Public information and the SEVESO III directive: a case study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14195/1647-7723_31-2_10Keywords:
Industrial risk, Seveso-III Directive, public information, self-protection measuresAbstract
The Seveso-III Directive, transposed into national law by Decree-Law no 150/2015, of 5 August, gives municipal councils an important role in providing information to the public, particularly on self-protection measures to deal with industrial accidents. This article aims to analyse the information provided to a population located in an area neighbouring an industry covered by the Seveso-III Directive. ADP Fertilizantes, a major risk industry located in the municipality of Vila Franca de Xira, was chosen for this study. A significant percentage of respondents (40.5 %) were not informed that they live or work in an industrial risk area. Almost all respondents were unaware of any emergency drills to respond to an industrial accident scenario (91 %) and did not know the Civil Protection Emergency Plan operated in Vila Franca de Xira (78 %). The results of this study might suggest that public information in Portugal has been insufficient to comply with the Seveso-III Directive.
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