THE LEGISLATIVE RESPONSE TO THE SEVESO ACCIDENT – EVOLUTION OF THE LAW AND OF THE PERCEPTION OF THE “RISK”

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to provide an updated, organic and synthetic framework, of the evolution of the legislation on major accident hazards. In the forty years that have elapsed from the accident occurred in July 1976 at the ICMESA factory, located in the cities of Meda and near the city of Seveso (Italy), the evolution of the legislation has generated a virtuous circle useful to enhance the knowledge, the awareness and the perception of “risk” in the policy-makers, in the technical and in the public opinion. In particular in this paper they will be discussed and compared the main features of the three European Directives on major accident hazards (so-called Seveso Directives), highlighting developments and innovative aspects in the transition from one to the next law, including the international conventions related to this legislation. The aim of the authors is also to provide a specific focus about the presence of hazardous substances in the industrial context, analyzing in particular the normative concept of “actual or anticipated presence” also in relation to their “management” in safety.