Disaster Readiness & Risk Reduction PDF

**DISASTER READINESS & RISK REDUCTION** **WEEK 1 & 2: BASIC CONCEPT OF DISASTER AND DISASTER RISK** **PROCESSES THAT SHAPE AND CHANGE OUR ENVIRONMENT:** I. Plate tectonics -- leading to mountain building, volcanism, ocean formation, etc. II\. Atmospheric processes -- formation of clouds, precipi...

**DISASTER READINESS & RISK REDUCTION** **WEEK 1 & 2: BASIC CONCEPT OF DISASTER AND DISASTER RISK** **PROCESSES THAT SHAPE AND CHANGE OUR ENVIRONMENT:** I. Plate tectonics -- leading to mountain building, volcanism, ocean formation, etc. II\. Atmospheric processes -- formation of clouds, precipitation, wind, etc. III\. Biological accumulation -- reef building, colony formation, forestation, etc. IV\. Human activities -- urbanization, extracting resources, geoengineering, etc. **HAZARD** - A dangerous phenomenon, substance, human activity or condition that may cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods and services, social and economic disruption, or environmental damage. **DISASTER** - A serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society involving widespread human, material, economic, or environmental losses and impacts which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources. **RISK** - the possibility that something bad or unpleasant (such as an injury or a loss) will happen (Merriam-Webster). **[CLASSIFICATION OF DISASTERS]** **Disasters can be divided into 2 large categories:** **A. Natural Disasters** -- a natural phenomenon is caused by natural forces, such as earthquakes, typhoon, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, fires, tornados, and extreme temperatures. They can be classified as rapid onset disasters and those with progressive onset, such as droughts that lead to famine. These events, usually sudden, can have tremendous effects. **B. Man-made** **Disasters** -- caused by man are those in which major direct causes are identifiable intentional or non-intentional human actions. [Subdivided into three categories: ] **1. Technological/industrial disasters** - Unregulated industrialization and inadequate safety standards increase the risk for industrial disasters. EXAMPLE: leaks of hazardous materials; accidental explosions; bridge or road collapses, or vehicle collisions; Power cuts **2. Terrorism/Violence** - the threat of terrorism has also increased due to the spread of technologies involving nuclear, biological, and chemical agents used to develop weapons of mass destruction. EXAMPLE: bombs or explosions; release of chemical materials; release of biological agents; release of radioactive agents; multiple or massive shootings; mutinies **3. Complex humanitarian emergencies** - the term complex emergency is usually used to describe the humanitarian emergency resulting from an international or civil war. In such situations, large numbers of people are displaced from their homes due to the lack of personal safety and the disruption of basic infrastructure including food distribution, water, electricity, and sanitation, or communities are left stranded and isolated in their own homes unable to access assistance. EXAMPLE: conflicts or wars and Genocide the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation **[DISASTER RISK FACTORS]** **[Disaster Risk factors]** are variables that either aggravate or mitigate the effects of hazards, affecting the degree or scope of a disaster. **1) Physical factors** would pertain to tangible objects or infrastructure, like the availability of fire exits, or the sturdiness of the building, or the presence or absence of objects that can harm you or help you, etc. **2)** **Psychological factors** include state of mental capacity and health (e.g., are we dealing with babies? Kids? Adults? People with special needs?), perception of self (e.g., self-assessment of capability to respond to disasters, fear), etc. **3) Socio-cultural factors** include religion, social status, traditions, perception by society, etc. **4) Economic factors** include assets and liabilities, income, economic class, etc. **5) Political factors** include government structure, diplomatic issues, etc. **6) Biological factors** include flora and fauna in environment, health, diseases, etc. **DISASTER RISK** = **[(Exposure to) HAZARDS X VULNERABILITY ]** **CAPACITY TO COPE (OF THE SOCIETY)** **[ANALYZE DISASTER FROM THE DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES]** 1. **Physical Perspective** - Physical effects are the most visible and quantifiable effects of a disaster - Assessment of disaster is focused on the following common questions: - How many families are affected? - How many houses are damaged or washed out? (s. typhoon) - How many buildings collapsed or are damaged? (earthquake) - How many roads, bridges, dams and other infrastructures are damaged? - What is the extent of damage in agricultural industry? 