Commission announces the creation of a Major Accident Hazards Bureau
The European Commission has officially announced the creation of a Major Accident Hazards Bureau (MAHB) at the Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy. The Bureau will assist the Community in its efforts to prevent potential major accidents, and thereby ensure a high level of protection of man and the environment. In particular, the Bureau will undertake the following tasks: - The analysis of major accidents notified to the Commission and the dissemination of the lessons learnt; - The running of a Community Documentation Centre on Industrial Risk; - The sponsoring and organization of various special studies and workshops. The Bureau is set up jointly by Directorates-General XI (Environment) and XII (Research) of the European Commission. DG XI is responsible for Community action aimed at the prevention of major accidents and the limitation of their consequences for man and the environment. The scientific and technical support for this function is provided by the Joint Research Centre of the Commission. The creation of a special Bureau within the Joint Research Centre is intended to enhance this support, and it will assist in the development and retention of more specialised information and experience. The creation of the new Bureau also represents a more efficient and transparent way of making information available to the Member States and the general public. There is great public concern over the "major accident hazards" associated with certain industrial activities involving dangerous substances, which have the potential to cause serious injury to people or significant damage to the environment. Such major accidents have occurred within the Community and worldwide with incidents at Flixborough (UK, 1974), Seveso (Italy, 1976) and Bhopal (India, 1984) being examples of the most serious. For many years, the Commission has been actively involved in ensuring a high level of civil protection. Community action on the control of major accident hazards is covered by Directive 82/501/EEC, the so-called "Seveso Directive" (currently under review).