Ventilation (architecture)Ventilating (the V in HVAC) is the process of "changing" or replacing air in any space to

provide high indoor air quality (i.e. to control temperature, replenish oxygen, or remove

moisture, odors, smoke, heat, dust, airborne bacteria, and carbon dioxide). Ventilation is used

to remove unpleasant smells and excessive moisture, introduce outside air, to keep interior

building air circulating, and to prevent stagnation of the interior air.

Ventilation includes both the exchange of air to the outside as well as circulation of air within

the building. It is one of the most important factors for maintaining acceptable indoor air

quality in buildings. Methods for ventilating a building may be divided into

mechanical/forced and natural types.[1]

"Mechanical" or "forced" ventilation is used to control indoor air quality. Excess

humidity, odors, and contaminants can often be controlled via dilution or replacement with

outside air. However, in humid climates much energy is required to remove excess moisture

from ventilation air.

Kitchens and bathrooms typically have mechanical exhaust to control odors and sometimes

humidity. Factors in the design of such systems include the flow rate (which is a function of

the fan speed and exhaust vent size) and noise level. If ducting for the fans traverse unheated

space (e.g., an attic), the ducting should be insulated as well to prevent condensation on the

ducting. Direct drive fans are available for many applications, and can reduce maintenance

needs.

Ceiling fans and table/floor fans circulate air within a room for the purpose of reducing the

perceived temperature because of evaporation of perspiration on the skin of the occupants.

Because hot air rises, ceiling fans may be used to keep a room warmer in the winter by

circulating the warm stratified air from the ceiling to the floor. Ceiling fans do not provide

ventilation as defined as the introduction of outside air.

Natural ventilation is the ventilation of a building with outside air without the use of a fan

or other mechanical system. It can be achieved with openable windows or trickle vents when

the spaces to ventilate are small and the architecture permits. In more complex systems warm

air in the building can be allowed to rise and flow out upper openings to the outside (stack

effect) thus forcing cool outside air to be drawn into the building naturally through openings

in the lower areas. These systems use very little energy but care must be taken to ensure the

occupants' comfort. In warm or humid months, in many climates, maintaining thermal

comfort solely via natural ventilation may not be possible so conventional air conditioning

systems are used as backups. Air-side economizers perform the same function as natural

ventilation, but use mechanical systems' fans, ducts, dampers, and control systems to

introduce and distribute cool outdoor air when appropriate.

Definition

Ventilation is the intentional movement of air from outside a building to the inside.

Ventilation air, as defined in ASHRAE Standard 62.1[2] and the ASHRAE Handbook,[3] is

that air used for providing acceptable indoor air quality. It mustn't be confused with vents or

flues; which mean the exhausts of clothes dryers, and combustion equipment such as water

heaters, boilers, fireplaces, and wood stoves. The vents or flues carry the products of

combustion which have to be expelled from the building in a way which does not cause harm

to the occupants of the building.

In commercial, industrial, and institutional (CII) buildings, and modern jet aircraft, return air

is often recirculated to the air handling unit. A portion of the supply air is normally exfiltrated

through the building envelope or exhausted from the building (e.g., bathroom or kitchen

exhaust) and is replaced by outside air introduced into the return air stream. The rate of

ventilation air required, most often provided by this mechanically-induced outside air, is

often determined from ASHRAE Standard 62.1 for CII buildings, or 62.2 for low-rise

residential buildings, or similar standards.

Necessity

When people or animals are present in buildings, ventilation air is necessary to dilute odors

and limit the concentration of carbon dioxide and airborne pollutants such as dust, smoke and

volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Ventilation air is often delivered to spaces by

mechanical systems which may also heat, cool, humidify and dehumidify the space. Air

movement into buildings can occur due to uncontrolled infiltration of outside air through the

building fabric (see stack effect) or the use of deliberate natural ventilation strategies.

Advanced air filtration and treatment processes such as scrubbing, can provide ventilation air

by cleaning and recirculating a proportion of the air inside a building.

Types of ventilation

Mechanical or forced ventilation: through an air handling unit or direct injection to a

space by a fan. A local exhaust fan can enhance infiltration or natural ventilation, thus

increasing the ventilation air flow rate.

Natural ventilation occurs when the air in a space is changed with outdoor air without the

use of mechanical systems, such as a fan. Most often natural ventilation is assured through

operable windows but it can also be achieved through temperature and pressure differences

between spaces. Open windows or vents are not a good choice for ventilating a basement or

other below ground structure. Allowing outside air into a cooler below ground space will

cause problems with humidity and condensation.

Mixed Mode Ventilation or Hybrid ventilation: utilises both mechanical and natural

ventilation processes. The mechanical and natural components may be used in conjunction

with each other or separately at different times of day. The natural component, sometimes

subject to unpredictable external weather conditions may not always be adequate to ventilate

the desired space. The mechanical component is then used to increase the overall ventilation

rate so that the desired internal conditions are met. Alternatively the mechanical component

may be used as a control measure to regulate the natural ventilation process, for example, to

restrict the air change rate during periods of high wind speeds.

Infiltration is separate from ventilation, but is often used to provide ventilation air.

Ventilation rate

The ventilation rate, for CII buildings, is normally expressed by the volumetric flowrate of

outside air being introduced to the building. The typical units used are cubic feet per minute

(CFM) or liters per second (L/s). The ventilation rate can also be expressed on a per person or

per unit floor area basis, such as CFM/p or CFM/ft², or as air changes per hour.

