The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss EC* research in major industrial hazards (MIH). Within this paper and within the EC＇s research and legislative activities, the following definition of MIH is used: ＇dangerous events having the potential to give rise to serious injury or damage beyond the vicinity of the workplace but which occur as a result of industrial technology rather than naturally occurring phenomena＇. In general, such major hazards in the chemical and petrochemical sectors are associated with four types of hazardous inventories, which can be grouped as follows: (i) large quantities of flammable/explosive substances, mainly hydrocarbons and derivatives; (ii) large quantities of unstable or very reactive substances, peroxides, nitrates, liquid hydrogen and oxygen; (iii) large quantities of common toxic chemicals such as chlorine and ammonia; and (iv) small quantities of very toxic chemicals. To put the EC research in context, the discussion is extended to cover related EC legislation (since one of the purposes of the research is to serve EC policy-making) and also European research that is outside EC programmes.