The Hazardous Substances Council advices the Dutch government to enlarge investments of research in the knowledge area of safety and hazardous substances. Based on an inventory the Council expressed its great concern. The size of the chemical industry and transport of hazardous substances in the Netherlands, the degree of spatial densification and the expected developments in areas such as new energy carriers, deserve investment in knowledge infrastructure in the area of safety and hazardous substances.
The AGS recommends that the government and Parliament take the initiative to invest in this knowledge infrastructure and, together with the business community, ensure that knowledge development in the area of safety does not stagnate, that students – particularly process technologists, chemists, urban designers and civil engineers – are thoroughly educated in the area of safety and that the Dutch research programme in this domain be formulated in an international context.