The preparation of safeguarding plans

1. Explosives sites licensed under the Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulations (MSER) 2005 have protected works distances specified in their licences. These are classes A to E, and a reference zone (the reference zone only applies where reduced separation distances are used). These distances are specified in the license at the bottom of each building schedule. The purpose of these distances is to limit the risks to people in the vicinity of the licensed facility.
2. For new or varied site licences issued under MSER, there is a legal requirement on the licensee to submit a safeguarding plan to the local planning authority within 28 days of the license being granted. The Explosives Inspectorate strongly advises licensees to prepare the safeguarding plan as soon as possible after the draft license has been agreed and submits this to the Inspectorate at the earliest opportunity for checking so that the requirements under MSER can be met.
3. In order to assist licensees in preserving these distances, Planning Authorities are required to consult the Health and Safety Executive on planning applications in the vicinity of licensed explosives sites.  Details are given in DETR Circular 04/2000, Circular 20/1 from the National Assembly of Wales and Scottish Office Environment Department Circular 5/1993.
4. The long standing method of specifying the area around a site for consultation is to adopt a single distance figure.  This is used to define an area around a site measured from the boundary or some defined point within it.  This has the merit of ease of application.  However, in many cases the hazards within a site are not evenly distributed and this method can lead to needless consultation in areas adjacent to the less hazardous parts of the site.
5. The current method of specifying an area for consultation is for the licensee to prepare a 'safeguarding plan'.  MSER Reg 5 (6) requires the licensee to submit ap plan to the Local Authority showing separation distances. The recommended means of doing this is to prepare a safeguarding plan showing the explosives site and the surrounding area with colour coded lines marked on it to show the protected works or safeguarding distances.  This system has the dual advantage of reducing the consultation area around the less hazardous parts of the site and also breaking the area down into bands according to the nature of the developments relevant to that band.
6. The colour coding of lines is according to the following table:-

   Colour	In EXPLOSIVE SITES
   Red	Extent of licensed site
   Black	Extent of ownership where this extends beyond the red line
   Green	Envelope of Class B (Public Traffic Route) distances
   Yellow	Envelope of Class D (Inhabited Building) distances
   Purple	Envelope of Class E (buildings of vulnerable construction) distances.
   Blue	Envelope of reference Zone boundaries (if reduced distances apply to one or more buildings)

   An example describing the method of preparation of a safeguarding plan is given at Annex A.
7. The scale chosen for the plan depends on the size of the site and the extent of the purple or blue line.  The scale chosen should be such that the finished plan is no larger than A0.  For larger sites it may be better to produce two plans one showing all but the 'purple' line and a second showing only the 'red' and 'purple' lines.  Safeguarding plans should be based on the most recent issue of an Ordnance Survey plan at the chosen scale. Ordnance Survey plans that are well suited for this function are 1:2500 Superplan and 1:5000 Landplan. Significant recent developments should be marked up on the plan.
8. Once agreed with HSE, four copies of the plan should be prepared, one sent to the Local Planning Authority, two to the HSE Explosives Inspectorate, with a copy kept at the licensed site for reference.

 

HM Explosives Inspectorate
1.2 Redgrave Court
Merton Road
Bootle
L20 7HS

June 2005

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Annex A

Example of Preparation of a safeguarding plan

1. Explosives are manufactured in a small licensed site. There are two manufacturing building (P1 &  P2), four magazines (M1 to M4) and two office buildings. An adjacent field is owned by the site, but let out to a local farmer to graze his cattle.
   [Note - for the purposes of safeguarding plans land occupied on a lease is regarded as being owned].
2. The Licence for the site specifies the following safety distances on the building schedule.

   Building	Class B (m)	Class D (m)	Class E (m)	Ref Zone Radius (m)
   P1	26	52	104
   P2	30	60	120
   M1	34	76 (reduced distance)	136	136
   M2	48	96	191
   M3	48	96	191
   M4	81	161(reduced distance)	161	322

3. The red and black lines are drawn on the plan first to indicate the extent of the licensed site and extent of ownership. The black line need not be shown where it is coincident with the red line. Secondly lines and arcs are drawn from the edges of each building at a scale distance corresponding to the appropriate Class B distance.  Once this has been completed for each building the outermost envelope of the arcs and lines is coloured green to indicate the maximum extent of the Class B distance where it extends beyond the black line.
4. The procedure is repeated for the yellow line using the Class D distance and the purple line using the Class E distance indicated on the licence. For those buildings using a reduced Class D dwelling distance, the reference zone radius for the buildings needs also to be shown.  The plan is marked with its scale and an indication of which direction is north, if this does not already appear. If a plan is to be photocopied, it is important that a scale bar is added before photocopying as this process often distorts the scale. The plan is then named, dated and despatched.
5. The plan for this site would look similar to Figure 1.

Figure 1 - Example safeguarding plan