“NaTech” is a contraction of “natural” and “technological”.
This term refers to the impact that a natural disaster can have on an industrial facility, potentially triggering an accident.
Why is this theme important?
The combination of the tsunami and the nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan, in 2011 is a dramatic illustration of NaTech risk.
More broadly, events that are not necessarily catastrophic but are increasingly frequent or longer-lasting — such as heatwaves linked to climate change — affect industrial teams, processes, and equipment, and generate new risks that must be integrated into safety management.
What is the impact of these natural phenomena in everyday operations, whose intensity and frequency are increasing with climate change?
The working group
Foncsi has been coordinating a working group on this topic since 2024..
Find out more about working groups
This group places a particular focus on:
- Degraded working conditions (health, safety, and quality of work life);
- Safety practices and governance;
- Economic performance, operations, production, and service delivery (transport, energy supply, etc.)
NaTech risk management is therefore addressed from an industrial perspective, within a scope currently limited to mainland and overseas France, taking into account evolving regulations.
Members of the working group
- Alexandre Largier & Olivier Chanton, ASNR (ex-IRSN)
- Patricia Flach Malaspina & Cristina Giraudo, EDF
- Sylvain Macabeo & Eric Courtalon, Natran
- Daniel Soldini, Razel-Bec
- Stéphane Drilhole, SNCF
- Béatrice Marchal & Michel-André Klein, TotalEnergies
- Frédéric Hénon, UIC
- Agathe Etcheberry & Régis Amberni, Vinci Construction
Led by Caroline Kamaté, with support from Marc Sénant on behalf of Icsi.