Does your company deal with storage of packaged dangerous goods? Then there is important news for you! The PGS organization published the draft of the revised PGS 15 guideline late last week. Users of the guideline can now comment on that draft version from their own practice – so you too can do so. The final “New Style” guideline is expected to be released in the fall of 2024. As of next January, the interim version of PGS 15 will go into effect.
Safety critical
PGS 15 is the guideline “relating to fire safety, occupational safety and environmental safety for storage and temporary storage of packaged dangerous goods.” It is crucial that this storage be safe and compliant. After all, by doing so, we minimize the risks of and chances of incidents involving the dangerous goods.
Public comment round
Through the public comment round, the PGS organization now wants to verify that the PGS team has not overlooked any issues with the revised New Style version, or that other or additional measures are needed. Interested parties can submit comments until the end of January 2024.
When in effect?
On Jan. 1, 2024 – just under a month from now – the Environment Act will take effect. The revised version of PGS 15 will not be ready to take effect at that time. Therefore, the interim version 1.0 (published in August 2021) will take effect next January 1. The revised version will be approved by the PGS Steering Committee in the fall of 2024 and adopted by the Administrative Environment Board (BOb). After that, the interim version will be replaced by the new version. This is done in the Bal (Besluit activiteiten leefomgeving) and the Bkl (Besluit kwaliteit leefomgeving). Only then is the revised version – in New Style, that is – in effect. It is not yet clear when that time will come.
For the meantime, you can read about how to use future PGS guidelines now on the Information Point Living Environment website.
New Style
A number of changes from the current version are already listed on the Hazardous Substances Publication Series website. These are inherent in the risk approach used in the New Style. This risk approach has clear(er) scenarios, measures and goals. This should make it clearer to businesses exactly what they need to comply with. The equivalence principle can also be applied to any New Style PGS. This means that companies are allowed to use alternative measures, as long as they are equivalent to those listed in the PHS.
Do you want to learn to work independently with the PGS 15 directive? Sign up for our 4-day training. Or please contact us for more information.
