your hazards are properly understood, can they be managed.

Since our formation in 1993, we have supported well over eighty UK Upper and Lower Tier COMAH establishments across the energy, pharmaceutical and specialist chemical sectors. RAS can support you with all aspects of COMAH, from performing consequence modelling and standalone risk assessments through to full coordination of COMAH Safety Report preparation.

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COMAH Compliance

The COMAH regulations are designed to minimise the risk of major accidents involving dangerous substances, to protect both people and the environment. We develop a bespoke plan that is the right fit for the unique nature of each COMAH operator – whether they are a Lower or Upper Tier COMAH establishment.

Operators of COMAH sites must demonstrate that they have taken all measures necessary to minimise the risk of major accidents. This includes performing a robust risk assessment, developing emergency response procedures and preparing a safety report.

Throughout the COMAH lifecycle we strive to build a strong working partnership with you and to keep you up to date with the latest regulatory expectations so that you can demonstrate compliance in line with the latest expectations.

We believe that developing a good relationship with the Regulator is key. Our experience in communicating with The COMAH Competent Authority, enables us to provide you with a clear picture of Regulator expectations

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ALARP Demonstration

We can support you in developing a demonstration that your risks have been managed to a level that is considered to be ‘ALARP’.

The concept of reducing risks to As Low as Reasonably Practicable (ALARP) forms the basis good process safety management established in the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

There is no one way to achieve ALARP – it is goal-setting framework with flexibility to implement risk management solutions appropriate to your business. Whilst you are not expected to eliminate all risk, you need to do everything ‘reasonably practicable’ to protect people from harm.

We take a multi-disciplinary approach to the ALARP assessment to ensure a holistic understanding of the risk.  We can support you in developing a demonstration that your risks have been managed to a level that is considered to be ALARP. This may include benchmarking against good practice and facilitating workshops to consider ‘what more can be done?’ to reduce risk.

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COMAH Intervention Support

As part of the COMAH requirements, establishments are subjected to planned interventions by the COMAH Competent Authority.

Due to our experience across the COMAH sector, we can provide key insights on regulatory expectations and guide you through the COMAH intervention cycle. We can inform you on upcoming ‘hot-topics’ to keep you ahead of the game when preparing for you next intervention

RAS provide bespoke  support to meet your needs – whether this is help in preparing for your next intervention, attending the intervention visit to facilitate your discussions with the regulator or support in managing information requests or actions legal issued by the Regulator.

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Bowtie Diagrams

We can help you to understand your major accident hazards by developing bowtie diagrams, which visualise the threats, barriers and potential consequences.

A bowtie provides an overview of the risk management strategy and highlight the critical barriers in place to prevent, control and mitigate against harmful consequences. They can be implemented as a high-level communication tool or they can be actively used operationally.

RAS are well experienced in developing bowtie diagrams to give you a valuable overview of your specific hazards and give you insight on the importance of the safeguards in place.

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COMAH Safety Reports

COMAH reports are an area of particular expertise at RAS, and we provide ongoing support to number of long-term clients throughout their review cycle.

The duties placed upon operators under these regulations can feel onerous, particularly for newcomers to the regulations. By implementing a pragmatic approach and exploiting our extensive experience, we reduce the burden of the COMAH regime.

If you are new to COMAH we can guide you through the requirements of the regulations and develop the Pre-Construction Safety Report (PCSR) necessary for getting the green light for new entrants to COMAH.

RAS also have extensive experience in supporting existing establishments undertaking significant modifications or increases in hazardous inventories, in making their demonstration of compliance with COMAH .

Our COMAH support also covers key activities at the detailed design and commissioning phases, from the Pre-Operations Safety Report (POSR) to the Operational Safety Report (OSR) and continues with the preparation of five yearly reviews and updating of your COMAH  reports.

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Training

We share our expert knowledge through a range of training courses, either offered though recognised industry bodies or through bespoke, in-house courses which are tailored specifically to your needs.

Each of our courses are delivered by an experienced facilitator, who have the practical experience of the subject they are talking about. We are experts first, trainers second and encourage questions, participation, and feedback as part of the learning experience.

RAS can offer a vast range training programmes on subjects across our expertise, including: Risk Assessment and ALARP, Process Safety Leadership and Climate Change.

We will develop a training course tailored to your unique hazard. Please get in touch today for all your training needs and we will work with you to develop a training course to build your awareness and deepen your understanding.

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Want to Find Out More About our Process Safety support?

We will provide bespoke solutions that are the right fit for you and your team

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is hazard identification and why is it important?

Hazard identification is the name given to the process of evaluating process and systems, to identify potential causes that could result in hazardous consequences.We specialise in helping our clients understand and manage complex risk. Only once your hazards are properly understood, can they be managed.

Hazard identification is the bedrock of risk assessment. If the hazard identification technique is incorrect or quality of the study is poor, then all risk analysis, assessments and decisions made based on those studies are of equally low quality, and you cannot be sure that your risks are appropriately managed

What does COMAH compliance require?

A key area of our expertise is compliance with the requirements of the Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations 2015, which are designed to minimise the risk of major accidents involving dangerous substances, to protect both people and the environment.

Operators of COMAH sites, whether they are a Lower or Upper Tier, must demonstrate that they have taken all measures necessary to minimise the risk of major accidents.

Aspects required under COMAH include a Major Accident Prevention Policy (MAPP), a robust risk assessment, emergency response procedures and for upper tier sites, a COMAH safety report.

We can work with you to develop a bespoke plan that is the right fit for you and proportionate to the level of risk and scale of your operations.

How does RAS tailor their studies to specific project needs?

We are innovative, creative and agile. Every piece of work we undertake is bespoke to the needs of our clients.

We have a holistic approach to complex risk management, developing smart solutions which work for you.

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