For residential buildings, which mostly rely on infiltration for meeting their ventilation needs,

the common ventilation rate measure is the number of times the whole interior volume of air

is replaced per hour, and is called air changes per hour (I or ACH; units of 1/h). During the

winter, ACH may range from 0.50 to 0.41 in a tightly insulated house to 1.11 to 1.47 in a

loosely insulated house.[4]

ASHRAE now recommends ventilation rates dependent upon floor area, as a revision to the

62-2001 standard whereas the minimum ACH was 0.35, but no less than 15 CFM/person (7.1

L/s/person). As of 2003, the standards have changed to an addition of 3 CFM/100 sq. ft. (15

l/s/100 sq. m.) to the 7.5 CFM/person (3.5 L/s/person) standard.[5]

[edit] Ventilation standards

In 1973, in response to the 1973 oil crisis and conservation concerns, ASHRAE Standards 62-

73 and 62-81) reduced required ventilation from 10 CFM (4.76 L/S) per person to 5 CFM

(2.37 L/S) per person. This was found to be a primary cause of sick building syndrome.

Current ASHRAE standards (Standard 62-89) states that appropriate ventilation guidelines

are 20 CFM (9.2 L/s) per person in an office building, and 15 CFM (7.1 L/s) per person for

schools. In commercial environments with tobacco smoke, the ventilation rate may range

from 25 CFM to 125 CFM.[6]

In certain applications, such as submarines, pressurized aircraft, and spacecraft, ventilation

air is also needed to provide oxygen, and to dilute carbon dioxide for survival. Batteries in

submarines also discharge hydrogen gas, which must also be ventilated for health and safety.

In any pressurized, regulated environment, ventilation is necessary to control any fires that

may occur, as the flames may be deprived of oxygen.[7]

ANSI/ASHRAE (Standard 62-89) sets maximum CO2 guidelines in commercial buildings at

1000 ppm, however, OSHA has set a limit of 5000 ppm over 8 hours.[8]

Ventilation guidelines are based upon the minimum ventilation rate required to maintain

acceptable levels of bioeffluents. Carbon dioxide is used as a reference point, as it is the gas

of highest emission at a relatively constant value of 0.005 L/s. The mass balance equation is:

Q = G/(Ci − Ca)

Q = ventilation rate (L/s)

G = CO2 generation rate

Ci = acceptable indoor CO2 concentration

Ca = ambient CO2 concentration[9]

Ventilation equipment

Fume hood

Biological safety cabinet

Dilution ventilation

Room air distribution

Heat recovery ventilation

Natural ventilation

Natural ventilation involves harnessing naturally available forces to supply and removing air

through an enclosed space. There are three types of natural ventilation occurring in buildings:

wind driven ventilation, pressure-driven flows, and stack ventilation.[10] The pressures

generated by 'the stack effect' rely upon the buoyancy of heated or rising air. wind driven

ventilation relies upon the force of the prevailing wind to pull and push air through the

enclosed space as well as through breaches in the building’s envelope (see Infiltration

(HVAC)). Natural ventilation is generally impractical for larger buildings, as they tend to be

large, sealed and climate controlled specifically by HVAC systems. [11] Both are examples of

passive engineering and have applications in renewable energy.

Demand-controlled ventilation (DCV)

DCV makes it possible to maintain proper ventilation and improve air quality while saving

energy. ASHRAE has determined that: "It is consistent with the Ventilation rate procedure

that Demand Control be permitted for use to reduce the total outdoor air supply during

periods of less occupancy.[citation needed]" CO2 sensors will control the amount of ventilation for

the actual number of occupants. During design occupancy, a unit with the DCV system will

deliver the same amount of outdoor air as a unit using the ventilation-rate procedure.

However, DCV can generate substantial energy savings whenever the space is occupied

below the design level.[citation needed]

edit Local exhaust ventilation

Local exhaust ventilation addresses the issue of avoiding the contamination of indoor air by

specific high-emission sources by capturing airborne contaminants before they are spread

into the environment. This can include water vapor control, lavatory bioeffluent control,

solvent vapors from industrial processes, and dust from wood- and metal-working machinery.

Air can be exhausted through pressurized hoods or through the use of fans and pressurizing a

specific area.[12]

A local exhaust system is composed of 5 basic parts

1. A hood that captures the contaminant at its source

2. Ducts for transporting the air

3. An air-cleaning device that removes/minimizes the contaminant

4. A fan that moves the air through the system

5. An exhaust stack through which the contaminated air is discharged[12]

Ventilation and combustion

Combustion (e.g., fireplace, gas heater, candle, oil lamp, etc.) consumes oxygen while

producing carbon dioxide and other unhealthy gases and smoke, requiring ventilation air. An

open chimney promotes infiltration (i.e. natural ventilation) because of the negative pressure

change induced by the buoyant, warmer air leaving through the chimney. The warm air is

typically replaced by heavier, cold air.

Ventilation in a structure is also needed for removing water vapor produced by respiration,

burning, and cooking, and for removing odors. If water vapor is permitted to accumulate, it

may damage the structure, insulation, or finishes[citation needed]. When operating, an air

conditioner usually removes excess moisture from the air. A dehumidifier may also be

appropriate for removing airborne moisture.

Smoking and ventilation

ASHRAE standard 62 states that air removed from an area with environmental tobacco

smoke shall not be recirculated into ETS-free air. A space with ETS requires more

ventilation to achieve similar perceived air quality to that of a non-smoking environment.

The amount of ventilation in an ETS area is equal to the amount of ETS-free area plus the

amount V, where:

V = DSD × VA × A/60E

V = recommended extra flow rate in CFM (L/s)

DSD = design smoking density (estimated number of cigarettes smoked per hour per unit

area)

VA = volume of ventilation air per cigarette for the room being designed (ft3/cig]

E = contaminant removal effectiveness

[6]

Problems

In hot, humid climates, unconditioned ventilation air will deliver approximately one pound of

water each day for each cubic foot per minute of outdoor air per day, annual average. This is

a great deal of moisture, and it can create serious indoor moisture and mold problems.

Ventilation efficiency is determined by design and layout, and is dependent upon placement

and proximity of diffusers and return air outlets. If they are located closely together, supply

air may mix with stale air, decreasing efficiency of the HVAC system, and creating air quality

problems.

System imbalances occur when components of the HVAC system are improperly adjusted or

installed, and can create pressure differences (too much circulating air creating a draft or too

little circulating air creating stagnancy).

