The field of major industrial accidents in the EU is regulated by the Seveso Directive. In Slovenia, the content of the Seveso Directive was incorporated into the Decree on the Prevention of Major Accidents and Mitigation of their Consequences. The decree lays down mandatory precautionary measures to be taken by operators causing risk to prevent major accidents involving dangerous chemicals and to mitigate the consequences of such accidents for people and the environment.
According to the Decree on the Prevention of Major Accidents and Mitigation of their Consequences, operators must be properly classified in accordance with the criteria for which the type and quantity of hazardous substances are considered. For a high risk facility, a key content element is the safety report. With the safety report, which is part of the application for an environmental permit, the operator proves to the administrative body that it ensures safe operation in accordance with its content and that it has taken all necessary steps to plan, build, operate, maintain, make major changes, stop, and prevent major accidents and mitigate their consequences.
This thesis deals with a high risk facility in the coating industry, that has obtained an environmental permit from the Ministry of the Environment, the Environmental Agency of the Republic of Slovenia, which means that it has formally proven that it ensures safe operation. Whether this really is the case, and where the possible shortcomings, gaps, and opportunities for improvement are is examined through a systematic review of the operator’s performance. In doing so, three areas of equal importance for action were considered: technique, work organization and worker behavior. The thesis provides an analysis of the situation, a review of the effectiveness of existing measures and proposals for improvements at the system level as well as an opportunity for organizational and technical improvements.
A systematic structural review and the results of the analysis are also useful to these other operators, because a comprehensive review of risk management has been performed with the opportunity for improvements regardless of the industry.
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