The Sociological evaluation of the phenomenon of natural disaster risk in petrochemical and Acrilic chemical industry sectors: The cases of Kocaeli and Yalova

ıu ABSTRACT The Sociological Evaluation of The Phenomenon of Natural Disaster Risk in Petrochemical and Acrilic Chemical Industry Sectors: The Cases of Kocaeli and Yalova Zerrin SUNGUR Labor Economics and Industrial Relations Major Branch Graduate School of Social Sciences, Anadolu University September 2004 Advisor: Prof. Dr. Enver ÖZKALP Nowadays, the phenomenon of risk adressed by a wide variety of areas and by many different scientific disciplines. Risk can be defined that as one of the ways of seeing the world and it has been constructed culturally and developed in the context of controlling the future. In this study, the phenomenon of natural disaster risk has been approached sociologically. The three major theoretical perspectives explaining the phenomenon of risk; the cognitive science perspective, sociocultural perspectives; cultural sembolic perspective, risk society perspective, govermentality approach and social constructionist positions have been introduced. The social and organizational construction of natural disaster risks have been discussed in this study. Turkey that of 85 % of population and 98 % of industrial facilities are in the earthquake belt, has a high risk of earthquakes. In the context of this study, it has been explored that the point of view of employees in petrochemical and acrilic chemical industry sectors in Kocaeli and Yalova regions. Then, the factors affecting the risk management practices and the point of view of employees in those organizations have been explored. Those factors are; socio demographic factors, the sector operated within: public or private, the size of organization: small, medium or large and the ownership of organization: domestic, foreign or the others. The natural disaster risks have become more important by the time in the process of industrialization as one of the ways of modernization. August 17, 1999 Eastern Marmara Earthquake has pointed out this fact in Turkey. While it is not possible to reduce the probability of occurance of natural disasters, but on the other hand, it is possible to mitigate the natural hazards with risk management applications. Key words: Risk, Natural Disasters, Risk Management, Risk Perception, Disaster Management, Risk Society, Petrochemical Industry, Acrilic Chemical Industry.