Introduction
IESR has a long standing relationship with the Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) with regards to researching populations at risk. The most significant of these has been the production of a National Population Database (NPD) in 2005 and an updated and expanded National Population Database 2 in 2008.
Background and context
The key purpose of the NPD is to assist the HSE in implementing the SEVESO regulations laid down by the EU concerning the Control of Major Accident Hazard (COMAH) installations. This work involves estimating the numbers of people potentially at risk from accident events, particularly when societal rather than individual risk is considered.
Summary of project research
The key layers in the NPD - residential populations, sensitive and communal populations and road transport - were all expanded and updated to provide a more accurate location and description of populations in NPD2.
A detailed workplace location population layer was also developed using the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) data. The NPD was created in ESRI ArcGIS and is in a ‘geodatabase’ format. It is reported at two scales - a 100m by 100m point grid layer and an individual address location layer.
Furthermore, the project:
- Developed specific population multipliers to be attached to households, workplaces, transport routes and other land uses.
- Accurately located sensitive populations, including schools, hospitals and people in communal care establishments.
- Differentiated populations by time of day, week, year (term-time) where possible.
- Produced complete coverage for England, Scotland and Wales.
- Developed a user interface to ease use and interaction of the final database.The final database has a greater coverage of population types and a better level of spatial resolution than any others, that currently exist, as far as we know.
Project impact
The database utilised a number of Ordnance Survey address and mapping products available through the ‘Pan Government Agreement’ (PGA). It therefore provides for many different potential uses by HSE and other Government Bodies and Departments.
The NPD has already been used by the Environment Agency, Health Protection Agency, Ministry of Defence and a number of local authorities.
Please contact Dr Helen Balmforth (tel. 01298 218 325) for details about accessing the NPD if you work in the public sector.
Project reports and publications
Relevant publications
Smith, Graham and Fairburn, Jon (2008) Updating and improving the National Population Database to National Population Database 2. Research Report 678. Health and Safety Executive Publications. Available at http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrhtm/rr678.htm
Basta C, Neuvel J M M, Zlatanova S, Ale B (2007) Risk-maps informing land-use planning processes. A survey on the Netherlands and the United Kingdom recent developments. Journal of Hazardous Materials Vol. 145 pp 241- 249
Fairburn J, Arnot C & Balmforth H (2005) Estimating Populations at Risk: A National Population Database (NPD) for the UK in Geoinformatics Vol. 8 pp 42-45
Mooney J (2007) Derivation of spatially structured population data in the context of major accident modelling. Phd Thesis, Staffordshire University.
Mooney J and Walker G P (2002) The Derivation and Use of Population Data for Major Accident Hazard Modelling, HSE Research Report Series, 410/2002, HSE Books, Sudbury. www.hse.gov.uk/research/crr_pdf/2002/crr02410.pdf
Smith G, Arnot C, Fairburn J & Walker G P (2005) A National Population Database for Major Accident Hazard Modelling. HSE Books, Sudbury. Available at http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr297.pdf
Walker G P and Mooney J (1998) Spatially Referenced Population Data for Land Use Planning Advice, HSE Research Report Series 189/1998, HSE Books, Sudbury.
Walker G P, Mooney J and Pratts D (2000) The people and the hazard: the spatial context of major accident hazard management in Britain, Applied Geography, Vol. 20, pp 119-135
Walker G.P. (2000) Urban Planning, hazardous installations and blight: an evaluation of responses to hazard-development conflict, Environment and Planning C, Vol. 18, No 2, pp127-143