1. , , , and , Organizational factors and safety, Presented at “De COMAH-richrlijin en het Major Hazardbeleid van SZW: een nieuwe inzet van beleid” Ministerie van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid, 3 Oktober 1995.
2. See published papers at Wharton Risk Management and Decision Process Center website, http://opim.wharton.upenn.edu/risk/.
3. An excellent summary of Extreme Value Theory is P. Embrechts, C. Kluppelberg, and T. Mikosch, Modelling extremal events, Springer Verlag, New York, 2000.
4. “EPA RMP REGULATION,” History of federal process safety and risk management regulation under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center Roundtable Meeting, College Station, Texas, June 1999.
5. “Chemical Accident Prevention, Preparedness and Response,” European Commission, http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/civil/marin/To%20be%20deleted/introduction.htm#1 1. Historical Background Major accidents in chemical industry have occurred world-wide. Increasing industrialisation after the Second World War also lead to a significant increase of accidents involving dangerous substances. In Europe, in the 1970's one major accident in particular prompted the adoption of legislation aimed at the prevention and control of such accidents. The Seveso accident happened in 1976 at a chemical plant manufacturing pesticides and herbicides. A dense vapour cloud containing tetrachlorodibenzoparadioxin (TCDD) was released from a reactor, used for the production of trichlorofenol. Commonly known as dioxin, this was a poisonous and carcinogenic by-product of an uncontrolled exothermic reaction. Although no immediate fatalities were reported, kilogramme quantities of the substance lethal to man even in microgramme doses were widely dispersed which resulted in an immediate contamination of some ten square miles of land and vegetation. More than 600 people had to be evacuated from their homes and as many as 2.000 were treated for dioxin poisoning. In 1982, Council Directive 82/501/EEC on the major-accident hazards of certain industrial activities (OJ No L 230 of 5 August 1982) –so-called Seveso Directive –was adopted. In the light of severe accidents at the Union Carbide factory at Bhopal, India in 1984 where a leak of methyl isocyanate caused more than 2.500 deaths and at the Sandoz warehouse in Basel, Switzerland in 1986 where fire-fighting water contaminated with mercury, organophosphate pesticides and other chemicals caused massive pollution of the Rhine and the death of half a million fish, the Seveso Directive was amended twice, in 1987 by Directive 87/216/EEC of 19 March 1987 (OJ No L 85 of 28 March 1987) and in 1988 by Directive 88/610/EEC of 24 November 1988 (OJ No L 336 of 7 December 1988). Both amendments aimed at broadening the scope of the Directive, in particular to include the storage of dangerous substances. 2. The Seveso II Directive The Seveso Directive required a review of its scope by the Commission by 1986. Also, the Member States, in accompanying resolutions concerning the Fourth (1987) and the Fifth Action Programme on the Environment (1993), had called for a general review of the Seveso Directive to include, amongst others, a widening of its scope and a better risk-and-accident management. A resolution from the European Parliament also called for a review. On 9 December 1996, Council Directive 96/82/EC on the control of major-accident hazards (OJ No L 10 of 14 January 1997)- so-called Seveso II Directive - was adopted. Member States had up to two years to bring into force the national laws, regulations and administrative provisions to comply with the Directive. From 3 February 1999, the obligations of the Directive have become mandatory for industry as well as the public authorities of the Member States responsible for the implementation and enforcement of the Directive. The Seveso II Directive has fully replaced its predecessor, the original Seveso Directive. Important changes have been made and new concepts have been introduced into the Seveso II Directive. This includes a revision and extension of the scope, the introduction of new requirements relating to safety management systems, emergency planning and land-use planning and a reinforcement of the provisions on inspections to be carried out by Member States.