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In Balkans, UN-led initiative aims to improve industrial safety inspections

In Balkans, UN-led initiative aims to improve industrial safety inspections

UN Economic Commission for Europe improves industrial safety in the Balkans.
A three-day training session aimed at improving industrial safety across the Balkans has kicked off in the Croatian city of Split, the UN announced today, adding that the initiative is part of the world body’s continuing efforts to protect people and the environment against industrial accidents.

Organized by the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the training – which will include a simulated on-site inspection of an oil storage facility – will bring together inspectors from Croatia, Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, with the aim of supporting them in effectively designing and running inspections of hazardous industrial sites.

“Inspections play a crucial role for the prevention of industrial accidents,” UNECE said in a news release marking the beginning of the training session, which ends on 24 October.

“Organizing routine inspections will help operators of industrial installations to detect and remedy actual or potential deficiencies and will help the authorities to check the operator’s compliance with the legislation,” UNECE added.

During the exercise, the inspectors will plan, design and run a simulated inspection of the oil facility. In addition, they will have the possibility to go through the procedures for evaluating inspections and preparing the relevant reports once the initial session is over.

This week’s training session is the third phase of an ongoing UNECE programme focussing on safety reports and on-site inspections in the Balkans as well as the transboundary effects of industrial accidents.

The preceding phases – held in 2010 and 2011 – have already produced numerous positive outcomes including the development of a checklist system for safety reports and, in Serbia and Croatia in particular, the adoption of the relevant legislation.

Set up in 1947, UNECE is one of five regional commissions of the United Nations. Its major aim is to promote pan-European economic integration through measures such as the facilitation of greater economic integration and cooperation among its member countries, and the promotion of sustainable development and economic prosperity.