Incidents at English hazardous industrial sites ‘going unchecked'
The team responsible for preventing environmental risks at England's most hazardous industrial sites is facing a recruitment crisis and one insider has warned environmental incidents are going unchecked.
The control of major accident hazards (Comah) regulations cover 950 of England's most hazardous industrial sites – from nuclear power plants to chemical manufacturers – in locations such as Buncefield oil depot near Hemel Hempstead, where, in 2005, the largest explosion in peacetime took place in the UK.
The regulations are enforced by the Environment Agency alongside the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), however, an internal EA report obtained by the Ends Report via a freedom of information request has revealed that the agency has been unable to recruit the staff it needs to monitor the sites.
The report stated: 'In the period April 2023 – April 2024, 33% of campaigns failed to produce any candidates who met the screening criteria. The most recent recruitment initiative for five positions resulted in a meagre six applicants, of which only two were external. Only two candidates were appointed.
'Over the past two years, 34 positions were advertised in this field. Despite extending offers of employment to 75% of the roles, only 13 of the advertised positions were filled.'
An EA employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the implications of these failures by the Environment Agency was that any gaps were picked up by the HSE. This mattered, they said, because the latter 'doesn't give as much weight to the environment as [it] should, and so it needs the Environment Agency there to push that agenda'.
The insider said there had been examples where the EA found out about environmental incidents much later than the HSE. 'Given the seriousness of some of these incidents, not having shared information suggests there is a breakdown,' they said.
The internal report explains there is a general scarcity of individuals in this job market, which, the regulator says, has resulted in a 'dearth' of external applicants. It states that given Environment Agency salaries are at the 'lower end', it is 'unsurprising that we receive a low number of external applicants'.
The report adds that in the past 12 months, turnover of existing staff has reached 18% and churn to other teams is at 20%. 'This is above the average rate of around 6% across all roles,' the report notes.
Existing staff have expressed frustration, referencing 'low salaries, inadequate rewards, and a lack of organisation for professional development as key factors influencing their decision to leave the organisation', the report states.
Dr Doug Parr, a policy director at Greenpeace UK, said this 'alarming data' on how 'little oversight is being applied to sites with flammable and explosive chemicals is just the tip of the iceberg'.
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Parr added: 'Lurking beneath are the weakened agencies created to stop corporations the UK relies on for vital services from overcharging and underdelivering. The withering away of enforcement is effectively a programme of radical deregulation that no one voted for, as responsibility for entire sectors – once held by elected ministers – seeps away through the widening cracks in our underfunded and underpowered regulators.'
Parr said that while Donald Trump's explosively dramatic approach to axing regulation in the US is attracting a lot of attention, this 'blitzkrieg on regulators is only one way to defang them, because decades of neglect and decay will render them toothless just as effectively as his bureaucratic knuckleduster, and do so without attracting nearly as much attention'.
An Environment Agency spokesperson said: 'We work closely with partners – including the Health and Safety Executive – to ensure the delivery and enforcement of Comah regulations. This includes ensuring all operators have intervention plans in place to prevent major accidents which could impact people and the environment. We are also undertaking a number of operational initiatives in order to improve staff recruitment and retention in this area.'
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