Risk Communication and Transport of Dangerous Goods: Extending Experiences from Industrial Installations in The European Community

Abstract

A European Economic Community directive, commonly known as the "Seveso Directive," regulates industrial production and storage where dan gerous substances are present in quantities above a given threshold. Among other requirements, it prescribes that information be provided to persons liable to be affected by a major accident. To the contrary, there is no regulato ry framework similar to the Seveso Directive concerning the transport of dangerous goods, and consequently no risk communication provisions are in force. Such divergence in regulating the risk connected with dangerous sub stances constitutes the basis for the paper. First the paper outlines the EC legislation for industrial installations, then it examines the different trans port modes for dangerous goods. Subsequently, taking into consideration the different organizational settings and target populations, it discusses the pos sibility of establishing risk communication requirements and procedures for the transportation of dangerous goods, similar to those required for chemical installations.