Risk communication in Europe: Ways of implementing art. 8 of the post-Seveso directive

Abstract

In 1976 in Seveso, Italy, an accident occurred at a chemical plant in which the toxic substance dioxin was emitted into the environment. Although the damage from this accident remains uncertain, an important revelation was that serious information deficiencies existed, not only at the Seveso site, but about hazardous sites generally. Consultations therefore were started in the European Community (EC) to arrive at European guidelines aimed at reducing the chances of hazards materialising, and regulating the way government and public should be notified of those hazards, of safety measures, and of emergency arrangements. On June 24, 1982, the so-called post-Seveso Directive was issued (Council of the European Communities, 1982). The deadline for implementation was January, 1st, 1985. The Directive requires amongst other things that the public likely to be affected by an accident must be informed of safety measures and of the correct behavior to adopt in the event of an accident.