Introduction
Hazard analysis involves identifying and obtaining a solution to a hazard situation in the society thus preventing their consequences in the long run. Hazard situations are unforeseeable circumstances which require proper identification to avoid culmination into high risk situations. The need to identify and determine the risks pertaining to hazards is thus highly recommended. Hazards can lead to injuries and even deaths. Hazards affect the daily lives of the people in the world and thus require proper mitigation plans to settle them. Community hazard situations include physical, chemical and biological.
Physical hazards include natural disasters and man-made disasters that affect the community such as floods and noise pollution. These hazards affect the community in general since natural disasters are uncontrollable situations. Physical hazard situations pose danger or threaten human lives and property thus losses incurred can be categorized to both financial and human. Chemical hazards include any chemical substances that cause harm to the environment. They include soil pollution and air pollution. This category of hazards affects the communities touching individual lives personally. Biological hazards affecting the community are time to time epidemics. Biological hazards evolve from time to time and pose a risk to the human lives (Pearce, 2000).
Analysis
Physical hazards
The physical hazards facing the community include floods, noise pollution and e-waste. Floods do not occur frequently in the community. However, when they occur, they are severe and since they cause massive destruction of property and loss of lives. Flood sweep away homes, cars, and lead people to drowning. As a result, people lose their lives and property in a situation that can be controlled. Noise pollution in the community results from increased number of factories and construction projects that take place at the same time. The effects of noise pollution are not very adverse. However, they are felt highly in the presence of a working or learning environment. Where there is a school, noise affects disrupt learners thus reducing their concentration span. As a result, there are poor performances due to the hazard. The case is similar to offices where work productivity is reduced (Field, Jordan, & Cornell, 2003).
Risk of physical hazards and effects
Physical hazards pose a high risk of environmental pollution and property damages. The risks associated with physical hazards range from one hazard to another. Floods cause adverse effects to property and lives of people. The risk related to this hazard is high. The case is similar to all other hazards that are as a result of nature. Noise pollution and e-waste pose a risk of disease infections and low productivity in offices and schools. The risks of the physical hazards are high and need proper plan for their mitigation process.
The effects of physical hazards in terms of societal and economic are high. Noise pollution cases distraction of students learning in schools. The result of noise pollution in the society is that it causes slow development in the long run. When schools are distracted, there is little effect on the education process that takes place in the classes. The consequence is that, the students end up not well educated to compete in the society when compared to other students who are exposed to a friendlier environment. In the offices, there is low productivity thus risking business growth since businesses that experience low productivity from the staff members run the risk of losses. The whole society is affected with the problem that can lead to losses in terms of development to the people. The societal effect of floods in the community is highly seen through damaged property and loss of lives. Floods thus cause trauma to the people in the society which is dangerous for development.
Economic effects are seen directly through losses. Noise pollution causes low productivity in schools and offices. As a result, there are poor performances in both schools and work places which results to financial losses in the long term. Floods on the other hand damage property which cost money. Floods also lead to destruction of crops, destruction of tourist attraction sites and a fall in the country’s overall GDP growth.
Acceptable level of risk and risk reduction opportunities
Physical hazard risks are only acceptable to the level which they cannot be controlled. The society and the governments should set precautions that reduce the level of the risk. The risk reduction opportunities should be able to determine the acceptable level to which the risk should be acceptable. The risk reduction opportunities include location homesteads away from flood prone areas and noisy environments, setting policies that regulate the amount of noise that should be let out in the environment by factories and cars, reconstructing drainages, and creating emergency response teams (Field, Jordan, & Cornell, 2003).
Chemical hazards
Chemical hazards that affect the community are air pollution and soil pollution. Both air and soil pollutions are caused by the presence of factories in the community. Factories release wastes to the environment that result to pollution which is harmful to the environment. Soil pollution in the community is severe since it affects the growth of plants which is an economic activity for the community. On the other hand, air pollution affects the society since the adverse effects are seen through disasters such as floods and global warming. The effect of the air pollution risk is more adverse compared to soil pollution since the long term effects do not have an easy solution. Disasters occur in the whole world due to air pollution. The frequency or air and soil pollution is high since the factories keep manufacturing on a daily basis (Pearce, 2000).