Cross-contamination occurs when pressure differences arise, forcing potentially contaminated

air from one zone to an uncontaminated zone. This often involves undesired odors or VOCs.

Re-entry of exhaust air occurs when exhaust outlets and fresh air intakes are either too close,

or prevailing winds change exhaust patterns, or by infiltration between intake and exhaust air

flows.

Entrainment of contaminated outside air through intake flows will result in indoor air

contamination. There are a variety of contaminated air sources, ranging from industrial

effluent to VOCs put off by nearby construction work.[13]

Air Quality Procedures

Ventilation Rate Procedure is rate based on standard, and “prescribes the rate at which

ventilation air must be delivered to a space and various means to condition that air.”[14] Air

quality is assessed (through CO2 measurement) and ventilation rates are mathematically

derived using constants.

Indoor Air Quality Procedure “uses one or more guidelines for the specification of acceptable

concentrations of certain contaminants in indoor air but does not prescribe ventilation rates or

air treatment methods.”[14] This addresses both quantitative and subjective evaluation, and is

based on the Ventilation Rate Procedure. It also accounts for potential contaminants that may

have no measured limits, or limits are not set (such as formaldehyde offgassing from carpet

and furniture).

What is a toxic substance?

A toxic substance can be defined as one with an inherent ability to cause systemic damage to

living organisms – another word for it is 'poison'. Toxic substances occur in the air, the soil,

the water and in other living things, and they can enter the body in various ways:

through ingestion – by eating and drinking;

through inhalation – by breathing;

by absorption – through contact with the skin; and

by injection – from a hypodermic syringe, for example, or from an insect, spider or

snake bite.

Another important term is 'risk'. While the bleach on the top shelf of the laundry is certainly

toxic, there is no particular risk as long as it stays there. We need to be informed about

potential risks in order to make sensible decisions (Box 1: Chances and risks).

The importance of dosage

The concept of dosage, or concentration in the organism, is also important. Even everyday

substances such as water or oxygen would be toxic if we consumed enough of them. But the

dosage required would be so ludicrously high that the risk of poisoning from such substances

is very low.

Many substances may be essential for the proper functioning of an organism at low doses but

can be dangerous at higher doses. For example, a deficiency in manganese during pregnancy

has been linked to high infant mortality and reduced growth and an irreversible loss of

muscle coordination in surviving offspring. On the other hand, workers exposed to high

levels of manganese (such as in manganese mines) may incur brain damage that causes

memory impairment, disorientation, hallucinations, speech disturbances, compulsive

behaviour and acute anxiety.

Since it is the concentration of the substance that is important, the same dose of a poison may

affect a small individual of a species but pass through a larger individual unnoticed. This is

the reason that doses for most pharmaceutical drugs for children are prescribed on the basis

of the child's weight. (In addition, children may be more sensitive to some substances

because their detoxifying mechanisms are not fully developed.)

Acute and chronic toxicity

Poisons can be divided on the basis of whether they cause acute or chronic toxicity. Acute

toxicity occurs when a single dose produces immediate symptoms of poisoning – think of the

movie in which a murder victim clutches the throat shortly after swallowing a tainted drink.

The usual way of assessing acute toxicity is the LD50 value, which is the amount of a

substance per kilogram of body weight that is lethal to 50 per cent of test animals (usually

rats). For example, the LD50 value for aspirin is 1.7 grams per kilogram, which means that 1.7

grams of aspirin per kilogram administered to a rat population will kill half of them.

Chronic toxicity occurs as a result of exposure to repeated, non-lethal doses, causing damage

over a long period of time. Alcohol can have chronic toxic effects: repeated heavy drinking

can damage organs such as the brain, liver and kidneys. Many industrial chemicals can cause

long-term adverse effects.

Toxicity studies

No amount of understanding of toxicity can predict absolutely an individual's response to a

specific substance in all situations. Toxicity studies can, however, provide information that

can be used to significantly reduce the risk of any adverse effect for the population or groups

within it.

Data from toxicity studies, together with information on chemical properties, are used when

preparing warning statements and safety directions related to the use of the substance. These

statements are included on the label of the container to inform users of precautions they

should take to minimise exposure.

The biochemistry of toxicity

The toxicity of a substance can vary. For example, while mercuric ion is highly toxic, some

compounds of mercury – such as calomel – are insoluble in bodily fluids and will pass

through the human body with little harmful effect.

When a toxic chemical enters an organism such as a human, it becomes one of countless

different chemicals moving around the body. Often, the toxic effect occurs when a toxic

chemical replaces a chemical normally present as part of the structure of proteins and

enzymes, thereby rendering them incapable of performing their normal functions. The

poisons cyanide and arsenic both work in this way (Box 2: Cyanide and arsenic).

Living with toxic substances

We live in a world awash with toxic substances. We want the benefits they bring, but we also

want to safeguard ourselves and our environment from their deleterious effects.

There are several ways we can do this. For a start, we must assess the hazard posed by toxic

substances and ask whether they are likely to be used in ways that create a risk. All toxic

substances must be handled, stored and disposed of as safely as possible. Exposure standards

in the workplace must be set and maintained.

In addition, we should substitute toxic substances in industrial processes (and around the

home) with less toxic substances wherever possible. Many industries are already doing this as

part of a move towards cleaner production. Until recently, for example, a company in

Victoria used molten baths of potentially toxic substances such as nitrates, nitrites,

carbonates, cyanides, chlorides and caustic salts to provide heat treatment for metal

components. Under a cleaner technology initiative, the company replaced these molten baths

with what is known as a fluidised bed treatment technology, which uses less hazardous

aluminium oxide and gases such as liquid petroleum gas, natural gas, ammonia and nitrogen.

Improving our knowledge is essential

Many toxic substances remain in use. Inevitably, too, more will be discovered by industrial

chemists and applied to the workplace. The toxicity of many substances – and their effects on

human health and the environment – is still unknown, so more research is needed.

