The Nature of Accidents and Catastrophes and Their Classification - Term Paper Example

A REPORT ON THE NATURE OF ACCIDENTS AND CATASTROPHES AND THEIR CLASSIFICATION Submitted to (INSTRUCTOR’S NAME) (INSTITUTION NAME) (ADDRESS) 10th November, 2009 By (STUDENT NAME) (INSTITUTION NAME) ABSTRACT This report starts by giving an introduction into the background situation of accidents and catastrophes. After this, the nature of accidents and catastrophes is looked into giving a distinction between the two events. The classification of accidents and catastrophes is provided and afterwards, examples of different accidents and catastrophes in the United Kingdom are given together with their consequences. Terrorism and its impact are given as a major example of a catastrophe with great consequences together with the disaster life cycles. The report then takes a look at the disaster management plans of the United Kingdom. This is then tied into the disaster legislation as well as the government’s reconstruction strategies after disasters. The report ends with a brief conclusion on the lessons learned from the accidents and catastrophes that have occurred. \ TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Abstract…………………………………………………………………… 2 2. Contents………………………………………………………………….. 3 3. Introduction: 1.1Background..................................................................................... 1.2 Purpose........................................................................................... 4 4 4. Methods …………………………………………………………………... 6 5. The Nature and Classification of Accidents and Catastrophes………………………………………………... 7 6. How Numerous Variables Interact To Produce Disasters and Catastrophes……………… 11 7. Modern Day Threats and the Changing Trends in the Frequency of Disasters ……………………. 13 8. The Disaster Life Cycle…………………………………………………………………. 15 9. UK Disaster Management Plans……………………………………………………………….. 16 10. Differences Between Disaster and Catastrophe Planning………………………………………………………… 17 11. Conclusion………………………………………………………………... 19 12. Glossary of Terms………………………………………………………………... 20 13. References 21 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background: Wide scale disasters of varying degrees have been a constant feature in the world’s history. These disasters have been both natural and man- made and examples include the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the attack on Pearl Harbour, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the 9/ 11 terrorist attacks in addition to the several earthquakes, tsunami’s, tornadoes, floods, disease outbreaks, droughts, volcano eruptions and hurricanes that have taken place in the past century or so. These disasters have increased tremendously during this millennium in size and frequency with earthquakes, tsunami’s, hurricanes and terrorist attacks constantly finding their way in the headlines. The losses incurred from these increasingly commonplace natural and man- made accidents and catastrophes have been considerable and pose serious questions concerning disaster preparedness as well as the links accidents and catastrophes have with climate change. 1.2 Purpose: The objective of this report is to develop a comprehension of the nature of accidents and catastrophes by analyzing the differences between them. The report also attempts to discover how accidents and catastrophes are classified; how numerous variables interact to produce disasters and catastrophes; examples of modern day threats such as terrorism; the changing trends in the frequency of disasters; the disaster life cycle; the UK disaster management plans; as well as the differences between disaster and catastrophe planning. The overall aim is to provide a comprehensive and far- reaching understanding of accidents and catastrophes in their totality. 2. THE NATURE AND CLASSIFICATION OF ACCIDENTS AND CATASTROPHES An accident is an unplanned and uncontrolled incident that causes injuries, damage to property or harm to the environment (Craythorne, 2005). By their nature, accidents are small in scale and have an impact on a small locale with few people. Road carnages, plane crashes, oil spills, fires, industrial chemical accidents and personal injury accidents are all good examples of accidents that encapsulate the nature of accidents. A catastrophe, on the other hand, is a rare destructive incident of great human and ecological significance where the norms of the state of the environment are greatly surpassed (Jeffrey, 1990). There are several characteristics of catastrophes as summarized by Jeffrey (1990), the first being that they are infrequent and thus the probability of them occurring is low making them hard to predict. Catastrophes are also irregular even though some of them like tropical storms are seasonal. In addition, their onset is very rapid and this suddenness makes it difficult to prepare for or prevent (Jeffrey, 1990). Examples of catastrophes include earthquakes of great magnitudes like the ones recently experienced in China; terrorist attacks such as 9/ 11; hurricanes such as Hurricane Katrina; tsunamis; and