industry and environment - DTIE

Chemicals management
Transparency and communities’
right-to-know: working towards better
disaster management through the OECD
Marie-Chantal Huet, Administrator, OECD Chemical Accidents Programme, Environment, Health and Safety Division,
OECD, Paris, OECD, 2 rue André Pascal, 75775 Paris Cedex 16, France (marie-chantal.huet@oecd.org)
Summary
Governments and industry are increasingly making efforts to share information on chemical
safety. There are many national and international legal tools to ensure communities’ rightto-know.
In this regard, the OECD has developed guidance and adopted a number of Decisions
and Recommendations related to chemical safety. Communication with the public is a joint
responsibility of government, industry and the community, and public-private partnership is
essential. Society generally benefits when information about the risks of chemical operations
is shared broadly. Nevertheless, there is concern that making certain types of information publicly
available could endanger security.
Résumé
Les gouvernements et l’industrie font de plus en plus d’efforts pour échanger l’information sur
la sécurité chimique. Il existe de nombreux instruments juridiques nationaux et internationaux
pour garantir aux citoyens le droit de savoir. De son côté, l’OCDE a émis des avis et a adopté
un certain nombre de décisions et recommandations relatives à la sécurité chimique. La communication
avec le public est la responsabilité conjointe du gouvernement, de l’industrie et
des citoyens et la coopération entre secteur public et secteur privé est, à cet égard, essentielle.
La société a généralement tout à gagner à échanger le plus largement possible l’information
sur les risques liés aux activités impliquant des produits chimiques. Le risque que la communication
au public de certaines informations mette en péril la sécurité suscite cependant certaines
inquiétudes.
Resumen
Los sectores gubernamentales e industriales dedican cada vez más esfuerzos al intercambio de
información sobre seguridad en la gestión de sustancias químicas. Existen múltiples herramientas
legales nacionales e internacionales para proteger el derecho de las comunidades a
estar informadas. En este sentido, la OCDE ha publicado directrices y ha adoptado una serie
de Decisiones y Recomendaciones vinculadas a la seguridad en la gestión de sustancias químicas.
La comunicación con el público en general es responsabilidad conjunta de los gobiernos,
las industrias y las comunidades, y el establecimiento de alianzas entre el sector público y el sector
privado desempeña un papel crucial. Por regla general, la sociedad se beneficia cuando se
difunde ampliamente la información acerca de los riesgos que implica la gestión de sustancias
químicas. No obstante, existe el temor de que difundir cierto tipo de información podría
poner en riesgo la seguridad.
Members of the public who might be
affected in the event of an accident at a
hazardous installation have a right to the
appropriate information, so that they will be
aware of the hazards and risks arising from such
installations in their community, and so that they
can act appropriately should an accident occur.
Communication with the public is a joint responsibility
of government, industry and the community.
Communication channels need to be
two-way. Members of the community should participate
in the development and implementation
of communication programmes.
Governments and industry are increasingly
making efforts to share with the public information
on chemical safety, including preparedness
and response. One of the main topics concerns the
possible effects of chemical releases caused accidentally.
Governments and industry also agree
that decisions on the management of related risks
should be made transparent to the public.
Community right-to-know: a legal
requirement
There are a number of national and international
legal tools to ensure the community’s right-toknow.
Examples are:
◆ The EC “Seveso II” Directive on the control of
major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances
includes Article 13, on information on
safety measures and availability of safety reports
to the public;
◆ The UNECE “Aarhus” Convention is built on
three pillars: access to information (article 4-5),
public participation in decision-making (article 6-
8) and access to justice in environmental matters
(article 9);
◆ The United States Environmental Protection
Agency’s Risk Management Programme (RMP)
includes a part on public availability of information;
◆ Through the Responsible Care Programme
(developed and adopted by chemical industry
associations), companies agree to report their
goals and progress to the public;
◆ The OECD Guiding Principles for Chemical
Accident Prevention, Preparedness and Response
includes a chapter on communication with the
public.
Sharing information: communication
with the public
The OECD Chemical Accidents Programme
works on developing guidance on prevention of,
preparedness for and response to chemical accidents,
and on facilitating sharing of information
and experience among both OECD and non-
OECD countries. This work is carried out in
cooperation with other international organizations,
including UNEP, the UN Economic Commission
for Europe (UNECE) and the UN Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(UNOCHA). Its major products include: the
Guiding Principles for Chemical Accident Prevention,
Preparedness and Response (which consists of
guidance for public authorities, industry and communities);
the Guidance on Safety Performance
Indicator (SPI) to help those stakeholders develop
safety programmes; and the Chemical Accident Risk
Assessment Thesaurus (CARAT), a data base containing
analyses of laws, regulations, policies, definitions
and case studies. All these tools are easily
accessible on the internet (see References below).
The OECD has also adopted a number of
Council Acts related to chemical safety. Two of
them are relevant to information exchange:
◆ The Decision on the Exchange of Information
concerning Accidents Capable of Causing Transfrontier
Damage requires that member countries
exchange information and consult one another,
with the objective of preventing accidents capable
of causing transfrontier damage and reducing
damage should an accident occur. Member coun-
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