Industrial Technical Failure
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) [External website] is the lead department for Energy in England and Wales, with the Scottish Executive [External website] and Northern Ireland Executive [External website] responsible for the devolved administrations.
The Environment Agency[External website] is the lead department in water matters.
On this page:
The Level of Risk
The UK Government, in particular through the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) [External website] and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) [External website], work with the private sector to ensure that the chances of significant failures in our industrial sector are minimised.
We are largely successful, with very few instances of serious industrial problems, but no advanced industrialised country is immune to technical failures. The UK Government accordingly works with the private sector to ensure that we have the contingency plans in place that are proportionate and appropriate to the hazards we face.
The incidents of industrial technical failure that the UK Government uses for contingency planning purposes cover technical failure of the upstream oil and gas networks leading to disruption in production and accidental failure of a water treatment works, a public telephone provider, the telecommunications infrastructure and the electricity network.
Examples
The table below shows some examples of the specific risks which are assessed as part of the national risk assessment framework. The framework applies locally, regionally, in the devolved administrations and at the UK level. Details of the framework and risk assessment methodology can be found in the risk section of this site.
Risk Evaluation
| Type of Risk | Risk Categories | Outcome Description for Planning Purposes |
|---|
| Hazard |
Accidental failure at water treatment works |
Between 10 - 50,000 people could be without piped water for up to 3 days. |
|---|
| Hazard |
Technical failure of electricity network |
Total shutdown of the electricity supply over an entire region (or Devolved Administration), occurring during working hours and lasting for 24 hours. |
|---|
Energy and Power Supply
Reports and Guidance
- BERR - Downstream Oil Resilience [External website] The Downstream Oil Emergency Response Plan identifies how the resources of the downstream oil industry and the Government can be used in an emergency. ("Downstream" means the supply of oil products after they leave the refineries to their use by consumers.)
Regulators
Industry Links
Related sites
Water Supply
Regulators
Environment Agency Water Resources
Water Companies
- Water UK [External website] - Links and contact details for all water suppliers and sewerage operators in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- Water Facts [External website] - Details of UK water operators and the organisation and structure of the industry. It also brings together water-related information from other sources - on environment, water and sewerage bills, drinking water quality, domestic usage, rainfall and climate, regulation, and comparative data for Europe.
Other Links
- Consumer Council for Water [External website] The Consumer Council for Water is a national consumer watchdog agency for the water industry.
Communications
- CPNI: Good Practice Guide to Telecommunications Resilience [External PDF, 35 pages, 267KB] - It is vital that an organisation understands which of its telecommunications systems are critical to the business, and how to provide the appropriate level of resilience for these systems. This guide is for those people who have to commission, specify, audit or procure resilient Services. It has a series of recommendations aimed at helping an organisation understand why resilience is an issue, what resilience is needed and how it can be delivered.
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