2. **Psychological Perspective** - Disasters can cause serious mental health consequences (POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER) for victims. - EMOTIONAL EFFECTS -- shock, terror, irritability, blame, anger, guilt, sadness... - COGNITIVE EFFECTS -- impaired concentration, impaired decision-making, memory impairment, disbelief, confusion, nightmares, decreased self-esteem, self-blame, etc. - PHYSICAL EFFECTS -- fatigue, insomnia, cardiovascular strain, increased physical pain, reduced immune response, headaches, gastrointestinal upset, decreased appetite, etc. - INTERPERSONAL EFFECTS -- increased relational conflict, impaired work performance, distrust, feeling abandoned, etc. 3. **Socio-cultural Perspective** - Social conditions such as age, gender, wealth, ethnicity - Cultural settings such as language, beliefs, traditions, and customs - Disaster is analyzed based on how people respond having as parameter their social conditions and cultural settings. 4. **Economic Perspective** - Direct economic cost is the value of what has been damaged or destroyed by the disasters. - Example is when a head of family losses a job due to isolation or the workplace itself is affected. - Other economic effects: Increase inflation rate, decrease in food and goods production, lack balance in law of supply and demand, poverty and etc. 5. **Political Perspective** - Govern mentality or deliverance of government services to constituents can be a plus or minus factor in disaster risk reduction and management. - In time of disaster could be served as a medium of corruption, greediness and personal agenda of the officials. 6. **Biological Perspective** - Disaster can destroy the environment, the natural habitat of the animals and the like that could lead into ecosystem imbalances. - The spread of epidemic diseases, pests' infestations and climate change are one of the major impacts of disaster in this perspective. **WEEK 3 & 4: CONCEPT OF EXPOSURE AND VULNERABILITY** **The Philippines has high vulnerability due to the following reasons:** - It lies in the Pacific typhoon belt and we are visited by an average of 20 typhoons every year. - Aside from typhoon, it is also at risk to volcanic eruptions, quakes, and floods. - Rugged nature of the landscape makes it vulnerable to landslide, mudflows, and other disasters. - It is an archipelagic country with many small islands where some areas are at below sea level. - It has the longest shoreline in the world at 32,400 km making it vulnerable to storm surges. - It is still a primary agricultural and fishing economy. - With poor institutional and social capacity to manage, respond, and recover from natural hazard events. - With high level of poverty **[CONCEPT OF VULNERABILITY]** **VULNERABILITY** - is the characteristics and circumstances of a community, system or asset that make it susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard**.** - **Vulnerability is also situation specific.** This means that if a specific province is prone to earthquake, it does not mean that all localities on that province is vulnerable to it. The vulnerability of different towns or cities or even provinces differ in the way they prepare for the hazard and the amount and type of resources they have in order prevent and manage it. - **Vulnerability is also hazard specific.** A community that is vulnerable to earthquake hazard does not necessarily mean that it is also vulnerable to typhoons. Hazards have different traits that can influence the disasters possible to happen. - **Vulnerability relates to a number of factors, including:** - [Physical factors] -- e.g., poor design and construction of buildings, unregulated land use planning, etc. - Population density near a hazard event - **Population** refers to the number of individuals inhabiting in a particular space at the same time. - **Population density** refers to the number of individuals living in an area in relation to the size of an area. - The primary consideration is not the population size but the population density. - [Social factors] -- happens due to inability of people, organization, and societies to prevent severe effects from hazards because of the expected behavior in social interactions, institutions, and system of cultural values. - e.g., poverty and inequality, marginalization, social exclusion and