the like. Having developed an understanding of the nature of both accidents and catastrophes, it is then easier to classify them into their respective groups. Classification is necessary since categorisation has a direct impact on the level of response that shall be afforded to the accident or catastrophe in question and will also affect the type of response given. An oil spill is very different from a crane accident, for instance, whereby the circumstances and agents involved differ and thus the materials and machinery that shall be used in the response in both cases will likewise differ. Therefore, if there is wrong classification of an accident/ catastrophe, the impact of the accident/ catastrophe will be worsened due to the fact that the wrong response will be used. It is thus crucial that accidents and catastrophes are properly classified to prevent the creation of additional problems that will only serve to worsen the already bad situation. One way in which accidents can be classified is based on the location of the accident (Geurt, 2008). Where the accident took place is an important factor in determining the type of accident it is and is very commonly used. If, for instance, an accident took place on a road, it will be classified as a road accident. Similarly, there exist air accidents which take place in airplanes, rail accidents which take place on train tracks and factory accidents which happen inside factories among others. In addition to this, accident classification can be done according to what caused the accident to happen i.e. accident cause. This is probably the most widespread method of accident classification and is the most convenient. Examples of accidents classified this way are plane accidents, car accidents, explosives accidents, train accidents, and nuclear accidents to mention but a few. With regards to catastrophe classification, Baum (1983) explains that catastrophes are classified two ways- they are either natural disasters or technological accidents. Natural disasters are those catastrophes that are as a result of complex changes in the environment and include hurricanes, tsunami’s. Technological catastrophes are those that are as a result of failures in human technology or human actions such as nuclear or chemical explosions like the Chernobyl catastrophe. Technological catastrophes are believed to have greater long-term implications than natural disasters. 3. HOW NUMEROUS VARIABLES INTERACT TO PRODUCE DISASTERS AND CATASTROPHES The knowledge of the nature and classification of accidents and catastrophes is evidently. However, it is similarly necessary to understand how these disasters are produced. In that regard, Weichselgartner (2002) reveals that there are physical, economic, cultural, social, technological, political-legislative and developmental variables that interact to produce disasters and catastrophes. These variables from the social and physical environments interact with each other to ultimately produce disasters of all kinds. According to Weichselgartner (2002, p. 151) the physical variables include environmental degradation; the use of carbon-based fuels which alters weather patterns; desertification; the rise in sea levels; the perilous location of infrastructure and settlements and so on. These physical variables are particularly potent and unless nipped in the bud, have the most potential to cause the greatest disasters. According to McEntire (2001), social variables include rising population growth rates; over consumption leading to depletion of limited resources; the rise in infectious infections due to increased human interaction and inevitably lead to catastrophic disease outbreaks such as swine flu; and warfare resulting from terrorist acts and civil unrests all lead to disasters. Cultural variables include the negative attitudes of people towards conserving the environment, global warming and pollution. Political variables include negative politically motivated policies and legislation such as the reluctance of the US to sign the Kyoto Protocol. Economic variables are related to those economic decisions that compromise the environment such as the construction of factories and fuel guzzling cars that emit carbons leading to global warming. Technological variables are closely related to economic variables and refer to those technological advances such as increased computer use that negatively affect the environment. Finally, developmental variables include rural and urban planning projects such as housing and infrastructural expansion (McEntire, 2001). These projects affect the structural foundations of the earth triggering catastrophes such as mudslides, landslides and earthquakes. Each of these variables is significant because they cause vulnerability to disasters. As such, it is of extreme importance to understand that disasters do not just happen out of the blues. As the aforementioned variables illustrate, the interaction of these variables inevitably leads to the production of disasters. It is thus necessary for those involved in disaster preparedness and emergency management to prevent the interaction of these variables to prevent the ultimate occurrence of disasters and catastrophes. 