Hazardous incident law

Major Accidents Ordinance (12. BImSchV)

Establishments that handle certain hazardous or incident-relevant substances in quantities above defined thresholds fall within the scope of the 12th BImSchV (StörfallV). These companies are operating areas according to § 3 (5a) BImSchG and are subject to special obligations in the context of accident prevention.

Are you already an operating area or will you become an operating area? We will be happy to support you with the following services.

Are you unsure whether your business falls within the scope of the Major Accidents Ordinance? Then we will be happy to support you with an applicability check of the Major Accidents Ordinance.

Please do not hesitate to contact us.

Procedure
To determine whether an establishment falls within the scope of the Major Accidents Ordinance, the entire area under the supervision of an operator must first be identified. All hazardous substances within the meaning of the Major Accidents Ordinance present in this area must then be identified. In accordance with the requirements of Annex I of the StörfallV, the relevant substances identified and their quantities must be used to calculate whether the quantity thresholds in Annex I of the StörfallV are reached or exceeded.
Classification of waste KAS-61
The KAS-61 guideline is particularly relevant for the classification of waste. This gives you the option of classifying waste on a general basis or with the help of detailed knowledge. However, as the blanket classifications are necessarily conservative, it is often worth considering your waste fractions on a case-by-case basis (classification with detailed knowledge). We will be happy to classify your waste for assessment in accordance with the Hazardous Incident Ordinance. See also “Classification of residual materials within the meaning of the Hazardous Incident Ordinance (12th BImSchV)” at the bottom of the page.
Necessity
A safety inspection in accordance with § 29 a BImSchG is ordered by the authorities. This is often already stipulated in the approval notice for your plant. However, your competent authority can also order a safety inspection, for example, if there are indications that certain safety requirements are not being met.
Procedure
Safety inspections in accordance with Section 29a BImSchG can be carried out in very different ways. Ultimately, the authority determines the scope of the inspection. This is usually regulated in the approval notice for your plant.
Inspector
Safety inspections in accordance with § 29a BImSchG may only be carried out by experts notified in accordance with § 29b BImSchG. We would be happy to inspect for you.
Appropriate safety distance
The appropriate safety distance according to § 3 (5c) BImSchG is the distance between an operating area and a neighboring protected object and is particularly relevant for spatially significant planning according to § 50 BImSchG. The Commission for Plant Safety has published the guidelines KAS-18 and the working aid KAS-32 for calculating the appropriate safety distance. The scenarios described there serve as a guide for determining the appropriate safety distance for your company as well.
Incident scenarios for safety reports
In accordance with Annex II Section IV, major-accident scenarios and their probability or the conditions for their occurrence must be described in safety reports in order to fulfill the requirements of Article 9 (1) No. 2 of the Major Accidents Ordinance (12th BImSchV). The extent and severity of the consequences of the identified major accidents must also be estimated. When deriving the scenarios, the release and spread of acutely toxic substances, gas cloud explosions and fires are generally considered, the respective effects are calculated and compared with recognized assessment values that indicate the occurrence of a serious hazard.
Expansion of explosion protection zones
As part of the creation of an explosion protection document, it may be necessary to determine the extent of explosion protection zones. We will be happy to carry out this calculation for you and also support you with other explosion protection issues.
Preparation
The concept for the prevention of major accidents is drawn up on the basis of the requirements of Section 8 in conjunction with Annex III of the Major Accidents Ordinance (12th BImSchV). Furthermore, the requirements of the KAS-19 guideline are taken into account during preparation.
Testing or preparation
We are happy to support you in the preparation of your major accident concept. If required by the authorities, we can also check your existing incident concept. Please note, however, that we cannot review any incident concepts that we have helped to create.
Necessity
A concept for the prevention of major accidents must be drawn up for the first time before an operating area is commissioned. In the case of upper-tier operating areas, the accident prevention plan is generally integrated into the safety report. The concept for the prevention of major accidents must also be updated at least every 5 years.
Preparation
The minimum contents of the safety report are specified in Annex II of the Major Accidents Ordinance. These minimum contents are specified in the KAS-55 guidelines.
Testing or preparation
We are happy to support you in the preparation of your safety report. If required by the authorities, we can also check your existing safety report. Please note, however, that we cannot review safety reports that we have helped to prepare.
Necessity
A safety report must be prepared for the first time before commissioning an upper-tier operating area. It must also be updated at least every 5 years.
Assessment based on waste genesis
The general classifications according to waste code numbers given in the KAS-61 guideline are based on a conservative assessment of all waste to be classified under this waste code. By knowing the waste genesis, hazardous characteristics can already be excluded here.
Assessment based on analysis results
Based on e.g. element analyses, a technically sound estimate of the maximum hazard potential to be expected can be made in the sense of a conservative assessment with fictitious (but real) compounds. Although this approach is also conservative, as a rule it is still possible to exclude generally assumed hazard characteristics.

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