Roll out safety management system

The fire tragedy that has claimed more than 100 deaths in a Nairobi slum this week has raised questions about the safety and security of individuals living in particular areas of the country, the social responsibility of the corporate sector, and the Kenya government’s role in establishing regulations that minimise risk.

Could this disaster have been prevented or detected? Whose responsibility was it to detect or prevent such a problem? Does Kenya have a robust regulatory authority that manages industries which have the potential to cause major disasters? Is there a credible emergency response system in the face of serious accidents due to hazardous substances?

Oil pipelines occasionally rupture in other countries, just as serious accidents occur in these other countries, but the damage to lives and property often varies depending on the nature of the risk management systems, which, in turn, are controlled by the regulatory authorities in place.

In places where the risk management system is more advanced and where alarms and other safety measures have been constructed in accordance with international codes and standards, the mortality rate resulting from pipeline ruptures, chemical spills and other hazardous accidents is fairly low.

Whether the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) is culpable in this incident or not will be determined by the government investigators. However, even before the investigations are concluded, it is plausible to argue that the resultant loss of lives was largely due to the absence of a credible risk management system.

Had the Kenya government established adequate risk minimisation protocols, the toll from this week’s inferno would have been much lower.
And the lack of an appropriate risk management mechanism, in turn, is due to poor governance, which can be remedied only if the Kenyan government establishes a strong safety regulatory authority.

A good regulatory authority would not have allowed people to built homes very close to the pipeline, nor would it have permitted the KPC to continue operating with pipelines that are more than 30 years old. Critics might argue that with the National Environment Management Authority (Nema), which was created in 1999, Kenya does not need another authority, but this would be misleading and could ensure that we continue to experience similar disasters.

Nema is an important agency, but it is primarily an instrument through which the government coordinates, monitors and implements policies relating to the environment. It is not a regulatory authority designed to ensure the safety of Kenyans from hazardous substances. A Kenyan engineer, Amon Okoko, who works in the “Major Hazards Facilities” section of the Department of Mines and Petroleum in Perth, believes a regulatory safety authority in Kenya is long overdue.

Such an authority would regulate businesses that have the potential to cause major disasters, including petroleum refineries, oil terminals, high pressure oil pipelines and chemical processing plants. Okoko suggests that the regulatory authority would require firms dealing with dangerous goods to establish clear and transparent safety management systems, which would include the storage, handling and transportation of such goods.

Kenya has lost innocent lives unnecessarily over the years, and now the ball is in Parliament’s court to establish an appropriate regulatory safety authority which will ensure that disasters of the kind witnessed this week are not repeated.

Makinda is a professor at Murdoch University, Australia.