Consideration of natural hazards in the design and risk management of industrial facilities

Hazardous-materials releases from offshore oil and gas facilities and emergency response following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

“…There is a growing body of literature concerning oil spills and other hazmat releases triggered by natural disasters (also known as Natechs) from fixed industrial establishments, particularly earthquake related Natechs (see for example Cruz & Okada, 2007;Cruz, Steinberg, & Vetere-Arellano, 2006;Kiremidjian, Ortiz, Nielsen, & Safavi, 1985;Lindell & Perry, 1997;Reitherman, 1982;Steinberg & Cruz, 2004;Tierney & Eguchi, 1989;Werner, Boutwell, & Varner, 1989). One of the first studies on the incidence of Natech events was carried out by Showalter and Myers (1994) in the United States (U.S.) between 1980 and 1989 based on a survey of State Emergency Management Agencies.…”

Development of generic bow-tie diagrams of accidental scenarios triggered by flooding of industrial facilities (Natech)

“…The target can in turn become a source of hazard in another hazard process. The MOSAR approach is pertinent in the analysis of sequential hazard processes between several sub-systems of an industrial installation and is therefore particularly useful in accident scenarios which mainly occur as a sequence or combination of several events, such as Natech accidents (Cruz et al, 2006) (Cruz and Okada, 2008).…”

“…For example, there are no specific technical codes and guidelines on how to apply existing Natech regulations, which is not the case for other major accident hazards (e.g. elaborated guides in the context of the Seveso II directive such as the European project ARAMIS) (Cruz et al, 2006) (Cruz and Okada, 2008).…”

Investigations on natural hazards which trigger technological disasters in Romania

“…This survey is of utmost importance, due to the fact that most countries do not have specific Natech risk and emergency management programs in place, although all have recognized the risks and challenges in preventing and preparing for this type of threat (Cruz and Okada, 2008b). From the 27 European Union Member States, only 14 responded to the survey.…”