National Risk Register of Civil Emergencies by the Cabinet Office - Article Example

The paper " National Risk Register of Civil Emergencies by the Cabinet Office " is a good example of an article on social science.

• According to an Article by the Cabinet Office titled “National Risk Register of Civil Emergencies”, its aim is to provide a reference for both organizations and individuals who wish to become better prepared when dealing with emergencies.
• The article depicts some of the civil emergencies that individuals in the United Kingdom are prone to encounter during the next 5 years.
• Apart from defining the term “emergency” and how its risks can be both identified and calculated, the article further provides a clear overview regarding the major types of civil emergency which could have an impact on people living in the UK through the use of various methods basing on the likelihood, level and extent of such consequences.
• Apart from that, the article explains how terrorist threats and hazards, being civil emergencies are dealt with by both the government and other emergency responders.
• The article further asserts that serious damage can be defined as being a loss of either human life, injury, illness, damage to property, homelessness, food, fuel or energy, water, disruption of transport, communication, and other services related to health.
• In addition, civil emergence is also described as being a situation or an event that threatens serious damage to the environment.
• Lastly, a civil emergency is also described as being terrorism or war that threatens serious damage to the security of the UK (Cabinet Office (2013).
• According to the article, the UK government performs a classified assessment of the civil emergency risks that people in the UK encounter through the “National Risk Assessment”.
• According to the NRA, the seriousness of a risk of emergency is usually dependent both on the impacts or consequences that people will encounter when it happens and upon the likelihood of it occurring. The highest risks are regarded as those, which are more likely to occur and have the highest effect.
• According to NRA, such consultation has actually led to the production of a list comprising of some 80 forms of events, which would meet the civil emergency definition as stipulated in the act.
• The article further argues that the NRA and NRR only cover emergency events and do not include other long-term trends like for instance climate change or technological advances despite the fact that such trends are likely to significantly contribute towards the environment or human welfare. As part of the assessment of the risks, the effects of such trends on emergency events are normally considered annually.

Critique of the article

• The article despite giving and naming numerous risks does not present the reader with precise or accurate information regarding the occurrence of the risks.
• This is attributed to the fact that the article only gives a likelihood regarding the occurrence of civil emergencies without giving accurate information on the exact date that such risks will occur.
• Apart from that, the NRA is only known for giving estimates regarding the likelihood of such risks occurring within broad daylight thus making it very difficult for effective planning to be carried out in order to avert such risks.
• For instance, the NRA is known to base its likelihood on numeric modeling and historical analysis in some instances in informing the estimates of such likelihoods in case of based on actual and real findings.
• Indeed, the NRA further relies on scientific expertise in order to inform both the development and the review of such risks. The reliance on approximations and likelihoods instead or realities and thus disaster preparedness cannot be planned effectively since such strategies are based on mere guesswork instead of basic realities.
• NRR and the NRA normally take account of the emergency definition as stipulated in the Act when assessing the possible expected consequences of an emergency, the impact of the civil emergencies are not well assessed.
• NRR provides some basic information that is required for the planning for the emergencies, the article does not give a clear guideline regarding how risk assessment should be assessed.
• The article only names some of the highest risks without giving detailed information for the reader to become more informed.
• The fact that the article asserts that such risks are bound to differ from place to place in a country, make it very difficult for emergency planners to plan on how to handle the risks that may occur in the future.
• The article has some weaknesses because for instance like in Chapter Three, it only gives various types of emergency that can happen in the nation as a whole without being more specific on the exact location and time that such emergencies are bound to occur. Apart from that, the examples of the emergencies, which are given in the chapter, are only those ones, which were serious during the country’s recent history.
• It could have been proper if the article could have given a clear prediction regarding the emergencies that are bound to happen in the nearest future by basing on history. The failure of the article to base the past occurrence of such emergencies in order to predict the future and lay in place possible strategies to avoid the occurrence of such emergencies is a great weakness.
• One of the weaknesses that this article has lies in the fact that by informing the readers that individuals normally deal with the consequences of the emergencies as opposed to the events themselves and lacking to give a clear direction regarding how such emergencies can be avoided.
• Apart from the identification of some of the known direct impacts of emergencies, chapter three of the article further asserts that such impacts may not so much predictable such leaving the readers in a dilemma as to what should be done now that there is no predictability regarding the occurrence of such emergencies.
• By claiming that most of the emergencies can best be managed through local emergency planners and emergency planners, the article falls to address universal solutions aimed at addressing universal or global safety standards. Given the fact that some of the emergencies emerge due to terrorist attacks which are external in nature, it is not proper for the article to claim that such emergencies can only be better addressed through using local solutions or strategies.
• It is therefore important for the emergency responders and planners to become conversant with the global or international strategies used in dealing with emergencies as they occur.
• Such stakeholders should also become conversant with international standards used in the prediction and prevention of emergencies so that they can be able to effectively and competently handle them whenever they occur on a local level.
• In addition to that, many of the local communities should not just plan for emergencies basing on their own local risk registers but rather, they should develop global risk registers so that they can be able to deal with both local and global emergencies as they occur.
• The responsibility of national preparedness for emergencies should not be the responsibility of the government and its related agencies alone.
• It portrays that the preparation for emergencies should be the responsibility of the government and related agencies alone. However, the issue of dealing with emergencies should not be the responsibility of the government alone. It should be a collective responsibility of all citizens of the country and all the relevant stakeholders.

