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Industrial accidents

Introduction

Industrial accidents can have severe consequences on human health and the environment, including in other affected countries. The accidents in Schweizerhalle, Switzerland, and Baia Mare, Romania, have brought this message home. The Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents helps Parties to prevent industrial accidents that can have transboundary effects and to prepare for, and respond to, accidents if they occur.

In focus

The Conference of the Parties (CoP) to the Industrial Accidents Convention convened for its twelfth meeting (Geneva and online, 29 November – 1 December 2022) on the occasion of the 30th year anniversary of the Convention’s signing. The CoP reviewed progress made under the Convention, welcomed Ukraine as the 42nd Party and agreed on approaches to address risks to industrial sites within the context of climate change, natural hazards and the green energy transition. Following the jointly organized UNECE-OECD Seminar on effective management of technological risks of accidents triggered by natural hazards, the CoP adopted a decision on strengthening Natech risk management in the UNECE region and beyond with measures for Parties to, among others, integrate Natech risk into their industrial safety, disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation policies. The CoP also endorsed a Road map for action to strengthen mine tailings safety within and beyond the UNECE region which lays out concrete actions to reduce the risks of tailings failures and mitigate their effects should they occur, including in national and transboundary contexts.