Understanding global security - Peter Hough

ACCIDENTAL THREATS TO SECURITY
. . . safety and health of workers is a part and parcel of human security.
Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General 2002 (Annan 2002)
Accidents will happen? The nature and form
of man-made accidents
Of all of the issues considered in this volume (entirely) man-made accidents, in their
various forms, are least frequently thought of, and hence acted on, as matters of
security. However, unnatural structural or mechanical failings represent a major risk
to human life throughout the world and it is a risk that has grown over time and looks
likely to continue to do so. The absence of explicitly threatening causal factors, be
they non-human or human with ‘malice aforethought’, has led to accidents being, to
a certain extent, accepted as ‘one of those things’ and safety not becoming securitized.
Most accidents, though, are wholly unnatural and rooted in contemporary human
societal practices which are becoming more widespread throughout the world. As
such ‘technological’ and ‘traditional’ accidents are no more unavoidable than other
social systemic problems like war and crime.
Transport accidents
Major transport disasters have politicized safety issues over the last 100 years, with
domestic security measures frequently enacted by governments after the event.
Many states rewrote maritime safety legislation after the infamous Titanic disaster
exposed weaknesses in the provision of lifeboats and other procedures. This ‘closing
the stable door after the horse has bolted’ approach was witnessed following a
number of the disasters listed in Table 9.1.
Table 9.1 The world’s worst transport disasters
Place Date Type No. killed
1 Philippines 1987 Ferry crash (Dona Paz) 4386 b
2 Salang Tunnel, 1982 Fire in road tunnel 2000 a
Afghanistan
3 Haiti 1993 Ferry sunk (Neptune) 1800 a
4 Mississippi, USA 1865 Steamship exploded (Sultana) 1800 c
5 North Atlantic 1912 Ship sunk by iceberg (Titanic) 1500 b
6 Japan 1954 Ferry (Toya Maru) 1172 a
7 Canada 1914 Ship sunk (Empress of Ireland) 1014 b
8 New York, USA 1904 Ship fire (General Slocum) 1000 b
9 Philippines 1980 Ferry sunk (Don Juan) 1000 a
10 Baltic Sea 1994 Ferry sunk (Estonia) 909 a
Sources: Ash (2001), b CRED (2003), c Potter (1992).
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