Alternative Definitions Total number of accident fatalities
Agenda 21 Chapter 6: Protecting and promoting human health
POLICY RELEVANCE (a) Purpose: This indicator shows the number of fatalities per energy produced in
energy systems and related activities. The indicator is used to assess the risk to human
health derived from energy systems, and in particular by various fuel chains per
energy produced. (b) Relevance to Sustainable Development: Energy systems are associated with a
vast array of insults and impacts including environmental health risks.Exploring the
sustainability of current energy supply practices indicates that the extraction,
transport, use and waste management of energy options involve important health
hazards that in many cases result in fatalities. Although this issue is often ignored, the
risks to the population and the rates of occupational injury and mortality from energy-
related accidents are high. Operating a liquefied natural gas terminal, transporting
petroleum, running a coal mine or exploiting a hydropower dam also require the
conscious assessment of system-wide resilience in response to human or technical
failure in order to minimize the risk of accidents and consequently of fatalities.
Nuclear energy represents a special case in this context in that the scope of an
accident could be potentially large, but major efforts exist to actively assess and
manage the multidimensional risk in the nuclear industry. Also, the use of traditional
fuels in many countries is linked to fatalities resulting from fires and smoke
inhalation. (c) International Conventions and Agreements: None. (d) International Targets/Recommended Standards: None.
(e) Linkages to Other Indicators: This indicator is closely linked to some indicators
of the economic dimension, such as the level of energy use and production, fuel mix,
etc. Also, the indicator is linked to other social indicators such as share of households
without electricity or heavily dependent on non-commercial energy.
