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Act No. 261/2002 Coll. on Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents and
amending and supplementing certain other acts
The regulation of this act (the ``Act'') stipulates requirements and procedure in
the prevention of major industrial accidents in enterprises storing selected dangerous
substances and for preparedness for their elimination and for limitation of their consequences
on life and health of people, environment and property in case of their occurrence. The Act is
based on the EU Directive No. 96/82/EC dated 9 December 1996 on the control of major-accident
hazards involving dangerous substances (so called ``Seveso II Directive'') which is
effective as of 3 February 1997.
This Act does not apply to:
- military buildings and establishments,
- buildings and establishments of the Ministry of Interior Affairs of the Slovak
Republic,
- hazards originating in ionising radiation,
- transit of selected dangerous substances, including their temporary storage, loading and
unloading during transit out of bounds of enterprises and establishments to which this Act
applies,
- transit of dangerous substances in pipelines out of bounds of enterprises and
establishments to which this Act applies,
- research, investigation and mining of minerals,
- dumps.
Provisions of separate regulations regulating safety and protection of health at work,
prevention, announcement and elimination of accidents and limitation of their consequences
remain unchanged, the Act only stipulates certain additional, detailed and particular duties of
operators and the relevant bodies.
Under this Act, an enterprise shall mean the whole area under the control of the same
operator where a selected dangerous substance is present, while chemical substances listed in
Annex No. 1 of the Act are deemed as selected dangerous substances.
A major industrial accident is an occurrence, such as a major emission, fire or explosion
with presence of one or more selected dangerous substances, resulting from uncontrolled
development in the course of the operation of any of the enterprises covered by this Act, and
leading to serious danger to life, human health, environment or property, immediate or delayed,
inside or outside the enterprise.
Each operator of an enterprise is obliged to classify its enterprise according to the total
quantity of the present selected dangerous substances into one of the three categories:
enterprises to which the duties under this Act do not apply, enterprises of category
``A'' and enterprises of category ``B''. A notification of classification into
the particular category has to be delivered to the relevant district office which keeps a
register of enterprises of category ``A'' and category ``B'', which are
situated in its territory.
The operator is liable to take all measures necessary for prevention of major industrial
accidents, elimination or limitation of their consequences in case of occurrence. It is mainly
obliged to:
- select the best available methods at construction of new establishments or modernisation
of the existing ones,
- operate the establishments and use the selected dangerous substances in accordance with
documentation and requirements stipulated by the relevant body,
- execute and keep required documentation (risk assessment, programme of prevention of
major industrial accidents, safety management system and safety report, emergency plan and
documents for plan of protection of the public),
- implement a system for risk assessment of major industrial accidents,
- take necessary measures for prevention of major industrial accidents (regular control of
establishments, etc.),
- appoint persons with required qualification in the operation of establishments and at all
levels of control and provide them with required courses, training and equipment,
- perform imposed remedial measures,
- provide necessary co-operation with the relevant bodies.
For co-ordination and control of provision of tasks arising from this Act, the operator is
obliged to appoint a qualified person, i.e. a person with required education and professional
training, who passed an exam and received a certificate of qualification of an emergency
engineer or an expert in prevention of major industrial accidents (these are the new trades
requiring professional qualification from 1 July 2002). The Ministry of Environment of the
Slovak Republic (the ``Ministry'') keeps a list of such qualified persons.
The operator may perform tasks arising from this Act also in an external form, through an
individual or a legal entity that was authorised to such activity by the Ministry.
Operators of the existing enterprises (i.e. enterprises put into operation before 30 June
2002, or before 31 December 2003, if a building permit or other similar permit is issued before
30 June 2002) are obliged to:
- check the total quantity of selected dangerous substances present in the enterprise and
classify the enterprise into the relevant category within 6 months from the effective date of
the Act,
- perform a preliminary risk estimation within one year from the effective date of the Act
and deliver a notification of classification of the enterprise into a particular category to
the relevant district office,
- prepare a programme of prevention of major industrial accidents, put into operation a
safety management system and appoint and inform the relevant district office of a qualified
person for co-ordination and control of provision of tasks arising from this Act within 18
months from the effective date of the Act,
- perform risk assessment, prepare emergency plan, provide first-aid service and
information to the public according to this Act, conclude a contract on insurance or other
financing of liability for damage arisen out of a major industrial accident within 3 years
from the effective date of the Act. The operators of the enterprises classified into category
``B'' are obliged to submit a safety report to the district office within the same
time period.
For breach of duties stipulated by this Act, a penalty may be imposed on the operator of an
enterprise up to SKK 5,000,000 and also remedial measures of consequences of wrongful acts for
which a penalty was imposed, may be imposed on the same.
This Act amends and supplements the following acts:
- Act No. 42/1994 Coll. on Civil Protection of the Public, as amended,
- Act No. 455/1991 Coll. on Trade Licensing (Trade Licensing Act), as amended,
- Act No. 223/2001 Coll. on Waste, as amended,
- Act No. 287/1994 Coll. on Conservation and Rural Preservation, as amended.
This Act came into force on 1 July 2002.
Last modified: 2003-03-01
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