Risk of chemical hazards and effects
The risks related to the chemical hazards are high since they relate to both the health and economic situation of the people. Air pollution leads to a high risk of other disasters such as floods and rise of sea levels. Additionally, there is a risk of disease outbreaks due to air pollution since people breath air and that is chemically contaminated. Soil pollution raises the risk of poor agricultural productivity which affects the community economic activity.
The effects of the chemical hazard are numerous. Air pollution leads to health problems in people. The hazard causes accelerated aging of lungs, shortens a person’s lifespan, development of conditions such as bronchitis and also reduces the functionality of the lungs. The effects cause unexpected budgeting by the governments. Governments have to budget for such problems that affect the people from hazards. Soil pollution on the other hand leads to poor agricultural production which is dangerous for the economic situation of the people (File et al., 2010).
Acceptable level of risk and risk reduction opportunities
The government should set a risk acceptable level for the air pollution and soil pollution by factories. The risk can be reduced through chemical means by which the waste are made to be environmentally friendly to ensure that the effects to not have an impact in the community. Policies can also be placed to penalize companies that do not adapt to environmentally friendly ways of disposing their waste.
Biological hazards
The biological hazards affecting the community are epidemics that evolve from time to time. The most recent epidemic in the community was the Zika Virus disease outbreak. The epidemic has only occurred once in the region thus its frequency is that it appears rarely. However, its severity is high since the impact is seen all over the area. The virus spreads fast and affects many people within a short time.
Risk of biological hazards and effects
Epidemics in the community occur severally. Their risks are high since they cause the death of people and leaving others highly infected. As a result, the economic effects are also severe as the government tries to fight the diseases. In the long run, the government spends huge sums of money finding solutions to the epidemics that occur frequently. The community effects are seen through death of people and the physical trauma that the people undergo after being affected by the infections.
Acceptable level of risk and risk reduction opportunities
Biological hazards do not have an acceptable level since they just occur from time to time without any reason. However, the risk can be reduced through the use of quarantine zones set ready for any cases of such problems in the community. Additionally, the community and the government can work on ways to improve on research and development that will enhance identification of risk factors that might lead to an epidemic. For example, clearing long grass and draining stagnant water to avoid malaria and waterborne disease outbreaks.
Disaster ranking and impact on population if not mitigated
The hazards are ranked according to the impact on the community. The highest ranked hazard in the community is air pollution which is the cause of most other disasters such as disease outbreaks and global warming. Disease outbreak and floods are also highly ranked due to their deadly effects and their impacts on the economy of the whole country. Hazards such as noise pollution and soil pollution are ranked lowly since their impact is mainly based on productivity and does not affect most people in the community. If not mitigated, the hazards will lead to disasters which can cause deaths, loss of property, and economic destabilization.
Conclusion and Recommendation
It is important for governments to ensure that there is a disaster management response team in the communities. Communities without such response teams suffer the risk of losing lives and property when such cases occur. On the other hand, natural disasters are unpreventable and require proper mitigation plan to avoid a repetition. For example, floods can be prevented through creation of dams and improving on the drainage situation. In conclusion, disasters are high risk situations that require a plan to avoid their occurrence. Governments and communities need to look for ways to avoid the occurrence of disasters that lead to deaths and monetary losses. In the community, there is a need for proper mitigation plans to avoid repetition of disasters that are man-made using the factories.
References;
Pearce, L. D. R. (2000). An integrated approach for community hazard, impact, risk and vulnerability analysis: HIRV (Doctoral dissertation, University of British Columbia).
Field, E. H., Jordan, T. H., & Cornell, C. A. (2003). OpenSHA: A developing community-modeling environment for seismic hazard analysis. Seismological Research Letters, 74(4), 406-419.
