Inter-agency coordination

Strategic partnerships and inter-agency coordination are necessary to improve effectiveness and efficiency as well as to avoid the duplication of work in maintaining and enhancing industrial safety. One way of enhancing coordination is to establish regular meetings between partner organizations. To this end, UNECE initiated, in close cooperation with OECD, the Inter-Agency Coordination Group on Chemical and Industrial Accidents (IACG). The rationale behind the IACG is to hold regular meetings between organizations and specialized agencies working on chemical and industrial accidents in order to coordinate activities amongst various actors. The IACG also aims to strengthen the ties between organizations as a means to facilitate inter-agency cooperation. Its terms of reference are available here.

UNECE organized the inaugural IACG meeting in 2013. Partner organizations valued the initiative very much and decided to hold regular meetings moving forward:

First Inter-Agency Coordination Meeting was hosted by UNECE in Geneva in April 2013
Second Inter-Agency Coordination Meeting was hosted by the WHO Regional Office for Europe in Bonn in May 2014
Third Inter-Agency Coordination Meeting was hosted by OECD in Paris in May 2015
Fourth Inter-Agency Coordination Meeting was hosted by the UNEP/OCHA Joint Environment Unit in Geneva in April 2016
Fifth Inter-Agency Coordination Meeting was hosted by the WHO collaborating Centre in Cardiff in May 2018

Sixth Inter-Agency Coordination Meeting  was hosted by the International Labour Organization in Geneva and online in September 2020
Seventh Inter-Agency Coordination Meeting was hosted by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons online in November 2021
Eighth Inter-Agency Coordination Meeting was hosted by UNECE in Geneva and online in March 2022

At the sixth meeting, the partner organizations asked UNECE to keep an updated list of the IACG’s members and their key resources concerning industrial safety. The below table includes information on the partner organizations’ relevant bodies, organs or processes; links to their key resources, guidance documents and processes on industrial safety; and their general website.

Organization	Bodies/organs/processes	Key instruments/guidance /resources
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)	- Industrial Accidents Convention: Conference of the Parties; Bureau; Working Group on Implementation; and Secretariat - Joint Expert Group on Water and Industrial Accidents - Issue-Based Coalition on Climate Change and the Environment for Europe and Central Asia (co-lead with UNEP and UNESCO)	- Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents - Decisions adopted at meetings of the Conference of the Parties - Guidelines & good industry practices, including on safety for oil terminals, pipelines, tailings management facilities and firefighting water management and retention - Information Repository of Good Practices and Lessons Learned in Land-Use Planning and Industrial Safety - Online Toolkit and Training for Strengthening Mine Tailings Safety - Introduction to Industrial Accidents (online training course), prepared with UNEP/OCHA JEU and UNEP
(UNECE cont.)		- Other publications, including: - Guidance on land-use planning, the siting of hazardous activities and related safety aspects - Implementation Guide for Central Asia on the Industrial Accidents Convention - Brochure on the Joint Expert Group on Water and Industrial Accidents - Cross-border concerns, shared strategies - Checklist for contingency planning for accidents affecting transboundary waters - User-friendly version of the Benchmarks for the implementation of the Industrial Accidents Convention
European Commission Directorate-General for the Environment (EC DG ENV)	Seveso Expert Group	- Seveso – III Directive - Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Documents (BREFs), such as the Best Available Techniques Reference Document for the Management of Waste from Extractive Industries
European Commission Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO)	Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network	- The EU Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) and its rescEU component on prevention and preparedness. - European Commission Action Plan on the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015 - 2030
European Commission Joint Research Centre (EC JRC)	- Major Accidents and Hazards Bureau - Technical Working Group on Seveso Inspections	- eMARS Major Accidents Database - Lessons-learned bulletins - Inspector resources - Good Practice Reports and Common Inspection Criteria - Guidance on EU Seveso Directive implementation - Accident analysis resources - ADAM Consequence Analysis software - Research on chemical accident risk topics - GMI-CHEM – Database of chemical accidents in the global media (not yet online)
International Labour Organization (ILO)	- Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) - Committee on the Application of Standards (CAS)	- ILO Chemicals Convention No. 170 and its accompanying Recommendation No. 177 - ILO Code of Practice on Safety in the Use of Chemicals at Work - ILO Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents Convention No. 174 and its accompanying Recommendation No. 181 - Code of Practice on the Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents - International Chemical Safety Cards (ICSCs) database - Major Hazard Control: A Practical Manual - ILO Legal Review of Chemical Instruments
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)	OECD Working Party on Chemical Accidents (WPCA)	- Guiding Principles for Chemical Accident Prevention, Preparedness and Response - Guidance on Corporate Governance for Process Safety - Guidance on Change of Ownership in Hazardous Facilities - Guidance documents on Natech Risk Management - Recommendation concerning Chemical Accident Prevention, Preparedness and Response (2003) OECD/LEGAL/0319 - Recommendation concerning the Application of the Polluter-Pays Principle to Accidental Pollution (1989) OECD/LEGAL/0251
(OECD cont.)		- Decision-Recommendation concerning Provision of Information to the Public and Public Participation in Decision-making Processes related to the Prevention of, and Response to, Accidents Involving Hazardous Substances (1988) OECD/LEGAL/0239 - Decision on the Exchange of Information concerning Accidents Capable of Causing Transfrontier Damage (1988) OECD/LEGAL/0240
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)	Process to develop tools for Chemical Safety and Security Management	- Indicative Guidelines for Chemical Safety and Security in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises to Foster the Peaceful Uses of Chemistry - https://www.opcw.org/media-centre/news/2019/12/managing-chemical-safety-and-security-opcw-develop-guidelines-chemical
United Nations Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)	- Global and Regional Platforms for DRR - Global Risk Assessment Framework (GRAF) - Co-lead (together with UNFCCC) on task team climate change and the environment for Europe and Central Asia under the Issue-Based Coalition on Climate and the Environment	- Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 - Sendai Framework Monitoring System (also for disaster-related targets of SDGs 1, 11 and 13) - DRR terminology - Hazard definition and classification review - Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR) - UNDRR Words into Action guidelines - Implementation Guide on man-made and technological hazards
United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)	Chemicals and Waste Management Programme	- Chemicals and Waste platform - Guidelines for National Waste Management Strategies, developed by UNEP and UNITAR - Trainings, among others, on: - Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals, for which UNECE provides the secretariat - Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers to the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention)
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)	United Nations Environment Assembly	- Flexible framework for Industrial Accidents Prevention, Preparedness and Response - APELL Multi-Hazard Training Kit for Local Authorities - UNEA Resolutions 4/5 on Sustainable infrastructure and 4/19 on Mineral Resource governance - International Resource Panel
United Nations Environment Programme/Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Joint Environment Unit (UNEP/OCHA JEU)	Environmental Emergencies Forum	- Flash Environmental Assessment Tool (FEAT) - UNDRR Words into Action guidelines - Implementation Guide on man-made and technological hazards - Environmental Emergency Centre online training
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)	International Conference on Ensuring Industrial Safety	https://www.unido.org/ensuring-industrial-safety-and-security-times-covid-19-and-beyond
World Health Organization (WHO)	WHO European Centre for Environment and Health	- International health regulations - Chemical safety - Environmental health in emergencies
European Process Safety Centre (EPSC)	Network for companies with hazardous chemicals to improve on Process Safety	Process Safety Fundamentals: Safe Operational Principles to avoid incidents with hazardous chemicals