Risk as the Probability of Harmful Consequences - Essay Example

? Risk Management Question Risk is defined as the probability of harmful consequences that result from interactions between human induced or natural hazards including vulnerable conditions. These consequences include casualties, lost livelihoods, damaged properties, damage to the environment and disrupted economic activity. Risk assessment is the process that determines the kind and the extent of such a risk to a community, through analysing and evaluating the hazards and vulnerability of the existing conditions that could potentially cause harm to people, property and their environment. Assessing the risk comprehensively includes evaluating the total magnitude and likelihood of the potentiality of losses, and also offers a full understanding, of the roots and impact of these losses (Kevin, n.d.). A comprehensive risk assessment involves the following steps: 1. Setting and understanding the context. It involves articulating the objectives and the parameters of the institution considers when managing risks. This is assesses the current situation, needs gaps and evaluates what already exists, to build on the capacity and avoid duplication of efforts. This is carried out through a systematic inventory and evaluation of the already existing risk assessment studies and the available data (FIRESCOPE, 1994). 2. Hazard identification This involves finding the type, location, intensity, and likelihood of threats and risks prevalent in a given community. 3. Evaluating exposure This identifies the population and the property that is at risk and demarcates disaster prone areas. 4. Analysis of vulnerability This determines the capacity of the elements in a given community at risk to withstand the risk conditions. 5. Impact analysis This outlines the estimation of potential losses of the exposed population, property, livelihood, environment and the economy. 6. Profiling the risk This evaluates the various cost effective risk reduction options available, in terms of the ability of the community in risk reduction and its socio-economic concerns. 7. Formulation and revisions of action strategies and plans. This involves setting priorities, allocation of resources (both human and financial) and initiating relevant programmes. The all hazards approach entails inclusion of all the possible types of risk or threat in risk assessment. It aims to include all the types of risk, irrespective of the source, to give a standardized overview guided by a set of principles and steps. It’s a comprehensive and integrated means of assessing threats and risks. Assessing risks using the all hazards approach in an integrated way significantly reduces the vulnerability of people, property, environment and the economy (Service, 2010). Question 2 Business continuity refers to the ability of an organization to provide support and service to its clients and its ability to keep up its viability before, during and after a business continuity occurrence. It’s a holistic management approach that recognizes the potential impact that would threaten the firm and it offers a framework of building the capacity and resilience for an effective response so as to safeguard its interests. Although it may be more practical for large businesses, it is very important to maintain full functioning throughout a disaster crisis. Business continuity plans also outlines the basic concerns like the leadership command in an event a company leader dies or is really ill. They also address backup plans for drastic scenarios such as patent lawsuits, labour disputes, or bottlenecks distortions. This allows the leaders to review the threats and weaknesses to their organization from a detached point of view. Tight plans guarantee the teams that the leaders are aware of how to turn on a dime when in challenging times. The process can also highlight the weaknesses of an organization can correct way before facing a disaster. For a business to be successful, it has to constantly meet the needs to its customers. Failure to this the customers will go elsewhere and hence reduce profits to a great extent. Reputation is one of the best features of a business and this can be boosted by being known for distraction preparedness. Business continuity plans have become very popular especially to contractors where some may need this plan as part of the contract. Insurance providers have begun asking for business continuity plans during insurance application and this means that businesses with continuity plans will be better placed when securing competitive insurance covers for business. Relying on resources outside the company is recommended as it saves money compared to shadowing facilities. It also ensures that employees and the entire stake holders of the organization can recover effectively, based on strategy and not emotion, during the times of disaster (NETC, 2004). Question 3 An incident is an occurrence requiring action by emergency service persons. An incident command system is a standardized on-scene all-risk incident management model. It specifically designed to allow adoption of an integrated organizational structure by respondents to be equal to the complexity and demands for any incidents without barriers such as jurisdiction boundaries. It is designed to be: 1. Standardized. Everyone operates from the same structure which supersedes hierarchies the respondent teams bring to them. Every responder understands the flow of resources, assignments and information within the ICS and adopts that structure until the disaster is terminated. 2. Scalable. ICS can be applied in incidences ranging from a broken pipe that floods several homes to a hurricane that sweeps a multi-state wallop. 3. Multi-jurisdictional. ICS is designed to offer a single management structure for respondents of multiple for instance fire district, states or counties to effectively manage a response from people answerable to different bosses, possess different skills and have different equipment. 4. “On scene” use. Management of a disaster is carried out as the disaster unfolds, on the exact place or very close to it. This makes sure managers have timely information on which to base decisions, and not have to wait for issuance from bureaucrats from state capital (UNDP, 2010). Worldwide disaster response personnel should be trained about ICS and endorse it in their disaster management programmes. This would take a large load off government departments especially the inexperienced ones and leave the skilled team to effectively do their job in incidences of disaster. ICS will also minimize the barriers to access disaster sites especially caused by boundaries issues, hampering the response. References FIRESCOPE. (1994). Incident Command System. Califonia: OES FIRESCOPE OCC. Kevin. M. (N.d.). Disaster Management Program. Retrieved from US Forest Service: http://www.fs.fed.us/global/aboutus/dmp/welcome.htm NETC. (2004). Incident Command System: Introduction and Overview. New York: National Emergency Training Center. Service, T. S. (2010). National Emergency Risk Assessment Guidelines. Hobart: Commonwealth of Australia and each of its states and territories, 2010. UNDP. (2010). Disaster Risk Mangement. New York: UNDP. Read More