1. Themes: Chemical Accident Risk Research March 2019
Maureen Wood
Major Accident Hazards Bureau

2. Chemical incident fatalities as reported in the media - 2017
Europe sustains a much lower incident rate in relation to its GDP than Africa and Asia
(JRC-MAHB - March 2019)
… but it is lower in some years than others. There can be substantial fluctuations in chemical accident impacts over many years.
Are we doing enough to reduce risk of future chemical catastrophes?
And what are we doing about risks faced by our trading partners?

3. Deaths per year from major EU chemical accidents 2000 - 2016
Toulouse, FR ammonium nitrate explosion
(29 deaths)
Gorni Lom, BG
Demining plant explosion
(14 deaths)
Ghislenghien, BE
Gas pipeline explosion
(24 deaths)
Enschede, NL Fireworks explosion, (23 deaths)
Deaths from chemical accidents on Seveso sites (eMARS, 2019)
Deaths from chemical accidents in non-Seveso hazard sources
Ajka HU
Reservoir spill (10 deaths)
Viareggio, IT
LPG rail explosion
(32 deaths)
Modugno, IT
Fireworks explosion
(9 deaths)
Buncefield, UK
11 Dec 2005
(No deaths or injuries)
Deaths and injuries are the only impacts consistently and recorded for each accident.
EU data only covers Seveso hazard sources.

4. Injuries and deaths per year from major EU chemical accidents 2000 - 2016
Deaths from chemical accidents on Seveso sites (eMARS, 2019)
Deaths from Chemical accidents in non-Seveso hazard sources
Injuries from chemical accidents on Seveso sites (eMARS, 2019)
Injuries from Chemical accidents in non-Seveso hazard sources
Toulouse, FR
Ghislenghien, BE
Natural gas pipeline explosion
24 dead, 150 injuries
Ajka HU
Schiltach, DE
Nitrogen oxide release
49 injuries
Enschede, NL
Igualada, ES Nitric oxide release
18 injuries 65,000 shelter-in-place for 8 hours
Viareggio, IT
Brühl, DE
Chlorine leak
39 injuries
Risk of injury or other disturbances often gets less attention in presentation of chemical accident statistics.
Aggregating non-human health impacts is a challenge.

5. How can we recognise and assess emerging risks and good practice?
Trending topics
Description
Ageing of capital and human resources
Ageing of equipment, people, procedures, and technologies
System complexity
An unanticipated interaction of multiple failures in a complex system
Increase in outsourcing of personnel
Increasing engagement of third party personnel to work in critical functions such as maintenance and operations functions
Increased automation of process controls
Expanded use of computer technology and software engineering to control processes
New products, processes and market demands
Renewable energies, biofuels, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) industries are all examples of sectors in a growth phase where experience on some risk aspects are limited
Organisational change
Change affecting the entire site or company, e.g., change of ownership, re-organisation, and downsizing of staff
Risk governance
The government’s performance in implementing and enforcing relevant laws
Corporate leadership
The ability of the upper management to establish and enforce robust process safety management company-wide
Safety culture
The attitude, beliefs, perceptions and values that employees share in relation to safety in the workplace.
The Internet of Things
The network of physical devices, vehicles, appliances and other items that can connect across a local Internet and exchange data

6. Thank you for your kind attention! Email: maureen.wood@ec.europa.eu
Please visit the MAHB Minerva website at
4/5/2019