If we understand toxic substances we can minimise the hazard they pose. By doing this, we

will continue to enjoy the benefits they bring – without the risk of poisoning ourselves and

our planet (Box 3: DDT and biological concentration).

The Toxic Substances Control Act was passed by the U.S. Congress in

1976. Called TSCA, it is the primary regulatory law regarding toxic

substances. It gives the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the power

to study chemicals and, if necessary, to limit or ban their manufacture or

use.

By the early 1970s, it had become evident that no law existed to

adequately regulate the use of toxic substances. After debates between the

U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, Congress finally

compromised and passed the Toxic Substance Control Act.

The TSCA required chemical manufacturers to notify and provide test data

to the EPA at least 90 days before releasing a new substance. The EPA

then determines what regulatory means, if any, are necessary. The EPA

may request additional information and can ban production until the data is

received. In addition to this, TSCA established an Interagency Testing

Committee, known as the ITC. This group helps the EPA determine which

chemicals are most in need of careful attention and testing. However, the

EPA may only test and regulate products that are already on the market

through a long, tedious process. Also, of all the regulations it may issue,

the EPA must use one the least burdensome for the parties involved.

There are other parts of TSCA. Manufacturers must keep careful records of

regulated chemicals. Also, the EPA must balance health and environmental

problems with economic ones. The Act specifies that regulation should

only occur when there is unreasonable risk, leaving this somewhat open-

ended. A citizen has the right to sue the EPA for failure to follow the

TSCA. There are also a number of materials not covered by the Act that

are listed in it.

A 1986 amendment required asbestos hazard reduction in schools.

Another, in 1988, provided funds to state programs that reduce indoor

radon.

There are several problems remaining. There is still very little data on

certain chemicals, probably as an after-effect of early days when the EPA

was still molding regulations. Costs of regulatory programs have also

limited the EPA's banning ability, as has inadequate data. Finally, the EPA

tends to rely on older data more than it requires test data for new

chemicals, leading to the production of numerous chemicals that would

otherwise be too costly to test.

Toxicity is the degree to which something is able to produce illness or damage to

an exposed organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such

as a human or a bacterium or a plant, or to a substructure, such as a cell

(cytotoxicity) or an organ (organotoxicity such as the liver (hepatotoxicity). By

extension, the word may be metaphorically used to describe toxic effects on

larger and more complex groups, such as the family unit or "society at large".

In the science of toxicology, toxicity is the degree of impact of an external

substance or condition and its deleterious effects on living things: organisms,

organ systems, individual organs, tissues, cells, subcellular units is the subject of

study. A central concept of toxicology is that effects are dose-dependent; even

water – generally not considered to be toxic – can lead to water intoxication when

taken in large enough doses, whereas for even a very toxic substance such as

snake venom there is a dose below which there is no detectable toxic effect.

Toxicity is the ability of a chemical or physical agent to induce detrimental

temporary or permanent tissue change or to detrimentally interfere with normal

biochemical processing.

Types of toxicity

There are generally three types of toxic entities; chemical, biological, and

physical.

Chemicals include inorganic substances such as lead, hydrofluoric acid,

and chlorine gas, organic compounds such as methyl alcohol, most

medications, and poisons from living things.

Biological toxic entities include those bacteria and viruses that are able to

induce disease in living organisms. Biological toxicity can be

complicated to measure because the "threshold dose" may be a single

organism. Theoretically one virus, bacterium or worm can reproduce to

cause a serious infection. However, in a host with an intact immune

system the inherent toxicity of the organism is balanced by the host's

ability to fight back; the effective toxicity is then a combination of both

parts of the relationship. A similar situation is also present with other

types of toxic agents.

Physically toxic entities include things not usually thought of under the

heading of "toxic" by many people: direct blows, concussion, sound and

vibration, heat and cold, non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation such as

infrared and visible light, and ionizing radiation such as X-rays and alpha,

beta, and gamma radiation.

Toxicity can be measured by the effects on the target (organism, organ, tissue or

cell). Because individuals typically have different levels of response to the same

dose of a toxin, a population-level measure of toxicity is often used which relates

the probability of an outcome for a given individual in a population. One such

measure is the LD50. When such data does not exist, estimates are made by

comparison to known similar toxic things, or to similar exposures in similar

organisms. Then "safety factors" are added to account for uncertainties in data

and evaluation processes. For example, if a dose of toxin is safe for a laboratory

rat, one might assume that one tenth that dose would be safe for a human,

allowing a safety factor of 10 to allow for interspecies differences between two

mammals; if the data are from fish, one might use a factor of 100 to account for

the greater difference between two chordate classes (fish and mammals).

Similarly, an extra protection factor may be used for individuals believed to be

more susceptible to toxic effects such as in pregnancy or with certain diseases.

Or, a newly synthesized and previously unstudied chemical that is believed to be

very similar in effect to another compound could be assigned an additional

protection factor of 10 to account for possible differences in effects that are

probably much smaller. Obviously, this approach is very approximate; but such

protection factors are deliberately very conservative and the method has been

found to be useful in a wide variety of applications.

Assessing all aspects of the toxicity of cancer-causing agents involves additional

issues, since it is not certain if there is a minimal effective dose for carcinogens,

or whether the risk is just too small to see. In addition, it is possible that a single

cell transformed into a cancer cell is all it takes to develop the full effect (the "one

hit" theory).

It is more difficult to assess the toxicity of chemical mixtures than of single, pure

chemicals because each component display its own toxicity and components may

interact to produce enhanced or diminished effects. Common mixtures include

gasoline, cigarette smoke, and industrial waste. Even more complex are situations

with more than one type of toxic entity, such as the discharge from a

malfunctioning sewage treatment plant, with both chemical and biological agents.

