Gas Infrastructure Safety Cases
As at 22 October 2018, two sets of gas safety regulations under the Gas Safety Act 1997 came into effect.
Most of the provisions from the Gas Safety (Gas Quality) Regulations 2017 have been included in the new Gas Safety (Safety Case) Regulations 2018 as they are largely of interest to the same stakeholders. One provision relating to the supply of LPG has been included in the Gas Safety (Gas Installation) Regulations 2018 given it has broader application across the gas supply industry.
Gas Safety (Gas Installation) Regulations 2018
The primary objective of the Regulations is to reduce the risks associated with the use of gas appliances and gasfitting work, and to ensure that controls on gas appliances and complex gas installations operate efficiently.
Gas Safety (Safety Case) Regulations 2018
The regulations require gas companies – including natural gas transmission and distribution companies, gas retailers and LP Gas businesses – to submit a safety case to ESV and to comply with an accepted safety case. The Gas Safety Act 1997 also allows submission of safety cases for complex gas installations on a voluntary basis and permits complex gas installation operators and Type B gas appliance manufacturers to seek exemption from prescriptive compliance requirements.
The primary objective of the Regulations is to prescribe content requirements for safety cases and safety management systems, standards of gas quality and requirements for testing of gas conveyed through pipelines, and requirements for reporting of gas incidents to ESV.
Safety case policy and guidelines
In addition to the regulations, ESV has published three key documents which support the application of the safety management regime.
- Gas and Pipeline Infrastructure Safety Case Policy: explains how ESV intends to interpret and apply the safety management regime, and clarify what is intended to be achieved through compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements.
- Gas Safety Case Preparation and Submission for Facilities and Pipelines Guidelines: intended to help you better understand how to develop and comply with an accepted safety case.
- Safety Management Plan Preparation and Submission for Pipelines: to help you understand how to develop and comply with an accepted safety management plan.