**5. Discussion and conclusion**

Based on the analysis of the risk assessment approaches and type scenarios in the selected EU countries it is possible to say:

• The idea that on the basis of the identified risks in the industrial processes it is necessary to determine the protection zone for the population, its property and the environment for the case of the MIA is essentially the same in the whole EU. However, the approach of determining these zones is different.


We would like to recommend utilising one type of software for modelling and simulating the type scenarios in all EU member states. Although the majority of the software process is based on the basic physical dispersion models, their outputs and thus the distances of the threat zones are frequently not identical. The ALOHA software is a complex tool.

The MIA prevention is one of the assumptions of ensuring the civil safety in the framework of the expanding technological development. The number and effects of the hazardous substances change permanently and therefore the risk assessment and the subsequent risk treatment/management in the industrial processes is the basic prevention principle. The MIA prevention is a complex and interdisciplinary area that is involved both in the European directives and in the regulations of the EU member states that transpose these requirements to their legal environment. In fact it is a tool that is an important attribute during processing the safety documentation of the SEVESO establishment.

Our complex model is based on the routine procedures and provides a broader interface for its implementation. Its verification confirmed the possibility to utilise the methodology especially in the SEVESO establishment by the specialist for the MIA prevention [32, 33]. In spite of the fact, the new law does not define a unified methodology of the risk assessment; the effort of the EU is oriented on creating a unified approach. The advantage of such a procedure would be the possibility of comparing the results of the SEVESO establishments if the same methodology was used.

The main benefit of this article is a complex analysis of the MIA prevention that is created by the legal environment (regulations and technical standards), by the participating parties (the state administration bodies, SEVESO establishments, etc.). The processes that are under way (the managerial and technical ones) and the methods and tools that are utilised (the information systems, methods and techniques of the risk assessment, etc.) both from the EU and the Slovak Republic's point of view. The area of the MIA prevention system is analysed and summarised in this work for the first time since the adoption of the new SEVESO III Directive and the subsequent adoption of the new law about the MIA prevention (2015) in the Slovak Republic.

#### **5.1 Study limitations, implication and future research directions**

Our main aim in this study was to show the importance of the MIA prevention. In spite of the fact the preventive measures are increased, its amount does not decrease and it can be caused mainly by the increasing number of the enterprises and the hazardous substances (the new ones) used. The prevention improvement has a direct impact on making the occupational safety of the company but also the

public in its close surroundings more effective [31–33]. The company is able to process the risk assessment and subsequently to model it into the visual form better by using the structured procedures and utilising the available software (e.g. ALOHA).

The insufficient information occurring in individual database systems is the possible limitation. The identified causes of the accident and its consequences are often processed insufficiently and it is impossible to identify them. The limitation of the ALOHA system is the extent of its utilisation in the area of spreading the hazardous substances and it is a problem to model the fires and explosions.

Regarding to the created procedures for the risk assessment it would be suitable to integrate the calculation mechanisms to individual steps of the risk assessment. It would be also suitable to aim at utilising the tree methods for determining the causes and effects, especially by using the bow-tie diagrams. Another opportunity is also to create the corresponding methods of the risk assessment for the domino effects or zoning and permission activities.
