In the UK the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is responsible for implementing the SEVESO regulations laid down by the EU concerning the Control of Major Accident Hazard (COMAH) installations.
Part of this work involves estimating the numbers of people potentially at risk from such accident events, particularly when societal rather than individual risk is of concern.
This modelling work is used to inform the carrying out of regulatory functions by the HSE, and the provision of advice to land use planning authorities. To date, however, the data used by the HSE on the spatial distribution of populations at risk has been highly generalised.
The Institute of Environment, Sustainability and Regeneration at Staffordshire University have produced a database for the Health and Safety Executive to map population for the UK to aid modelling of major accidents and hazards.
The National Population Database (NPD) tool is a Geographical Information System (GIS) application using Ordnance Survey mapping alongside various demographic and location data to model population distribution across Great Britain.
Project details
This project has developed a sophisticated methodology, drawing on multiple data sets, and including populations located within residential, workplace, retail, transport and leisure land uses and within communal establishments involving particularly sensitive populations (such as schools and hospitals). The final database has a greater coverage of population types and a better level of spatial resolution than any others that currently exist.
The tool is a sophisticated aid in establishing The NPD provides population estimates on a 100m grid, or for some population types, on an individual address basis. It also, for residential and school locations, allows differentiation between population levels at different times of day. It has a flexible and user-friendly interface, which provides for many different potential uses by HSE and other Government Bodies and Departments.
The NPD was completed by IESR in late 2004. The core layers of residential, transport and sensitive populations are currently being updated in 2008 using current and more detailed source data. In addition, a more sophisticated workplace population layer has been developed by incorporating data from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR).
Further information on the Health and Safety Executive's work involving GIS and societal risk is available from the Health and Safety Laboratory.