The Control of Major Chemical Hazards in Switzerland


Swiss establishments with major chemical hazards

Swiss establishments with major chemical hazards

A disastrous fire in a large chemicals storage near Basel on November 1 1986 directed the attention to the risk of handling, storage, and transport of large quantities of hazardous chemicals. In the aftermath of the accident, the Swiss government drew up the Ordinance on “Protection against Major Accidents” (OMA), which came into force on April 1 1991.

In the beginning, only establishments with more than certain amounts of hazardous materials, formulations and special wastes, as well as transport routes used for the shipping of dangerous goods (railway lines, roads, and Rhine river), and new pipelines were subjected to the ordinance. Later, genetically modified and pathogenic microorganisms were included too.

The slide presentation is available in German only. However, the highlighted papers provide a good overview on how Switzerland controls major chemical hazards.


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