Commission on Process Safety (KAS)
Section 51a of the Federal Immission Control Act (Bundesimmissionsschutzgesetz, BImSchG) requires a Commission on Process Safety to be set up at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection to provide expert advice to the German government or the competent federal ministry.
The task of the Commission on Process Safety is to identify potential ways and means of perfecting installation safety through its expert opinions delivered at regular intervals or as circumstances require. It also proposes rules in line with the state of safety technology (safety rules), taking into consideration existing rules for other protection goals. The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection can publish the rules in the Federal Gazette following a hearing of the supreme federal state authorities responsible for installation safety. The Commission on Process Safety reviews the published safety rules at appropriate intervals, but at least every five years, to determine if they are still in line with the latest safety technology.
Members of the Commission on Process Safety are appointed in agreement with the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and include representatives of the relevant federal authorities and the federal state authorities competent for air quality control and occupational safety. Other members are representatives of the scientific community, environmental organisations, trade unions, experts pursuant to section 29a and approved monitoring bodies pursuant to section 17(5) of the Equipment and Product Safety Act (Geräte- und Produktsicherheitsgesetz), employers’ liability insurance associations, the business community as well as members of the committees set up under section 24 of the Industrial Safety Ordinance (Betriebssicherheitsverordnung) and under section 21 of the Hazardous Substances Ordinance (Gefahrstoffverordnung).
The 6th appointment period of KAS ended on 30 September 2024. The constituent meeting of the Commission on Process Safety for the 7th appointment period took place on 1 October 2024.
The Commission has a total of 26 members from all groups to be included according to section 51a(3) of the Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG). The 7th appointment period of KAS (October 2024 to October 2027) will be chaired by Professor Katharina Löwe from the University of Wuppertal. Her deputies are Dr Cordula Wilrich of the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Dr Hans-Peter Ziegenfuß of the Hessian Ministry of the Environment, Rainer Hoss of the science and technology company Merck KgaA and Oliver Kalusch of the Federal Association of Community Environmental Action Groups (BBU). The rules of procedure are published in the Federal Gazette and on the Commission on Process Safety website.