Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction Intro

Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction Introduction

Crane

• A crane is a machine used to lift and lower materials from or going to a high building.

Hazard vs. Disaster

• A hazard is a dangerous phenomenon, substance, human activity, or condition that may cause loss of life, injury, or other health impacts, property damage, livelihood or service losses, social and economic disruption, or environmental damage.
• In short, a hazard is something that has the potential to harm people, property, or the environment.
• A disaster is a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or society involving widespread human, material, economic, or environmental losses and impacts that exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources.
• In short, a disaster is a large-scale destructive event, such as a typhoon, earthquake, or volcanic eruption.

Classification of Hazards

• Hazards are classified into several categories.
  • Physical hazards (e.g., vibrations, excessive loud noises, frayed electric cords)
  • Chemical hazards (e.g., cleaning products, pesticides, welding fumes)
  • Ergonomic hazards (e.g., repetitive motion, poor posture, poor lighting)
  • Psychosocial hazards (e.g., stress, bullying, sexual harassment)

Examples of Physical Hazards

• Vibrations: Excessive exposure may affect nerves, blood vessels, muscles, and joints of hand, wrist, and arm, causing Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS)
• Constant loud noise stress, anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, heart disease, and potential other health problems
• Electrical cords: frayed cords expose live wire, posing a fire threat

Chemical Hazards

- Cleaning Products: corrosive chemicals in cleaning products may cause severe burns if splashed on skin or eyes.
- Pesticides:  stinging eyes, rashes, blisters, blindness, nausea, or even death, and other chronic effects including cancers and birth defects.
- Welding Fumes:  associated health risks from welding fumes may include acute and chronic health risks., and occupational lung diseases. 

Ergonomic Hazards

• Repetitive motion: repeated similar motions over a period may lead to muscle and/or joint fatigue, pain, and inflammation.
• Poor posture: can throw spine out of alignment, potentially causing back pain, neck pain, and shoulder pain.
• Poor lighting: inadequate or excessive lighting may lead to eye strain, fatigue, headaches, stress and accidents.

Psychosocial Hazards

• Stress: excessive stress can contribute to various health problems such as headaches, high blood pressure, hear problems, diabetes, skin conditions, arthritis, depression, and anxiety
• Bullying: can cause considerable psychological and physical harm
• Sexual Harassment: a serious workplace hazard leading to psychological and physical harm.

Classification of Natural Hazards

- Geological hazards (e.g., earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, tsunamis).
- Hydrological hazards (e.g., avalanches, floods, tsunamis).
- Climatological hazards (e.g., droughts, wildfires, cyclones, storms, wave surges).
- Biological hazards (e.g., blood or body fluid, fungi, bacteria).

Geological Hazards

• Geologic hazards are typically caused by plate movement in the Earth's crust, or rising magma.
• Earthquakes occur when there's a fault rupture.
• Volcanic eruptions happen when magma reaches the Earth's surface.
• These geological features also include landslides, tsunamis.

Biological Hazard

• A hazard is a living or once-living organism that poses a threat to human health
• Examples include blood or body fluids, fungi, bacteria

Hydrological Hazard

• Extreme events connected with the occurrence, movement, and distribution of water.
• Examples include: avalanches, floods, tsunamis

Climatological Hazard

• Hazards caused by changes in the Earth's atmosphere, primarily weather patterns.
• Examples include: droughts, wild fires, cyclones, storms, and wave surges.

Disaster Examples

• Expired food: widespread vomiting, stomach aches, and possibly death cause by food poisoning (biological hazard).
• COVID-19: widespread infection affecting people's health and the economy (biological hazard).
• Wet floor: a hazard for slips, falls, and injuries (physical hazard).
• Closed room: a hazard for suffocation (physical hazard).
• Sinking ship: a disaster event involving large-scale human losses (hydrological hazard).
• Unleashed dog: a hazard related to animal bites (physical hazard).
• Sinkhole: a disaster in which a large section of land collapses into the ground (geological hazard).
• Airplane crash: a disaster event involving large-scale human and property damages (accident hazard).
• Traffic: is a hazard in which people can be hurt, property can be damaged, or there can be a loss if life (accident hazard).
• Horror movie: is a hazard of no physical consequence, it may cause psychological trauma to children (psychological hazard).
• Cold weather: is a hazard which results in health problems for people, damage to property or loss of life (physical and psychological hazard).
• Famine: a disaster that results from the lack of food (biological hazard).

Scenario Risk Analysis

• Scenario examples and risks are highlighted, including the use of electricity during floods, bleach on the floor near children, phishing activities, lack of water for 1 day, bullying, ash clouds and volcanic eruptions, cut by rusty metal, vitamin C intake, and a house without foundation.

This quiz covers essential classroom rules, grading systems, and an introduction to disaster readiness and risk reduction. It includes discussions on safety involving machines like cranes and the importance of being prepared for emergencies. Test your understanding of these key concepts.