discrimination by gender, social status, disability and age (amongst other factors) psychological factors, etc. - Certain population groups may be more vulnerable than others. Most Vulnerable Populations: - People with disabilities - Children - Seniors - Medication-dependent individuals - Women - Indigenous people - Homeless - Capacity and efficiency to reduce Disaster Risk. Community that is less vulnerable has the capacity to reduce disaster risk because; - [Economic factors] -- is based on the economic status of individuals, communities, and nations. - e.g., the uninsured informal sector, vulnerable rural livelihoods, dependence on single industries, globalization of business and supply chains, etc. - Social and economic vulnerability can be combined also known as **socioeconomic vulnerability.** - The poorer the country, the more vulnerable to disasters because they lack the funds or budgets to build sturdy structures and put other engineering measures in place which protect them from being affected by disasters. - [Environmental factors] -- is caused by natural resources depletion and destruction. - e.g., poor environmental management, overconsumption of natural resources, decline of risk regulating ecosystem services, climate change - Vulnerability varies significantly within a community and over time, and is closely connected to socioeconomic status, age, gender, health and disabilities. **[CONCEPT OF EXPOSURE]** **Exposure** -- as people, property, systems and other elements present in hazard zones that are thereby subject to potential loss. (UNISDR, 2009) - It also refers to the \'elements at risk\' from a natural or man-made hazard event. -  Exposure information is useful for natural hazard risk analysis when those characteristics are related to models of [vulnerability] that describe how the \'elements at risk\' are likely to behave when subjected to natural and artificial forces. **Susceptibility** -- is often used to indicate that an element is exposed to a hazard. **[Exposure has three (3) essential components:]** **I. People, property, systems and other elements.** Exposure involves specific elements which we must be able to identify and give a name to. Elements may be tangible or intangible. **Elements Exposed to Hazard** - Human beings - Dwellings or households and communities - Buildings and structures - Public facilities and infrastructure assets - Public and transport system - Agricultural commodities - Environmental assets **II. Present in hazard zones.** Elements should be located within an area and duration of time during which a specific hazard event or set of hazard events can occur. **III. That are thereby subject to potential loss.** Elements should have value or importance assigned to them for it to be subject to potential loss. **Capacity** - It means the combination of all the strengths, attributes and resources available within a community, society or organization that can be used to achieve agreed goals. - Capacity may include infrastructure and physical means, institutions, societal coping abilities, as well as human knowledge, skills and collective attributes such as social relationships, leadership and management. **Resilience** means the ability of persons, communities and societies to resist, absorb, accommodate to and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner. **WEEK 5: CONCEPT OF HAZARD** **HAZARD** - A dangerous phenomenon, substance, human activity or condition that may cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods and services, social and economic disruption, or environmental damage. **TYPES OF HAZARDS** **1.** **NATURAL HAZARDS --** Naturally-occurring physical phenomena caused either by rapid or slow onset events. **3 TYPES OF NATURAL HAZARDS** **[A. BIOLOGICAL HAZARD]** - "bio" means life - **Process or phenomenon of organic origin or conveyed by biological vectors/ agents, including exposure to pathogenic microorganisms, toxins and bioactive substances.** - **Example: Ebola Virus, flu virus, rabies, rat infestations, and the like.** - **"geo" -- Earth** - **Natural process, originates from the solid earth geosphere** - **Example: Ballistic projectiles (Rocks from an erupting volcano), ground shaking, landslide, lava flow, liquefaction, tsunami** - **"hydro" -- water; "meteoros" -- sky** - **Natural process, but involved with the atmosphere and/or hydrosphere** - **Example: Tornado, flood, typhoon, forest/wild fire due to extreme temperatures, drought, storm surges** **2. MAN-MADE/TECHNOLOGICAL HAZARDS -- A hazard originating from technological or industrial conditions, including accidents, dangerous procedures, infrastructure failures, or specific human activities. These arise directly as a result of** **human activities.