Journal Article

Quantitative assessment of enterprise environmental risk mitigation in the context of Na-tech disasters

Han, Ruru, Zhou, Beihai, Jin, Haibo, Li, Linjun, Li, Nan, An, Luyang, Ma, Lei, Xu, Ming

2019

Overview

As an important causative factor of environmental accidents, natural disasters have recently received much attention for environmental risk assessment. Typhoons are one of the most frequent natural disasters in the northern Pacific Ocean and South China Sea and cause enormous damage to agriculture, daily livelihood, and industry. In this study, an environmental risk assessment for industrial enterprises is conducted when considering typhoon disasters. First, a Na-tech (natural hazard triggering technological disasters) environmental risk assessment index system with the aid of an analytic hierarchy process and fuzzy evaluation model (ERA-FAM) is developed to explore the major determinants related to risk level. The impact of typhoon disasters on environmental risk from chemical enterprises is discussed using a comparative analysis of risk levels with and without typhoon disaster scenarios. A chemical plant located in Zhejiang, China, is selected as a case study using this methodology. Three hypothetical scenarios are assumed, based on actual situations, to explore the impact of various factors on environmental risk. The results demonstrate that production factors and surrounding environmental conditions are the most sensitive factors for typhoon disasters, while emergency preparation is most important for reducing environmental risk. The influence of typhoons on environmental risk values is much higher for enterprises with imperfect management and vulnerable water risk receptors. Incorporating disaster management into environmental risk management will aid in developing strategies and policies for environmental risk mitigation and risk reduction practices.

• Publisher: Springer International Publishing,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Accident prevention / accidents / Analytic hierarchy process / Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution / business enterprises / case studies / Chemical plants / China / Comparative analysis / Cyclonic Storms - prevention & control / Disaster management / disaster preparedness / Disasters / Disasters - prevention & control / Earth and Environmental Science / Earthquakes / Ecology / Ecotoxicology / Emergency preparedness / Environment / Environmental assessment / Environmental conditions / environmental factors / Environmental impact / Environmental Management / Environmental Monitoring - methods / Environmental policy / Environmental risk / Floods / Fuzzy Logic / Hazardous materials / Humans / Hurricanes / Industry / issues and policy / Literature reviews / livelihood / Mitigation / Models, Theoretical / Monitoring/Environmental Analysis / Natural disasters / Pacific Ocean / production economics / Production factors / receptors / risk / Risk analysis / Risk Assessment / Risk factors / Risk levels / Risk management / Risk reduction / Safety Management - methods / South China Sea / Storm damage / Toxicity / Typhoons / Water pollution