On 21 September 2001 a disaster occurred at the AZF fertiliser factory in Toulouse, France. Inspection reports1 stated that the hangar in which the explosion occurred did not comply with chemical industry regulations in force at the time. In its judgment of 24 January 2013, the Administrative Court of Appeal of Bordeaux acknowledged, for the first time in France, that the State was partially responsible. Over and above the legal implications, this ruling raised questions about the limitations of the control model of safety. Classically, safety is guaranteed by safety management systems (Cambon et al., 2006) that are developed by businesses, and legal provisions that are enforced by State entities. Typically, this relationship manifests in various processes (such as regulatory monitoring and legal compliance) and inspections.
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