Factors influencing toxicity

Toxicity of a substance can be affected by many different factors, such as the

pathway of administration (whether the toxin is applied to the skin, ingested,

inhaled, injected), the time of exposure (a brief encounter or long term), the

number of exposures (a single dose or multiple doses over time), the physical

form of the toxin (solid, liquid, gas), the genetic makeup of an individual, an

individual's overall health, and many others. Several of the terms used to describe

these factors have been included here. ;chronic exposure: continuous exposure to

a toxin over an extended period of time, often measured in months or years can

cause irreversible side effects.

Etymology

"Toxic" and similar words came from Greek τοξον = "bow (weapon)" via

"poisoned arrow," which came to be used for "poison" in scientific language, as

the usual Classical Greek word ('ιον) for "poison" would transcribe as "io-",

which is not distinctive enough. In some biological names, "toxo-" still means

"bow", as in Toxodon = "bow-toothed" from the shape.

Factors influencing toxicity

By Dr. Rahmat Awang

POISON USUALLY REFERS TO A chemical substance

that causes illness or death when taken in very small

quantities.

Legally, it is defined as a chemical that has a LD50

(median lethal dose) of 50 mg or less per body weight,

which is the amount that is lethal for 50% of test animals

within a 14-day period following administration of just one

dose.

Going by this definition, it looks like there are not many

chemicals that can be classified as poisons. For example,

some of the pesticides will not fall within this class. Thus,

to consider that only poisons are harmful or that harmful

chemicals are, of necessity, poisons, is quite misleading.

Pracelsus' definition of a poison seems to hold true when he

said: "All substances are poisons; there is none which is not

a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison and a

remedy."

Here are some of the important factors that make a

chemical substance toxic.

Toxicity of a chemical substance

"Toxicity" of a chemical substance is a measure of its

ability to induce injury to a biologic tissue.

Various ways of measuring toxicity have been developed.

The usual scales used to determine the degree of toxicity

includes the median lethal dose (LD50) and the median

lethal concentration (LC50). The LD50 is the term that is

used to describe acute oral or dermal toxicity while the

LC50 describes acute inhalation toxicity to fish and other

aquatic animals.

The former is expressed as milligram per kilogram (mg/kg)

while the latter as parts of chemicals per million (ppm) for

gases and milligrams of a chemical per cubic metre of air or

per liter of water per liquids.

The value 50 indicates the percentage by which death have

occurred in the animals under study. A lot is known about

the LD50 and the LC50 of chemicals available today.

Information derived from these studies will enable

classification of chemical substances according to its

degree toxicity.

Usually, the more toxic the chemical, the smaller the LD50

or LC50. Among the various chemical substances exist a

wide spectrum of doses needed to produce serious injury or

death.

Some chemicals are considered extremely poisonous with

serious injury or even death resulting from exposure to very

small doses while others are found to be relatively harmless

even when it involves exposure to doses in excess of

several grams. The LD50 are sometimes used to estimate

the lethal doses for humans.

However, this should be done cautiously since there exists

a wide difference in response between different species of

organic life. A general assumption made would be that

similar toxicity is expected if a chemical substance

demonstrate the same degree of acute toxicity among all

species tested

Otherwise, it is safer to assume that humans are more

sensitive to the toxic effects of chemical substances than

the most sensitive species tested unless there is enough

evidence to show that this is to the contrary.

Though measures of acute lethality are routinely carried out

for chemicals, information on the acute toxic

manifestations of chemical substances are usually not

compiled.

The limitations clearly point out the need to actually

compile acute toxicity data on humans. Since it is unethical

and illegal to conduct similar studies on humans

information on the toxic manifestations of chemical

substances can only be obtained based on the proper

documentation of previous exposure involving both

deliberate or accidental poisoning.

Duration of exposure

The toxic manifestations of a chemical substance may vary

depending not only on the dose but also on the duration of

the exposure.

In animal studies, toxicity data derived from chemical

exposure are usually classified under four categories of

acute, subacute, subchronic and chronic

Acute exposure is a single exposure study using death as a

criteria of toxicity with LD50 being the usual test done.

Information derived from this testing, however, cannot be

extrapolated to the human population.

Subacute exposure is used to study the toxic effects using

criteria that are less extreme than death. It involves

repeated exposure of chemicals at subacute doses over a

period of one month or less. The "no observable adverse

effect level" provides a quantitative measures of toxicity of

each chemical in each animal studies. "Safe" levels for

humans is then projected at 1/100 of this amount.

Subchronic and chronic exposures on the other hand refer

to exposure between one to three months and of more than

three months respectively.

In a poisoning situation, exposure to the chemical substance

may be either acute or chronic. Acute poisoning generally

occurs when a single exposure causes an immediate effect

whereas chronic poisoning refers to effects seen following

any repeated long term exposure to relatively low levels of

the chemicals or chemicals.

For many chemical substances, the toxic effects observed

from a single exposure may be quite different from that of

repeated exposure. Chronic poisoning is much more

complex and subtle in its manifestations.

Many symptoms of mild chronic poisoning are slow to

develop, and in some instances, many mimic symptoms of

other chronic diseases, making it difficult to differentiate

between them.

There are many examples to illustrate these differences.

Benzene for example, causes depression of the central

nervous system upon acute exposure but repeated exposure

can result in leukaemia (chronic effect).

Route of exposure

The major routes of chemical exposure to the body are

through ingestion, inhalation or absorption through the

skin.

Some chemical substances, eg. parathion, are equally toxic

by all three routes of exposure while the majority are not

equally toxic by all the three routes of exposure,

irrespective of the duration of exposure.

The dermal route is probably the most common way for

somebody to be exposed to chemicals. Whether the

exposure would result in toxic effects depends on how

much gets absorbed through the skin. The potential for

toxicity is greater if much of the chemicals get absorbed.

Absorption may be influenced by the nature of the

chemicals as well as the condition of the skin. Inorganic

chemicals are not absorbed readily through intact skin

while absorption of organic chemicals depends on its

physical state.

