Safety guidelines and good practices for pipelines

The guidelines contain the principles and key elements for the safe transport of hazardous substances by pipeline, whether transboundary or not. The guidelines and practices are designed to prevent incidents and to limit accidental consequences for human health and the environment. These aimed at supporting policymakers and the business sector to enhance awareness and sharing of experience and good practices among the competent authorities, operators and the public, and for better harmonization of the regulations and requirements concerning the safety of pipeline across the UNECE region.

The effects of accidents involving pipelines are often very significant. External interference, corrosion and poor maintenance are among the most common causes of pipeline accidents in the UNECE region. Those involving petroleum products can have a devastating effect on the soil and water. The severe pipeline leak of some 100,000 tons of oil in the Komi Republic in the Russian Federation, in 1994 was one of the region’s most severe environmental disasters. Accidents involving gas often result in the loss of human lives, as was demonstrated by the 2004 gas pipeline accident in Ghiselenghein, Belgium, which resulted in 20 fatalities and 130 wounded.