for Sunday Herald, 04 November 2001
Safety plans to avert major accidents at the BP petrochemical complex at Grangemouth have been rejected as inadequate by the government's watchdog, the Health and Safety Executive.
The HSE has taken legal action against the British oil giant to ensure that its plans are revamped in accordance with tough new rules for the "control of major accident hazard", known as COMAH. The company has until the end of March to comply.
Last year BP Grangemouth suffered a series of accidents, culminating in a big fire at its catalytic cracker on 10 June. This sparked a site-wide safety investigation by the HSE, which was worried about systematic failures to ensure safety at the complex.