Accessibility statement
 

Emergency procedures and notification of accidents

Emergency procedures

The GMO Regulations only require emergency plans to be prepared if the risk assessment indicates that the health and safety of people outside premises, or the wider environment, may be affected. In practice, an emergency plan is unlikely to be necessary for most small scale activities or those involving low risk organisms.

If an emergency plan is required, it should:

  • include measures to be taken in the event of accident to which to plan relates
  • be reviewed and, where necessary, revised at suitably regular intervals

The person undertaking the activity should:

  • inform the emergency services and any body or authority liable to be affected by the accident
  • make the plan and any revisions of the plan publicly available.

Notification of accidents

The Contained Use Regulations refers to an accident as a significant and unintended release, either within the containment facility or to the environment, of GMOs which could cause harm to humans or the environment. Such accidents should be immediately reported to the HSA(BS) who will inform the DHS, who will in turn inform the competent authority (HSE). Information that should be provided in notifications of accidents is detailed in Appendix 4 of ACGM CoP. This requirement is in addition to the requirement under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) to report accidents.

Minor spillages within the containment facility of micro-organisms used in class 1 activities will not normally constitute significant releases of GMOs and will not routinely require notification. This is because they would be highly unlikely to affect people within the facility and will be easily dealt with so that they do not reach the environment. However, such spillages must be cleaned up with a validated disinfection procedure.