4. MODERN DAY THREATS AND THE CHANGING TRENDS IN THE FREQUENCY OF DISASTERS One of the most significant variables is the social variable and terrorism has emerged as one of the greatest modern day threats in this category. Terrorism has increased in magnitude and frequency over the last 9 years with the 9/ 11 attacks in the United States marking the most shocking of all terrorist attacks. Other attacks have been the London 7/ 7 attacks, the Mumbai attacks of 2008, the 1998 terrorist attacks in Kenya and Tanzania, the recent Peshawar attacks in Pakistan and so on. All these attacks have been carried out by Islamic extremists and have caused untold suffering and losses in terms of property, life and general global peace. The attacks seem to increase with each passing year and 2009 alone has witnessed a shocking amount of terrorist attacks. That said, it is not just terrorism that has increased in frequency. Natural disasters and catastrophes have likewise increased, pointing towards a changing trend in their frequency. According to OCHA (2009), the year 2009 has seen an astonishing 96 cases of natural disasters and disease outbreaks, the most prominent among them being Hurricane Aida (November), Typhoon Mirinae (October), Typhoon Parma (October), the Sumatra Earthquake in Indonesia (September), the South Pacific Tsunami (September), Typhoon Ketsana (September) as well as the earthquakes in China (July). The increased frequency in these natural disasters has been attributed to climate change. According to Anderson and Bausch (2006, pp. 4- 5), extremes in weather changes have caused this increased trend of natural disasters and that unless quick action is taken, global warming will reach alarming levels such that extreme events will become even more frequent than they currently are. 5. THE DISASTER LIFE CYCLE Each disaster consists of different stages. According to Faulkner (2001), there are 6 stages in a disaster. Stage 1 is known as the pre-event stage whereby preparation and planning is done. Stage 2, the prodromal stage, is when a disaster is recognized to be coming and imminent. The emergency stage is stage 3 and is when the event is ongoing and search and rescue efforts are underway. Stage 4 is the intermediate stage when order is slowly returning and attempts are being made to restore the affected area to normalcy. The recovery stage is stage 5 and rebuilding, analysis and reflection is the main characteristic herein. The last stage is the resolution stage and everyday activities and business is re-established. These stages are generally characteristic of all disasters and all disaster management experts need to be conversant with them so as to carry out effective recovery efforts at each phase of the disaster to ensure the community recovers as soon as possible. 6. UK DISASTER MANAGEMENT PLANS UK’s disaster management plans are contained within the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. According to O'Brien and Read (2005), this act is very far reaching and is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the local provisions for civil protection where, establishing a statutory the duties of emergency services like the police and ambulance services are outlined. The second part deals with the emergency powers and provisions for using special legislative measures is outlined in cases of major emergencies. It also gives a new definition for the term emergency as being an event that threatens the welfare of people, the security of the UK and also the environment. This Act gives more teeth to emergency and security services in the country, ensuring that in cases of floods, terrorist attacks or any other disasters, swift action is taken to prevent as much damage from happening as possible. This will ensure that all citizens of the United Kingdom are well protected, whether it’s from the forces of nature, the breakdowns of technology or the evil acts of terrorists both now and in the future. 7. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DISASTER AND CATASTROPHE PLANNING According to Wilmoth (2006), there is a major difference between disaster and catastrophe planning. Disasters are smaller in scale while catastrophes have virtually no boundaries, no extent and no budget unlike disasters as was evidenced in a catastrophe such as Hurricane Katrina. The main differences are with regards to communication, cooperation and coordination. On its part, disaster planning is smaller in scale and makes the assumption that the danger is within the local boundaries and can thus be easily assessed. In addition, resources are located nearby; jurisdictional management systems are effective and operational; agencies plan their responses separately; jurisdictions frequently test plans and revise them as required and most jurisdictions assume an all-hazards general operations plan, matched with a scenario-based annex (FEMA, 2008). Therefore, fewer resources and responders are used during disaster planning as the effects of the disaster