An overview on the technological disasters

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide graduate students, researchers, governmental and independent agencies with an overview of technological disasters.

Design/methodology/approach

Technological disasters are subjects of concern to researchers, academicians, governmental and independent agencies. Disasters are classified into natural and man‐made disasters. For an incident to be classified as a disaster, the disaster criteria should be met. Several disaster criteria have been proposed defining the disasters in terms of casualties, economic loss and environmental impact. The disasters which involve major hazard installations (MHIs) are known as technological disasters. The technological disaster definition, stages, types, criteria, factors, models have been reviewed. This paper presents an overview of technological disaster definition, criteria, stages, models, factors, and prevention.

Findings

Although the technological disasters may occur at non‐MHIs, it has been noted that most of the technological disasters involved MHIs and that their impact is not limited to the plants but can extend to neighboring surroundings. The technological disaster consists of three stages: before, during, and after disaster. There are many factors contributing to the technological disasters, some of which are observed clearly while others are partially hidden. The main technological disaster factors were identified as human, organizational and technological errors. Few models have been drawn describing the sequence of development of the technological disaster.

Originality/value

This paper presents an overview on the technological disaster definition, criteria, types, stages, models, factors, and prevention and combines the scattered information on technological disaster into one record.

Citation

Mohamed Shaluf, I. (2007), "An overview on the technological disasters", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 380-390. https://doi.org/10.1108/09653560710758332