Major accidents and risk prevention policies in the chemical and petrochemical industry in France: Paving the way towards an assessment framework

fire at Lubrizol and NL Normandie logistique in Rouen, France, several blind spots in the industrial risk prevention policy were revealed and stated in its inquiry report. This raises the need for a better understanding of the effectiveness of these policies: How are these policies assessed? What are the data and indicators used to assess their effectiveness? What are the indicators needed for a better risk policy assessment? Several attempts to develop assessment indicators were found in the international literature and the local governmental reports. They were mostly limited to quantitative indicators including the number of major accidents and incidents, number of prevention plans achieved, etc. Thus, in order to gain a better understanding of these policy's effectiveness at a macro level, the goal of this study is to investigate how the (petro)chemical industry and its major risk prevention policy/regulations have been evolving throughout the years. The methodology relies on a longitudinal study based on data analyses and placed in parallel with the evolution of the prevention policies in France. Consequently, some indicators illustrating the precursors, also called the intermediate outcomes are proposed. This is besides the common indicators of ultimate outcomes. Finally, this study helps in integrating essential scopes, considerations, and indicators when developing a holistic assessment framework for risk regulatory performance in the future.