** **EXAMPLES: Oil and chemical spill, forest fire due to arson & human negligence, accidents, complex emergencies/conflicts.** **3. QUASI-NATURAL HAZARDS** -- arise through the interaction of natural processes and human activities. EXAMPLES: Smog, desertification, pollution, global warming, acid rain **[HAZARDS SIGNS AND SYMBOLS]** - **These signs and symbols with corresponding meaning below help people to be extra cautious, aware and observant in surroundings.** - **Each picture is designed to become recognizable to anyone as a signal word like "danger" or "warning".** **Technology or Man-Made Hazards Signs and Symbols**  **A B C D** **A. Flame - Flammable - Self-heating - Emits Flammable Gas - Pyrophoric** **B. Health Hazard - Reproductive toxicity - Respiratory sensitizer - Target organ toxicity - Aspiration toxicity** **C. Exploding Bomb - Explosives - Self-reactives - Organic Peroxides** **D. Skull & crossbones - Fatal or toxic - Acute toxicity** **Natural Hazards Signs & Symbols** **Quasi-Natural Signs and Symbols**  **HAZARD: ITS IMPACT, IDENTIFICATION AND RISK ASSESSMENT** **What are the Different Impacts of Hazards?** **1. Physical impact** **- Physical injuries (bone fracture, wounds, bruises)** **- Destruction and loss of vital infrastructure like transportation system, roads, bridges, power lines and communication lines.** **- Wide spread destruction of housing and buildings** **2. Psychological impact** **- Grief and psychological illness** **- Marital conflict** **- Depression due to loss of loved ones and properties** **- Chronic anxiety** **3. Socio- cultural impact** **- Displacement of population** **- Loss of cultural identity** **- Forced of adoption of new sets of culture** **- Ethnic conflicts** **4. Economic impact** **- Loss of job due to displacement** **- Loss of harvest and livestock** **- Loss of farms, fish cages and other source of food** **- Loss of money and other valuables** **5. Environmental impact** **- Loss of forest due to forest fires** **- Loss of fresh water due to salination** **- Disturbance of biodiversity** **- Loss of natural rivers** **6. Biological impact** **- Epidemic to people, flora and fauna** **- Chronic and permanent illness caused by biological agents** **- Proliferation of different viral diseases** **HAZARD ASSESSMENT AND RISK ASSESSMENT** **Hazard Assessment** - is the process of estimating, for defined areas, the probabilities of the occurrence of potentially damaging phenomenon of given magnitude within a specified period of time\". -- UNDRO **Hazard Quantification Method** 1. How long does the hazard occur? (Duration) 2. How often does the hazard occur? (Frequency) 3. What is the strength? (Magnitude) 4. How fast does it occur? (Speed) 5. What is the chance it occurs? (Probability) 6. How manageable are the effect? (Manageability) **RISK ASSESSMENT** - It involves both the assessment of hazards from a scientific point of view and the socioeconomic impacts of a hazardous event. - It involves the identification and mapping of the elements at risk and the assessment of vulnerability. **Steps in Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment** 1. **Identify the hazards.** Use the following methods: 2. **Assess the Risk.** Once a hazard has been identified, the likelihood and possible severity of injury or harm will need to be assessed before determining how best to minimize the risk. High-risk hazards need to be addressed more urgently than low- risk ones. 3. **Make the changes.** Once risks are assessed, the next step is to make decision for some necessary changes. These changes include removing the hazard and replacing it with something less hazardous, engineering modifications like installation of exhausts, safety barriers and safety exits, modification of procedures, etc. Combination of the risk control measures mentioned above to effectively reduce exposure to hazards can also be done.  4. **Checking the changes made.** To make sure risk has been minimized, and a further hazard has not been created, the new safety measures may need to be carefully tested before work begins again. Risk assessment doesn't end with making changes. It is essential that these changes made are monitored and checked. It must be monitored if the changes done are being followed consistently and if these changes contribute to the improvement of safety management in the workplace. This last step has to be done periodically to accurately assess the effectiveness of the entire process.