Defence Storage and Distribution Agency (DSDA)

Major Accident Control Regulations 2004 (MACR)

The Defence Storage and Distribution Agency (DSDA) site, situated on the East bank of the River Tamar between the Tamar Bridge and Ernesettle, is covered by these regulations.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) published the MACR regulations in response to a European Union directive and equivalent UK legislation, which applies to sites undertaking hazardous activities. MACR implements arrangements to achieve results at least as good as those achieved by non-MOD controlled sites which fall within scope of the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 (COMAH). One of the principles of these regulations is for the MOD to be more open and transparent with local communities, providing the necessary assurances as regards the safety of site operations.

A range of non-nuclear military explosives are held at DSDA, in support of the country’s armed forces. These explosives are stored and handled in accordance with very strict rules laid down by law and in MOD regulations. Munitions by design are inherently safe and safety controls ensure that the possibility of an explosion is extremely remote and that risks to the public are kept to an absolute minimum.

MACR requires the on-site operator to have an emergency plan which specifies the response to an emergency by those people working on or visiting the site. Whilst there is no legal framework requiring local authorities to produce an off-site emergency plan, we have opted to have a plan in place for dealing with major accident hazards which may pass beyond the boundaries of DSDA. The off-site emergency plan details the roles and responsibilities of the emergency services and all other relevant agencies and how they will co-ordinate their efforts to mitigate the effects of a major accident.

The properties surrounding DSDA are provided with an information leaflet detailing what to do in the event of a major accident at the site. This leaflet is currently under review and once finalised, a copy will be made available on this page.