Two halves of the definition
A major industrial accident is an uncontrolled development during the operation of an establishment — a major emission, fire or explosion — that, through dangerous substances, causes serious danger to human health and the environment. The danger may be inside or outside the establishment; that it can reach outside is what sets this accident apart.
Different from an accident at work
An accident at work usually affects one person at one point. A major industrial accident can affect a shift, a neighbourhood or a catchment. Protection is therefore built differently: individual measures are not enough, and plant design, operating regime, maintenance and emergency organisation are handled together.
Why the focus is before the accident
At this scale there is no “putting it right afterwards”. So the legislation rests not on penalties after the event but on order before it: a major accident prevention policy, a safety management system, accident scenarios, an internal emergency plan, information to the public, and planned inspection. All of them are questions asked while nothing has happened yet.
How scope arises
Scope does not follow the type of plant but the quantity of dangerous substances held. A warehouse, a cold store or a fertiliser dealer can fall in scope without being a chemical works. The criterion is not the trade on the sign but the tonnes on the site.
How this stands in Optifora
The module carries the threshold list as 69 rows: 21 hazard categories (13 physical, 3 health, 2 environmental, 3 other) and 48 named substances. Obligations are held as 26 records, kept apart by regime (Turkish / EU) and by tier (lower · upper · both).