The powder form is less absorbed than the solution and oil-

based solutions are much more absorbed than water-based

solutions. Intact skin fortunately forms an effective barrier

and significant absorption usually occurs when the skin is

damaged.

On the whole, the number of chemical substances known to

be absorbed to a great extend through the skin is small. The

effects usually observed from the skin exposure include

skin irritation (acids, alkalis, many organic solvents), skin

sensitisation (formaldehyde, nickel) and systemic poisoning

(aniline, parathion, tetraethyl lead).

Inhalation in the second most common route of exposure.

However, significant poisoning can occur through this

route because it has about 37 times more surface area for

contact compared to the skin and it is made up of thin

membranes that do not serve as good protective barrier.

Exposure by this route, however, usually involves

chemicals that are airborne, by virtue of their size, which is

small enough to enter the lungs. The size of the particles

would usually determine the extent of penetration into the

lungs as well as its fate.

Particle size of 10 microns or less can enter the lungs quite

readily. They are usually referred to as respirable particles.

Particle size of more than 10 micron may limit accessibility

into the lungs, resulting in impaction of the particles on the

mucous coat of the pharynx or nasal cavity, while particle

size between 1-5 micron will settle down within the

bronchioles and those of less than one micron within the

alveoli.

Airborne particles are usually made up of tiny particles are

usually made up of tiny particles such as dust, mist and

fumes which are made up of several molecules or atoms or

gases or vapours existing as individual molecules or atoms.

The usual effects seen from inhalation exposure include

irritation, inflammation, fibrosis, allergic sensitisation or

malignant change in addition to the potential systemic

poisoning, of which the effects would depend on the

chemical substance.

Another mode of exposure is by way of ingestion. Chemicals

that are ingested and get absorbed into the blood from any part

of the gastrointestinal tract. Some are readily absorbed while

others, like the hydrocarbon-based compounds, are poorly

absorbed. Those that are absorbed quite readily in appreciable

amounts are most likely to result in systemic poisoning

symptoms.

Description of airborne

particlesGas - A formless

liquid at 760 torr pressure

Vapour - Gaseous phase of

a material that is liquid at

25 degree Celsius and 760

torr pressure.

Aerosol - Dispersed

particles of microscopic

size in a gaseous medium.

Dust - Airborne solid

particles that range in size

from 0.1 to 50 micron in

diameter.

Particle size of 50 micron

can be seen through normal

eyes while those with size

below 10 micron can only

be seen when using a

microscope.

Fume - Aerosol of solid

particles with particle size

being very fine (less than 1

micron). It is usually

formed from condensation

of gaseous state following

volatilisation of molten

metals. In many cases, it is

in the form of an oxide.

Smoke - Aerosol of carbon

or soot with particle size of

less than 0.1 micron. It may

contain droplets as well as

drop particles. It is usually

formed from incomplete

combustion of

carbonaceous materials.

Uses of respiratior

Definitions

Air-Purifying Respirator;Approved Respirators; Canister (Air-Purifying); Cartridge; Confined Space;

Contaminant; Exhalation Valve; Facepiece; Filter; High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) Filter;

IDLH Atmosphere; Inhalation Valve; Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA); National

Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH); Particulate Matter; Particulate; Filter; Fume;

Particulate Series N - P - R; Pesticide; Protection Factor; Qualitative Fit Test; Quantitative Fit Test;

Resistance; Respirator; Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA); Vapor

Medical Certification Information

1. Medical Protocol For Respirator Use

2. Instructions for Scheduling Medical Appointments

3. Workplace pulmonary function testing and Spirometry fact sheet

Types of Respirators

1. Disposable Dust/Particulate Respirators

2. Particulate Respirators for Toxic Exposures N.- R.- P. Classes

3. Air Purifying Half Mask Respirators

4. Air Purifying Full Facepiece Respirators

5. Powered Air Purifying Respirators (PAPR)

6. Airline Respirators (Pressure Demand or Continuous Flow)

7. Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA)

Fit Testing Procedures

1. Qualitative Fit Testing

2. Quantitative Fit Test

I. Introduction

A. Campus Policy Statement

The University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) is committed to

maintaining a campus environment which will not adversely affect the health,

safety, and well-being of students, employees, visitors, and the community.

Respiratory hazards at UCSC are eliminated through the use of engineering

controls where feasible. For situations where engineering controls are not

feasible or during emergencies, respirators are used for protection from

inhalation hazards.

Work related activities requiring respirator use shall be conducted in

accordance with the provisions of Title 8 California Code of Regulations

(CCR) concerning Respiratory Protection Programs. This document

constitutes written operating policies and procedures required by those

regulations.

UCSC shall provide each employee required to use respiratory protection with

a medical exam, respiratory protection equipment, and training on the safe and

proper way to use their respirator. Each employee participating in the UCSC

respiratory protection program shall have full responsibility for using

respirators as instructed and in strict accordance with all provisions of this

policy document.

B. Program Elements:

The UCSC Respiratory Protection Program is designed to protect campus

personnel form respiratory hazards originating from work related activities. As

a minimum elements of this program shall include:

1. Implementing appropriate engineering and administrative controls (e.g.

ventilation, isolation, work practices, product substitution) to minimize or

eliminate the use of respirators.

2. Medical certification, training, and fit testing of respirator users.

3. Ensuring respirator selection is based on hazards to which an employee may

be exposed and that only NIOSH/MSHA certified respirators are used.

4. Maintenance of an ongoing program for training, fitting, cleaning, storage,

and inspection of respirators.

5. Ensuring the respiratory protection program is periodically audited.

II. Administrative Responsibilities

Responsibilities for developing and maintaining the UCSC Respiratory Protection

Program shall be as follows:

A. Environmental Health & Safety Office (EH&S):

1. Shall recommend, review, and approve purchases of respiratory protection

equipment.

2. Provide instruction to personnel on: a) the need for respiratory protection, b)

respirator selection, c) respirator use and maintenance, and d) limitations of

respirators.

