Health, Safety & Quality Consultancy
The Petroleum (Consolidation) Regulations 2014 – These new Regulations came into force on 1st October 2014 consolidating eight previous pieces of legislation on the storage of petroleum. They have an unusual range of application covering the storage of petrol on domestic premises and filling stations. Within other workplaces, the topic is governed by the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulation 2002. The Regulations describe the maximum storage quantity on domestic premises (30 litres) and the types of container. Bespoke plastic fuel cans can now be up to 10 litres in capacity (an increase from 5 litres) and metal cans can be a maximum of 20 litres capacity (an increase from the previous 10 litres).
Acetylene Safety (England, Wales and Scotland) Regulations 2014 – On 1st October 2014, these Regulations came into force for the first time, drawing together in one place, most of the legislative requirements relating to acetylene. Under the previous rather complex system, the control of acetylene came within explosives legislation. The legal requirements for explosives have undergone a whole scale review and as a result, these specific regulations have been written to help duty holders to understand what is required. For users of acetylene there are no material changes but there are some amendments, compared with the previous requirements, which affect those who manufacture acetylene, fill cylinders etc.
Explosives Regulations 2014 – As described above, there has been a major review of explosives legislation and as a result, the Explosives Regulations 2014 came into force on 1st October 2014. They consolidate elements of one Act, ten pieces of secondary legislation and fifteen exemption certificates. The Approved Code of Practice to the Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulations 2005 (L139) has now been withdrawn.
A new guidance document, L150 “Explosive Regulations 2014: Guidance on safety provisions”, applies.