(29c) Nueva estructura legislativa colombiana para el Programa de Prevención de Accidentes Mayores

This work presents the strategy developed by the Colombian governmental institutions for the inclusion of international referents in the regulatory and institutional Colombian framawork. The most relevant elements are the decisions issued by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), concerning to accidents that involve hazardous substances, as well as the Convention C-174 and the Recommendation R-181 issued by the International Labor Organization (ILO), concerning to the prevention of major accidents. This inclusion considers previous international experiences in major accidents as referents for the national context.

The OECD Acts include the Decision C(88)84 about Accidents Capable of causing Transfrontier Damage; the Decision C(88)85 concerning the provision of information to the public decision-making processes related to the Prevention of, and Response to, Accidents Involving Hazardous Substances; and the Recommendation C(2003)221 concerning Chemical Accident Prevention, Preparedness and Response.

The conceptual framework for the development of a Major Accident Prevention Program in Colombia adopts different concepts, principles, elements and processes which are internationally validated (e.g. Seveso III Directive, ISO 31000, RMP, PSM). These components are used as a point of reference for the formulation the National Disaster Risk Management framework and the National Occupational Health and Safety Management System.

This strategy serves as a cornerstone for the construction of the Major Risk Prevention Program (MAPP) and considers a differential risk management approach, by classifying industrial facilities based on the presence of hazardous substances. The identification of the facilities that will be the object of the MAPP will be carried out through a list of substances of interest and their threshold values.