3. Perform or assist with fit testing persons required to wear respiratory

protection equipment.

4. Assist with developing and implementing controls to reduce or eliminate the

need for respiratory protection.

5. Conduct a compliance audits of the campus respiratory protection program.

6. Act as an information resource for problems and questions related to

respiratory protection.

B. The UCSC Occupational Health Physician:

1. Shall establish health standards which must be met by all prospective

respirator users.

2. Conduct medical examinations on employees and students who wear

respirators because of their job assignments or for other reasons because of

their affiliation with UCSC.

3. Provide certification that persons required to wear respirators are physically

able to do so without adverse medical consequences.

C. Supervisors, Principle Investigators, and Directors:

1. Shall identify employees who may need respiratory protection equipment.

2. Ensure the initial and subsequent annual medical testing, fit testing, and

training as required by this document is provided to employees required to

wear respirators.

3. Ensure respiratory protection equipment is properly used.

4. Perform annual audits of departmental respiratory protection activities and

submit findings to EH&S.

D. Employees, Students, Volunteers:

1. Shall use respiratory protection equipment as instructed and in accordance

with all provisions of this policy.

2. Inform his/her supervisor of any unusual or temporary health conditions

which could be aggravated by the use of respiratory protection equipment.

3. Ensure his or her respirator is kept clean, in good working order, and stored

in an appropriate manner.

4. Report any malfunction of respiratory protection equipment to their

supervisor.

5. Use only UCSC issued respirators for which he/she has been trained and

fitted.

6. Use the correct type of respiratory protection for the hazard involved.

7. Inform supervisors of new situations which may require a change in the use

of respiratory protection equipment.

III. Respirator Use Authorization

A. Prerequisites

Only persons with written authorization from their supervisor and EH&S may

wear respiratory protection equipment. No person shall receive written

authorization until they have been medically qualified, fitted, and trained as

described in this policy.

B. Medical Qualification

Prior to being fitted and trained for respirator use, personnel must be certified

as medically able to wear a respirator without adverse health consequences.

Certification of medical capability shall be provided by the Campus physician.

Medical screening shall be conducted as follows:

1. Supervisors of employees assigned to jobs requiring the use of respirators

will contact the Campus Health Center to schedule an appointment for

screening.

2. The scope of medical evaluations shall be at the discretion of the Physician.

Evaluations for first time respirator users shall as a minimum include

pulmonary function tests (FVC and FEV1) and completion of a medical

history questionnaire. Subsequent medical evaluation may be limited to

completion of the medical history questionnaire.

3. Persons who indicate a significant respiratory condition on the medical

questionnaire or who fall below normal ranges on pulmonary function tests

may require a more extensive medical evaluation. Results from this

evaluation shall determine the employees eligibility for respirator use.

4. Employees will be given a written pass/fail certification from the Campus

Health Center stating parameters under which the individual is medically able

to wear a respirator.

5. Cowell Student Health Center shall maintain records of all pulmonary

function tests, medical history questionnaires and certifications of respirator

use eligibility. A copy of the certification shall be sent to the individual's

supervisor and to EH&S.

6. Medical qualification must be repeated annually for as long as the employee

is required to wear a respirator. Supervisors are responsible for ensuring

subordinates are scheduled for annual recertification.

C. Training

1. Employees required to wear respiratory protection equipment shall be

thoroughly trained in the selection, care, use, and limitations of the

equipment. Training will vary depending on the type of respirator issued and

the nature of the airborne hazard. As a minimum, each employee shall

receive training when first issued a respirator and annually thereafter.

Training shall include:

a. An explanation of the contents of the UCSC respiratory protection

policy and the prerequisites for respirator use.

b. A description of the different types of respirators, conditions of use,

fitting, selection, and limitations.

c. Procedures for obtaining respirators, cleaning, storage, inspection,

and maintenance.

2. Specialized training will be required for personnel assigned to use emergency

SCBA systems.

3. Training Attendance Records will be maintained by the Supervisor and

EH&S.

D. Fit Testing

The safe and effective use of respiratory protection equipment, especially

negative pressure respirators, requires that the respirator be properly fitted to

the employee. Poorly fitting respirators fail to provide the expected degree of

protection. Furthermore, no one model of respirator is capable of fitting all

people; therefore, several models may be needed to find a good fit for some

people.

Prior to issuing a reusable, face-fitting respirator to any employee, the

employee must successfully pass a qualitative fit test on that respirator. The

complete UCSC fit testing protocol is described in Appendix IV. Other aspects

of the UCSC respirator fit policy are re described below:

1. An employee cannot be fitted with a face-sealing respirator if there is

any facial hair present which would come between the skin and face

mask sealing surface. Moderate stubble at the sealing surface is considered

excessive facial hair.

2. Any employee who exhibits difficulty breathing or a severe psychological

reaction during any phase of fit testing shall be referred to the Campus Health

Center to reevaluate whether the employee is capable of wearing a respirator.

3. Fit testing shall be repeated at least annually or more frequently if any change

occurs which may alter respirator fit. Such changes may include:

a. a weight change of 20 pounds or more.

b. significant facial scarring in the area of the face seal.

c. significant dental changes, i.e., multiple extractions without

prosthesis, or dentures.

d. reconstructive or cosmetic surgery.

e. any other condition which may interrupt the facepiece seal.

4. Supervisors shall maintain records of fit tests in the employees respiratory

protection file.

5. Respirator Use Certification shall not be issued to any employee who has not

been successfully fit tested.

IV. Respirator Use at UCSC

A. Types of Respirators

Respirators available for protection from specific inhalation hazards are

classified as either (1) Air-purifying respirators or (2) Atmosphere supplying

respirators. Air-purifying respirators work by removing contaminants from

ambient air before it is inhaled. Atmosphere supplying respirators provide

clean air from an exterior source such as tanks or an air compressor. The

following list describes the various types of respirators available to UCSC

employees.

