Applying for approval of a safety report for a major hazard facility (MHF)

Parts of the report

The safety report is a three-part document that must be submitted in a form acceptable to the department’s Chief Officer.

Part A: Notifiable information

Includes information on providing a description of the facility (e.g. facility layout, equipment and processes necessary to be able to identify hazards leading to a major incident).

Part B. Risk assessment

Includes information on undertaking a formal safety assessment (e.g. identification of major incidents and risk assessments aimed at establishing the adequacy of controls against all hazards) and states where the risk assessment documentation is available for inspection (i.e. the safety report does not include all the risk assessment documentation).

Part C. Safety management system

Includes information on the safety management system prepared for the facility (e.g. control measures against hazards and risks) and states where the safety management system is available for inspection (i.e. the safety report does not include all the safety management system documentation).

Applying for approval

Only the safety report is lodged with the department’s Chief Officer for approval but, prior to this, there is extensive assessment and consultation with the proponents on the supporting risk assessment, safety management system description and other verification materials.

Approval process

The extensive consultation with the department from an early stage (i.e. time of initial notification) generally eliminates or reduces the need for additional validation once the safety report is submitted for approval by the Chief Officer.  However, the Chief Officer may also request additional documentation or an on-site assessment to be satisfied that the safety report is valid.