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This is an article from the September Bulletin Issue written by Brian Humm, Editor of The Bulletin and Jamie Thompson, Chairman of the Technical Committee.
We are working with an oil company providing their chain of petrol stations with DSEAR and Fire Risk Assessments, and we are getting some push back on a few topics. I hoped you might be able to provide some clarity?
If works take place such as changing a pump or adding an EV point, would you risk assess the full site and not just that area or change? My thought is that the DSEAR risk might have changed at the site so the whole site would need to be assessed. Would you say that is the correct course of action?
At what point would a petroleum officer or person of authority take away a licence to operate? Would an out-of-date DSEAR or Fire Risk Assessment be enough of a reason? If so, is there a period of time that would be considered totally unacceptable for an assessment to be out of date?
The action of installing an EV charging point and a straight forward pump/dispenser change would not constitute a prescribed material change so therefore no notice is required under the Petroleum (Consolidation) Regulations 2014, however in advice given by the Petroleum Enforcement Liaison Group (PELG, which is an HSE committee for petrol safety) states within PELG PETEL 20, Electric vehicle charging equipment on petrol forecourts, advice as to the liaison and the information that is required to be given in EV charger installation, it also has a template letter, within appendix A, that can be utilised to inform installers etc. of their responsibilities, for example informing the local fire service of the additional risk at the filling station.
In regard to DSEAR, there will need to be a review of the existing DSEAR assessment, and the EV charging will need to be added, because of the potential extra risk added to the forecourt, also the risk assessment carried out under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 will need to include the EV charging as well.
The time limit you mention is applicable to a review. All risk assessments must be reviewed periodically or when a material change takes place. There is no guidance as to what periodical means in an actual time frame but as a guide (that I use) it’s generally every 3 years, but you can justify longer or shorter periods if needed.
The PETEL also gives good advice on all the guidance available for this type of operation in respect of EV chargers.
In regard to the enforcement part of your query, the petroleum storage certificate for a site remains in place until there is a prescribed material change, as defined within the regulations, or the site ceases to store petrol. This means that a Petroleum Enforcing Authority cannot revoke a petrol storage certificate at any premises – all enforcement now comes within the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and DSEAR and can comprise verbal advice, an initial infringement letter, an improvement notice and in the most severe cases a prohibition notice for all, or part of the site or process can be issued.
Brian Humm
Editor of The Bulletin
I have recently inspected a brand-new filling station and when checking the vent arrangement, I found that a new flame arrestor manufactured in the UK had a marking that it complied with BS 7244, however this standard is not mentioned in The Blue Book which asks for a different standard. Is it OK to accept BS 7244 standard?
The flame arrestor manufactured to this old standard is no longer accepted and must be replaced with one that has been manufactured and tested by a notified body to comply with EN ISO 16852 as stated in The Blue Book. This is a legal requirement under the ATEX Directive which is part of UK legislation.
You can check compliance if you have doubts by asking for the manufacturer to send you a copy of the test certificate which will be issued by the notified body when testing the flame arrestor.
Jamie Thompson
APEA Technical Chairman
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