Illustrative: atmospheric layers at the limb, jet tracers and an aerosol plume lofted and sheared downwind

Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium · Hazards, Disasters and Resilience

Technological, industrial and Natech hazards

A technological hazard is bounded by its installation, its substances and its safeguards.

Map technological, industrial and Natech hazards on a real place

01Model

The model, step by step

The model

From a release frequency to a planning zone: how individual risk falls with distance and where the criterion line sits

DataModelGateDecisionStandard it teachesStandard it relies onNeighbouring discipline

7 steps
Frequency of that many or more deaths
50 per million years
Distance of the 1 in a million per year contour
138 m
Distance of the 1 in 100,000 per year contour
89 m
Expected fatalities if the release occurs
61
/

The model From a release frequency to a planning zone: how individual risk falls with distance and where the criterion line sits

02Scope

What the discipline covers

The subtopics its courses and labs teach.

Technological, industrial and Natech hazards: 0 primary courses open, 2 in preparation and 3 also taught here, across 8 subtopics. Courses: RAF-115 L1 in preparation, RAT-219 L2 in preparation, RAN-312 L2 also taught here, RAN-314 L2 also taught here, RAN-315 L2 also taught here.
Technological, industrial and Natech hazards at a glance
  • Open, 0
  • In preparation, 2
  • Also taught here, 3
  • Subtopics, 8
Course codes from the curriculum; study levels L1 to L4.
Courses
In development
Levels
L1 Introductory, L2 Intermediate
Labs
Map lab, Network lab, Exposure lab
  • Industrial and chemical accidents
  • Major accident hazard regulation
  • Process safety
  • Nuclear and radiological risk
  • Dam and structural failure
  • Transport accidents and dangerous goods
  • Natech events
  • Land-use planning around hazardous sites
03The discipline

The field and its scope

For process safety engineers, regulators, land-use planners and emergency planners who must assess a hazardous installation, a dam or a transport corridor and the natural hazards that can trigger its failure.

04Measures

Quantities and units

05Methods

Methods and their limits

Each method is listed with what it assumes and where it fails.

06Debates

What the field debates

07Bodies and data

Bodies that set practice, and the data they publish

Bodies and standards are named so learners can find and apply their published work; the Academy teaches their use and links to the publisher, and no affiliation is implied.

08Simulator

Run the discipline's simulator

Technological, industrial and Natech hazards's own model runs in the scene at the top of this page: set its parameters there and play the steps. The separate chart simulator is left off this page so that it stays within its size budget.

09Maps

Build a twin of any place

Search any place or open the world; the layers and generators follow technological, industrial and Natech hazards on the planet map, the globe and in 3D.

The Kahramanmaras earthquake sequence of 2023: a flat plan of the faculty twin. Terrain 59 to 3,044 m; 2 reference earthquakes, M7.5 to M7.8; 3,643,786 people in the box, 2020; Earthquakes M4.5 and above, past week: read live when the 3D twin opens; USGS ShakeMap intensity contours: read live when the 3D twin opens. Contours every 500 metres from the elevation grid; population count 2020, worldpop 1 km as four classes per cell (edges 11, 47, 405); reference earthquakes as marks.
The Kahramanmaras earthquake sequence of 2023, Turkiye. Flat plan of the same data: relief, the two epicentres with magnitude and depth, the WorldPop count grid and the numbers below. The 3D twin opens on devices with WebGL once its data and library have been checked.
  • Terrain 59 to 3,044 m
  • 2 reference earthquakes, M7.5 to M7.8
  • 3,643,786 people in the box, 2020
  • Earthquakes M4.5 and above, past week: read live when the 3D twin opens
  • USGS ShakeMap intensity contours: read live when the 3D twin opens
Credits and dates per layer are listed under the stage. Relief in the twin is exaggerated ×1.5 for legibility.

Drag to move, right drag or Shift with a drag to turn and tilt, Ctrl with the wheel to zoom. Keyboard: arrows move, Shift with arrows turn and tilt, + and - zoom, 0 resets, V steps through the views, Escape clears.

