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Natech refers to a conjoint natural and technological hazard or accident. This paper is concerned with Natechs involving hazards arising from the handling, processing and/or storage of hazardous materials, as well as the transportation, of oil and gas by pipeline. Risk management of chemical accident hazards has generally been carried out using industrial risk management regulations and practices, engineering safety codes and standards, environmental regulations, and land use planning. However, there is evidence that existing regulations and practices may not be sufficient if the particular conditions associated with Natechs have not been factored in. Awareness of the need to better address Natech risk has been on the rise; nevertheless, this is not reflected sufficiently in the laws and regulations of individual countries, and a general framework for the governance of Natech risk is lacking. This paper provides an overview of Natechs, their characteristics, and the problems associated with Natech risk management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Implications of a regulatory transition into Natech risk management. • Identification of gaps and improvement opportunities for Natech risk management. • Need and willingness to expand Natech risk knowledge and training. • Cooperative efforts required to build on Natech risk management strategies. • Technical guidelines for Natech risk management are required. There is growing awareness in the international community of the effects of technological accidents triggered by natural hazards, also known as Natechs. Population growth, migration to urban areas, and proximity to industrial developments in hazard-prone areas have aggravated communities' exposure and vulnerability. As a result, governments have started to recognize Natechs as a major risk factor and direct efforts toward the enhancement of Natech risk management strategies. In Colombia, a regulatory transition that incorporates Natech scenarios into the country's disaster risk management strategies has increased stakeholders' risk awareness. Therefore, with the aim of exploring Colombia's current status in Natech risk management and governmental organizations' level of awareness of Natechs, we carried out a questionnaire survey. This paper presents and discusses the notions of Natech risk perception of governmental organizations in Colombia and identifies gaps and improvement opportunities for Natech risk management. The findings highlight the importance of enhancing Natech risk knowledge and training and having cooperative efforts among all stakeholders to build on Natech risk management strategies that promote safer territories. Finally, the results of the survey are compared with the results of an OECD country survey from 2017 in order to analyze Colombia's Natech context in contrast to what other OECD member states have done so far. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural hazard triggering technological disasters (Natech) events pose risks to industrial facilities and process plants. As these plants handle hazardous materials, they can endanger nearby residential areas and have financial consequences. Thus, proper Natech risk assessment is required for effective prevention, mitigation and emergency response planning at industrial plants and nearby residential areas. The parameters used to quantify Natech risk assessment are subject to uncertainties and their interactions are non-linear. In this study, a Bayesian belief network-based Natech risk assessment model is developed to assess the earthquake-related Natech risk considering different levels of uncertainties. The cause and effect relationships between different parameters are constructed based on published body of knowledge and expert knowledge. The capabilities of the proposed model are demonstrated for the earthquake-related Natech risk assessment of Kobe City, Higashinada Ward, Japan because of the Great Hanshin earthquake in 1995. The proposed model is also capable of performing both predictive analysis and diagnostic analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Systematic review and meta-analysis of over 160 papers on Natech research. • Papers classified by natural hazard, methodological approach and type of analysis. • Natech research shifts from earthquakes to hydrometeorological to multihazards. • Large research gaps remain concerning tsunami, wind and landslide related Natechs. • More research needed concerning hard countermeasures for Natech risk reduction. • Emerging fields include long-term health effects and risk communication of Natechs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural hazards were the cause of approximately 16,600 hazardous material (hazmat) releases reported to the National Response Center (NRC) between 1990 and 2008-three per cent of all reported hazmat releases. Rain-induced releases were most numerous (26 per cent of the total), followed by those associated with hurricanes (20 per cent), many of which resulted from major episodes in 2005 and 2008. Winds, storms or other weather-related phenomena were responsible for another 25 per cent of hazmat releases. Large releases were most frequently due to major natural disasters. For instance, hurricane-induced releases of petroleum from storage tanks account for a large fraction of the total volume of petroleum released during 'natechs' (understood here as a natural hazard and the hazardous materials release that results). Among the most commonly released chemicals were nitrogen oxides, benzene, and polychlorinated biphenyls. Three deaths, 52 injuries, and the evacuation of at least 5,000 persons were recorded as a consequence of natech events. Overall, results suggest that the number of natechs increased over the study period (1990-2008) with potential for serious human and environmental impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fish curing by salting and fermentation is the result of the action of certain enzymes over fresh fish. This study aimed to evaluate and compare three technological processing methods (A, B, C). Coliforms, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus spp ., coagulase-positive Staphylococcus, Salmonella spp., total volatile base (TVB), pH, water activity (Wa), sodium chloride and biogenic amines were evaluated. A significant difference in histamine production ( P < 0.05) was observed. Escherichia spp ., Klebsiella spp , Proteus spp ., Shigella spp., Citrobacter spp. and Pseudomonas spp. were isolated . Sodium chloride content varied between 15.65 and 18.87% and no significant difference was observed ( P > 0.05). Wa and pH showed significant differences ( P < 0.05), with values between 0.71 and 0.75, and 5.54 and 5.93. TVB values varied between 15.1 and 62.1 mg N 100 g−1, showing significant differences ( P < 0.05) as well. Worrying levels of histamine were found. Processing method A was found to be the most appropriate for the production of this kind of fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines perceived and actual preparedness for two types of natural hazard risks: earthquakes in the Los Angeles County area and hurricanes within the New Orleans metropolitan area. Using data collected from a sample of households in these regions, the influence of individuals' confidence in local government to manage a disaster and exposure to disaster preparedness information sources were tested as explanations for levels of perceived and actual preparedness. Regression analyses show that a high level of confidence in local government to manage a disaster and exposure to more preparedness information sources were associated with a higher level of perceived preparedness. No support for a potential dampening effect of confidence in local government on household preparedness actions was found. The results also reveal only limited support for the impact of information exposure on actual preparedness. The results for actual preparedness vary between the study areas; therefore, we follow the analysis with a discussion of these differences and the implications drawn from the research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]