Insights into major industrial accidents: Process safety, technical challenges, industrial risk management and perspectives of Seveso‐tier installations: A review

Abstract

The 1976 Seveso disaster prompted a major shift in European industrial safety, leading to the Seveso Directives to prevent major chemical accidents. This review outlines the evolution of the Seveso framework, specifically focusing on the transition to the Seveso III Directive. While this framework successfully aims to harmonize process safety, significant regulatory divergence still remains among member states regarding land‐use planning, inspection regimes, and safety management systems. To address these implementation gaps, advanced risk assessment methodologies like the collaborative ARAMIS framework, probabilistic Bayesian networks, and ontological models are increasingly utilized. These advanced approaches help operators manage complex, emerging risks, including cascading domino effects, natural hazard triggering technological disasters (NaTech), and aging infrastructure. Furthermore, the digital transformation of Industry 4.0 highlights the critical need to integrate cybersecurity into process safety. Ultimately, resilient industrial risk management requires a robust socio‐technical approach that combines technical safety, integrated safety‐security frameworks, and active community risk communication.