Statistical analysis of major accidents in petrochemical industry notified to the major accident reporting system (MARS)

The European major accident reporting system (MARS) was created within the framework of European Union (EU) directive 82/501, the so-called "SEVESO" directive, and in order to register all the major industrial accidents notified to the European Union authorities from the member states. Statistical analysis of these accidents offers significant data to the understanding and prevention of industrial accidents. This paper makes an analysis of some characteristics of major accidents in the petrochemical sector included in MARS. The statistical analysis focused on the main categorization fields of the MARS short reports and additionally a refinement of the immediate causes of major accidents with focus on the organizational factors was attempted through the details provided in the full reports of the database.