17-4-2012

2010 Audit of Dangerous Goods Installations

In 2010, the Ministry of Internal Affairs engaged the services of the New Zealand Department of Labour to carry out a follow up audit on the 2008 review of all major installations of dangerous goods in the Cook Islands. The follow up report, the 2010 Audit of Dangerous Goods Installation for the Ministry of Internal Affairs (the 2010 report), was finalised by Mr. Kim Comben in November 2010. The objective of dangerous goods licensing is to ensure public safety as provided under the Dangerous Goods Act 1984. The Ministry of Internal Affairs annually assesses standard of compliance and has within its power the ability to: • issue licences where there are no non-compliance issues; or • issue provisional licences where there maybe some non-compliance but it is satisfied that public safety is not compromised; or • not issue a licence if the level of non-compliance places significant risk to public safety. Since the completion of the 2010 report, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has conducted ongoing investigations into the matters referred to in the report. Particular attention has focused on the operation of TOA Petroleum and Triad Pacific Petroleum and the Ministry is satisfied that a number of improvements have been made following the recommendations of the report. These improvements are not reflected in the 2010 report but are relevant in the annual assessment for licensing. Based on the ongoing investigations since the 2010 report, the Ministry is satisfied that Triad has made significant upgrades on its bulk fuel terminal to address 12 of the 16 key recommendations identified for improvement in the report. Triad will provide to the Ministry of Internal Affairs a compliance plan on how they will address the remaining critical issues by no later than 1 July 2012. Triad has been issued a provisional licence for one year for the 2012-13 period. TOA has made an attempt to address areas of inconsistencies however the Ministry has accepted that the expected expiry of its existing lease on 30 April 2012 has prevented further developments to improve its facility. TOA has been issued a provisional licence at its existing site until 30 April 2012. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has commenced a review of the dangerous goods licensing framework, including how it administers the legislation, to address some of the concerns on administration raised in the report. Recommendations shall be made to the Government once the review is completed. Bredina Drollet Secretary A copy of the Report can be downloaded HERE