Commission on Process Safety (KAS)
Section 51a of the Federal Immission Control Act (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 for the purpose of providing 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 objectives. The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety can publish the rules in the Federal Gazette following a hearing of the supreme federal state authorities competent 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 state of the art.
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 immission control and occupational safety. Other members are representatives of the scientific community, environmental organisations, trade unions, experts pursuant to section 29c 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).
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 5th appointment period was extended and ended on 7 September 2021. The constituent meeting of the Commission on Process Safety for the 6th appointment period took place on 8 September 2021.
The Commission currently has 25 members from all groups to be included according to section 51a (3) of the Federal Immission Control Act (BImschG). Stephan Kurth of the Öko-Institut in Darmstadt holds the chair for the 6th appointment period of KAS from September 2021 to November 2024. Dr Fischbach (Friends of the Earth Germany, BUND), Dr Cordula Wilrich (Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing,BAM), Dr Hans-Peter Ziegenfuß (Hessian Ministry of the Environment) and Rainer Hoss (Merck KGaA) are the deputies.
The KAS rules of procedure have been published on the KAS website and in the Federal Gazette.