ABSTRACT
There is nothing new about major hazards; it is only their character that has changed over the years. Intially, of course, large-scale threats to man and his environment had a natural origin, mainly storm, flood and fire, although the archaeological record amply demonstrates the potential for disaster that arose from mankind’s early attempts to harness the potential of fire. In the Middle Ages the manufacture, storage and accidental ignition of black powder may well provide the first examples of large-scale damage from manufactured substances and artefacts. In the last couple of centuries, large-scale water dam failure and boiler explosions accompanied the onset of the Industrial Revolution.