The strengths of the Article It has clearly listed some of the highest “priority risks of the government” as asserted by the government based on the likelihood of such emergencies and basing on the impact that they may have on the general population. Despite the fact that some of the priority risks of emergency may not happen at all, the article got it spot on when it asserted that pandemic Influenza is actually one of the most significant “civil emergency risk”. The article also correctly categorized severe wildfires and severe effusive volcanic eruptions as being high-risk emergencies.

However, the assertion and categorization of some events as comprising high priority risks were based merely on predictions and not on surety like for instance the issue of coastal flooding and catastrophic terrorist attacks. The article’s assertion that human diseases can actually adopt various forms and thus have varying impacts on the human population is right. The article correctly predicts the occurrence of influence since it is a natural phenomenon that has occurred several times during the past and as a result, it is bound to re-occur basing on history of the country.

Such conclusions and predictions were based on expert view that indeed, there were high chances of the occurrence of the Influenza pandemic despite the fact that there was actually no definite forecast regarding when it will occur or the extent of the impact that it will create. The assumptions of the occurrence of influenza were therefore based on scientific evidence, historical information and modelling. Information contained therein is based on opinion rather than fact. This is true because there are no methods, tests or experiments that have been depicted in the article as having been carried out to support the points that have been depicted in the article.

It contains some actual information, such information is not factually arranged and thus making the reader to become confused on what the really article is all about. The article has dealt with so many numerous topics ranging from diseases, emergency preparedness, predictability of emergences and other issues thus making it very hard for the reader to ascertain what really issue that the article is keen to address. The article lacks literature review to support the various points that have been discussed and thus making the reader to doubt the credibility of the information that one is reading.

Recommendations about the article Despite the fact that the article has addressed the various methods of planning that will be used by the government, emergency responders and devolved administration, it failed to address how other stakeholders can also play a role in ensuring that emergences are effectively dealt with. The article also dealt with curative measures instead of dealing with preventative measures, which could be used, in ensuring that such emergences do not happen at all in the first place.

To make this article to become more enhanced and therefore become more scholarly, the information contained therein should be based on some sorts of studies that have been conducted to ascertain what has been claimed in the paper. Failure to do so makes this article to become more of hearsay and opinion rather than being factual. The article could also be more improved if at all the information was arranged in a logical and systematic manner to make it easier for the learner to comprehend what it is all about.

Mixing various topics in the article not only makes it difficult for the reader to grasp the point being addressed in it, but also makes it very hard for the reader to comprehend and remember the major objective of the article. Conclusion The article can actually be termed as being informative. Despite the fact that it has addressed various issues in a manner that is not systematic, the article has sought to inform the public and the reader that indeed, the government is taking action to ensure that it deals with civil emergencies as they occur.