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There were no large releases of high hazard chemicals between 2010 and 2013, as shown in Figure 32. The 2014
trend of high hazard releases being less common and larger, in general, than low hazard and PLONOR releases is
also true of these years. When analysed by source and cause, most high hazard releases over the last few years fall
into the production systems and related equipment category, in line with the trend for all hazard types.
From 2010 to 2014, 1,650 tonnes of chemicals were reported in PON1s on the UKCS, representing a total of 1,054
incidents. PLONOR and low hazard category chemicals make up the majority (1,450 tonnes) of the mass released
and the number of incidents in this longer time frame. High and medium hazard category chemicals contributed
approximately five per cent each by mass, with the remaining mass falling into the unattributable category. There
has been an 83 per cent (more than 500 tonnes) decrease in the mass of chemicals accidentally released between
2010 and 2014, with a 28 per cent net increase in the number of incidents (from 162 to 207). Therefore, a similar
number of releases have been reported, but those releases were of smaller amounts.
Figure 32: Mass of Accidental Chemical Releases by Hazard Category and with Number of Releases
0
50
100
150
200
250
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Number of Releases
Accidental Chemical Release Mass (Tonnes)
Unattributable
High
Medium
Low
PLONOR
Number of Releases
Source: DECC July 2015
1
2
3
4
5
6
7