In an industry that deals with flammable and occasionally explosive products, safety considerations have to be paramount. The safety of its workers and of the public at large has, therefore, long been at the forefront of oil industry concerns.

CONCAWE compiles personal incident statistics of oil industry workers, and publishes these in a yearly report. These statistics bear witness to the oil industry’s commitment to safety, consistently showing much lower incident rates than the industry at large. Through this activity member companies also have the opportunity to exchange valuable information on incidents and to share the lessons to be learned.

Process safety is also critical to our industry. Although it is embedded in all aspects of the life of a plant, it has been comparatively less in the limelight than personal safety. CONCAWE is engaged in the reflexion on ways and means of further improving process safety, in particular through the development of performance indicators. The so-called "Seveso Directive" has had a major impact on the permitting and operating requirements of industrial installations including oil refineries, depots and terminals. As a consequence of the recent major industrial accidents in Enschede and Toulouse, the issue of land-use planning is back on the agenda at the European level and CONCAWE is following the developments closely.

CONCAWE has played an active role in bringing the views and the experience of the oil industry to the ensuing debates, and intends to continue doing so.

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