are les pronounced. Catastrophe planning on the other hand is more involving and more expensive than disaster planning. The danger is not always confined in one area and thus more jurisdictions can be involved. In additions, the disaster cycle differs since some events may have a slow onset and take longer to occur. Further to that single agency planning is inadequate therefore several agencies are involved; planning integrates international response agencies; plan exercising is more complex than in disaster planning; science plays a greater role in catastrophe management; and new methods may be needed since some catastrophes are unique and there is no prior experience in managing them; (FEMA, 2008). All in all, catastrophe planning is much bigger in scale, involves several agencies, some of whom may be from outside the immediate locality and the expenses are greater. 8. CONCLUSION In summary, it is evident that accidents, disasters and catastrophes are here with us to stay. With the advent of climate change, this is even more the case. As such, disaster/ emergency management should seriously be incorporated in all states to ensure that communities are not caught unawares. This should involve prevention of these events as well as the speedy response when they do occur. These measures will ensure the safety of the worlds inhabitants from all types of disasters; both now and for future generations. 9. GLOSSARY OF TERMS A Accident- an unfortunate mishap; especially one causing damage or injury C Catastrophe- a sudden, extensive, or notable disaster or misfortune D Disaster- A serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society causing widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources Disaster Life Cycle- The disaster life cycle describes the process through which emergency managers prepare for emergencies and disasters, respond to them T Terrorism- the calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious REFERENCES Anderson, Jason and Bausch, Camilla. (2006). Climate Change and Natural Disasters: Scientific evidence of a possible relation between recent natural disasters and climate change. European Union, DG Internal Policies of the Union Policy Department Economic and Scientific Policy Baum, Andrew. (1983). Natural Disaster and Technological Catastrophe. Environment and Behavior, Vol. 15, No. 3, 333-354 Craythorne, Paul. (2005). Accident Reporting & Investigation. Retrieved 8th November, 2009 from http://web- safety.com/exchange/Downloads/ARI.ppt. Faulkner, B. (2001). Towards a framework for tourism disaster management. Tourism Management, Volume 22(2), pp.135-147 FEMA. (2008). Comparison of Disaster and Catastrophe Response Planning. Retrieved 7th November, 2009 from http://training.fema.gov/emiweb/edu/docs/crr/Catastrophe%20Readiness%20and%20Response%20-%20Session%202%20Comparison%20of%20Disaster%20and%20Catastrophe%20Response%20Pl.ppt. Geurt, K et. al. (2008). Identifying and Ranking Dangerous Accident Locations: Overview Sensitivity Analysis. Retrieved 8th November, 2009 from http://74.125.77.132/search?q=cache:Ug--TZd8GtMJ:www.ictct.org/workshops/04-Tartu/C4_Geurts.pdf+common+accident+LOCATIONS&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=ke Jeffrey, D. W. (1990). Bio monitoring of Catastrophes. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, Vol. 14, 2- 3. Retrieved 7th November, 2009 from http://www.springerlink.com/content/g372246113134704/ McEntire, David A. (2001). Triggering agents, vulnerabilities and disaster reduction: Towards a holistic paradigm. Disaster Prevention and Management, Volume 10, 3, pp 186- 196 O'Brien, Geoff and Read, Paul. (2005). Future UK emergency management: new Wine, Old skin? http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/ViewContentServlet;jsessionid=64377 636184CF5E573E11BB90565F107?contentType=Article&Filename=Publish ed/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Articles/0730140303.html OCHA. (2009). Natural Disasters: 2009 Summary of Contributions http://www.reliefweb.int/fts Posner, R. A. (2004). Catastrophes: Risk and Response. New York: Oxford University Press. Tandridge District Council. (2009). What is the Civil Contingencies Act 2004? Retrieved 6th November, 2009 from http://www.tandridge.gov.uk/faq/faq.htm?mode=20&pk_faq=163 http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=accident UK Resilience. (2009). Emergency Preparedness. Retrieved 8th November, 2009 from http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/ukresilience.aspx Weichselgartner, J. (2002). About the Capacity to be wounded: The Need to link Disaster Mitigation and Sustainable Development. Department of Geography, University of Bonn http://www.un.org/special-rep/ohrlls/ldc/Global-Reports/UNDP%20Reducing%20Disaster%20Risk.pdf Wilmoth, Janet. (2006). Disaster or Catastrophe? Fire Chief. Retrieved 8th November, 2009 from http://firechief.com/leadership/incident-command/disaster_catastrophe08182006/ WKOWTV. (2000). Homeowners Glossary. Retrieved 6th November, 2009 from http://www.wkowtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1100601 Read More