Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) Requirements

Risk Assessment for Transport/Handle/Storage of Petroleum and Flammable Materials (P&FM) in Singapore

Under the Fire Safety (Petroleum and Flammable Materials) Regulations, SCDF may request any new or existing premises undergoing modifications/expansions and transporting/handing/storing (ie. road transportation, pipelines, fixed installations) large quantities of petroleum and flammable materials to carry out a quantitative risk assessment (QRA) study. Please refer to the NEA website for the QRA Technical Guidance.

Objectives of QRA

The objectives of QRA are:

• To identify hazards and quantify the risks related to the transport, handle and storage of P&FM;
• To recommend practical measures to reduce the hazards and risks to as low as reasonably practicable;
• To establish (where applicable) Health & Safety (H&S) buffers to guide land use planning; and
• To use for information sharing and emergency planning purposes.

QRA Criteria

The revised QRA guidelines has taken effect since 1 Apr 2016. It is a risk based methodology benchmarked against international best practices. The methodology has gone through extensive industry consultation and obtained buy in before its official implementation. Please refer to NEA website and JTC website for the QRA guidelines criteria.

QRA Work Process

The Major Hazard Department (MHD) is an inter-agency (MOM/NEA/SCDF) regulatory office that has been set up in MOM since 1 September 2016 to implement the Safety Case Regime. It would also act as a single regulatory front to handle and coordinate all QRA submissions.

The responsible party is advised to approach MHD (CONTACT_MHD@mom.gov.sg) at the earliest possible time (e.g. basic concept and design stage / pre-Front End Engineering Design (FEED) stage) for pre-consultations (e.g. need for QRA study, expected timeline) and clarifications, to facilitate the QRA assessment process. The responsible party is requested to submit the QRA pre-consultation form when they approach MHD. Please refer to Appendix A for the QRA pre-consultation form template. 

If a QRA study is required, the responsible party is to engage a registered QRA consultant to carry out the QRA study. The QRA report would be evaluated by a multi-agency (SCDF/NEA/MOM/URA/JTC/SPF) committee. Any findings and recommendations from the QRA report pertaining to fire safety provisions shall be adequately addressed in the fire safety plan submission. The responsible party shall obtain the in-principle no objection to the QRA report before any commencement of works. Please refer to the NEA website for the list of registered QRA consultants. Please refer to Appendix B for the key regulatory control cycle for the transport/handle/storage of P&FM in Singapore.