Flat plan of the same data: relief, the two epicentres with magnitude and depth, the WorldPop count grid and the numbers below. The 3D twin opens on devices with WebGL once its data and library have been checked.

The boundaries, names and designations shown do not imply any judgement on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Countries: Natural Earth (public domain).

11Research hub

Research hub: papers, preprints and datasets

Open scholarly sources searched with the subject terms of Technological, industrial and Natech hazards.

Search termsTechnological, industrial and Natech hazards; Industrial and chemical accidents; Major accident hazard regulation; Process safety; Nuclear and radiological risk; Dam and structural failureDerived from the Risk Academy page on Technological, industrial and Natech hazards.

  • OpenAlexlisted for reference; not queried
  • Crossreflisted for reference; not queried
  • DataCitelisted for reference; not queried
  • Zenodolisted for reference; not queried
  • arXivlisted for reference; not queried
  • Europe PMClisted for reference; not queried
  • OpenAIRE Graphlisted for reference; not queried

No source is enabled for live display on this site yet: the sources are listed for reference and none is queried. Once the publisher of record enables a source after its terms are reviewed, recent works are listed here. Metadata and links only: title, authors, venue, year, type, open-access status and licence as each source records them; works are listed for orientation, not reviewed or endorsed.

12Hub

Research and tools

Research and preprints as they are published, by discipline, with the faculty's other tools.

The hub lists the newest research and preprints for Technological, industrial and Natech hazards, each with its source and date. Open the research hub

13Methods and standards

Hazard families it covers

From the Academy's risk taxonomy: the discipline's own entries and those of its primary courses, with how many courses teach each.

Hazard families

  1. Industrial and chemical accident2 courses
  2. Dam and structural failure1 course
  3. Nuclear and radiological1 course
  4. Transport accident1 course

Methods and practice

  1. Qualitative risk assessment tools1 course

Frameworks and standards

  1. ISO 45001 occupational health and safety1 course
14What is changing now

What is changing now

Recent developments in technological, industrial and Natech hazards, each with its source; sources checked on 16 October 2026.

15Courses

Courses in this discipline

Courses for this discipline are in development; until they open, study it through the connected courses and open lessons below.

Courses with this primary disciplineIn development

  1. RAF-115Technological and Industrial HazardsIn developmentFoundation, L1 Introductory, 6 hours (estimate)
  2. RAT-219Process Safety: HAZOP, Bow-tie and LOPAIn developmentTechnical, L2 Intermediate, 10 hours (estimate)
16Also taught here

Courses from connected disciplines that also teach this field

Each course has its primary discipline elsewhere and teaches this field as part of its scope.

17Labs

How the subject is practised in labs

LabWhat you do in itCourses using it
Map labRead hazard, exposure and boundaries on real maps3
Network labBuild dependency graphs, find critical nodes, trace cascades2
Exposure labOverlay people and assets with hazard footprints1
18Technology in this area

How technology helps and what risk it brings

19Achievements

Achievements in this discipline

21Where this is practised

Where the subject is practised

Field platforms of the ecosystem where the subject is studied and applied.

22Practised in

The two Nexus Foundry systems where it is practised

  • Nexus FoundryNorthStar systemIndustrial and Natech accidents are incidents to corroborateIncidents room
  • GRIx systemIndustrial accidents cascade through infrastructureCascades room

Nexus Foundry system pages describe what each system and its rooms are designed to do; the courses teach the methods these systems apply.

23Across the ecosystem

Across the ecosystem

25References

Core references and where to begin

Start with Kaplan, then Perrow, then Reason.

NRNexus Reports gateway · GW-ACADEMY

Contribute to Nexus Reports from this page.

Nexus Reports is the Consortium's quarterly publication. What you know about this subject can become evidence, a case or a correction in the next edition, credited to you and published under CC BY 4.0 where it is your own work.

Risk Academy
Technological, industrial and Natech hazards

Prepare with a related course

Open courses in connected disciplines teach the methods this discipline will build on.

Skip to toolbar