1. Disposable Dust, Mist, (Particulate) Respirators

2. Air Purifying Half Mask Respirators

3. Air Purifying Full Face Respirators

4. Powered Air Purifying Respirators

5. Air Line Respirators

6. Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA)

Detailed descriptions of these respirators including limitations, advantages and

disadvantages are described in Appendix III.

B. Selection

This section describes guidelines for the selection and use of a suitable

respirator. As a minimum, respirator selection shall be based on the following

considerations:

1. All respirators required by campus personnel under this policy shall be

NIOSH/MSHA approved.

2. Selection of respiratory protection equipment shall be based on (a) the nature

of the respiratory hazard, (b) extent of the hazard, (c) work requirements and

conditions, and (d) characteristics and limitations of available respirators.

3. Air-purifying respirators shall not be used in atmospheres deficient in oxygen

or other "Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health" (IDLH) atmospheres or

in emergencies where the concentration and type of air contaminant is

unknown.

C. Respirator Issue

1. Respirators will only be issued to persons who have been medically

examined, trained and fitted as described in Section III of this document.

2. You must have approval from EH&S before you purchase or use a respirator.

Respirators may be obtained at the Thimann Stockroom, Campus Facilities

Shop Store, or ordered through safety supply catalogs.

3. Individuals should only acquire the type of respiratory protection equipment

they have approval to use.

D. Use of Respirators in the Field

Once the proper respirator has been selected, care must be exercised in its use,

cleaning, storage and maintenance. This section describes the controls which

help ensure each respirator will function according to its design specifications.

1. Initial Inspection: Upon receipt of a new respirator and before each use of a

respirator, employees shall inspect it to determine whether:

a. It is the correct brand, size, and type of respirator for the job. (Read

the cartridge on air purifying respirators to verify it is approved for

the intended use).

b. It is intact, complete and functioning. Visually inspect all parts of the

respirator for defective or worn parts. This inspection should include

straps, hoses, valves, gaskets, rubber mask, filters and cartridges, as

required. Only after a satisfactory inspection should the mask be

donned.

The respirator should not be used if any problems are

discovered during the check-out procedure. The Unit

Supervisor or EH&S should be notified for advice on how to

proceed. Where appropriate, defective or worn parts will be

replaced with new parts. However, respirator parts shall never

be interchanged between different brands of respirators, as this

would void their NIOSH/MSHA approval.

2. Use Responsibilities: The employee assigned to a job requiring the use of

respiratory protection equipment shall use the equipment in accordance with

this document and training.

3. Cleaning and Sanitizing: Every respirator must be cleaned and sanitized

after each use or each day's use by at least one of the following techniques:

1. Light cleaning should be done by wiping down all rubber surfaces of

the respirator with sani-wipes (available at the Stockroom or Shop

Store). These may need to be used several times throughout the day

when working in particularly dirty environments.

2. Thorough cleaning is performed by removing cartridges and imersing

the respirator into a cleaning/sanitizing solution. The respirator is

then cleaned with brushes or scrubbers, rinsed twice to remove all

soap/sanitizer residue, and air dried at temperatures of less than 125

degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Storage: When not in use, respirators shall be stored in sealed plastic bags or

other sealed containers and shall be protected form dust, sunlight, extremes of

temperature, excessive moisture, and damaging chemicals.

3. Replacement of Cartridges/Filters: Cartridges and filters shall be replaced

on a routine basis or as they become saturated or clogged with contaminants.

Replacement cartridges or filters can be obtained from the Stockroom or

Shop Store by presenting a properly completed "Replacement Organic

Cartridge/Filter Request Card".

B. Respirator Return

1. A respirator must be returned to the supervisor when any of the following

conditions are met:

a. It is no longer needed.

b. It malfunctions or is damaged.

c. It becomes contaminated with toxic chemicals.

d. It becomes uncleanable or difficult to wipe down.

2. Supervisors will notify EH&S about change in respirator use activities.

EH&S shall update this information in the respirator users log.

II. Program Maintenance

A. New Job Consultation

EH&S will assist departments with the evaluation of new or unusual jobs to

determine if there is a hazard from airborne contaminants. EH&S shall also

recommend engineering controls or the use of respiratory protective devices as

appropriate to protect personnel from potential airborne hazards.

B. Auditing

1. An annual audit of compliance with this respiratory protection program shall

be conducted by EH&S. This audit may include any of the following:

a. Inspection of all records, files, and logs kept by EH&S, supervisors,

and the Health Center for completeness.

b. Spot inspections of storage and use of respiratory protection

equipment in the field.

c. Spot questioning of persons required to wear respirators as to their

qualification and training.

d. Review of compliance with required annual fit testing, medical

qualification and training.

e. Review of the written program for necessary changes.

Voluntary Use of Respirators

Determining Use and Program Requirements

An exposure assessment should be conducted before allowing any respirator to be worn in the work

environment. The assessment should determine if employees will be exposed to either airborne

contaminants over OSHA/VOSH mandated permissible exposure limits (PEL) or oxygen deficient

atmospheres. If there are no atmospheric hazards or regulatory mandates, and the employer does not

require a respirator, the use of a respirator is considered voluntary.

What Does “Voluntary Use” Mean?

Voluntary use, according to the OSHA/VOSH definition, occurs when an employee chooses to wear a

respirator even though the use of a respirator is not required by the employer or by any OSHA/VOSH

standard.1

That said, there are several misconceptions about what OSHA/VOSH requires when allowing

voluntary use of respirators in the workplace.

Understanding the employer’s responsibility can be confusing when reading 29 CFR 1910.134(c)(2)

Respiratory Protection. There are two independent sets of requirements depending on the whether the

respirator is a filtering piece or a tight- fitting negative pressure respirator. Regardless of the type of

respirator chosen, the employer should evaluate the respirator selected and verify that it does not

present any additional hazards to the employee, such as any obstruction of vision while wearing the

respirator.

Filtering Facepiece Respirators

OSHA/VOSH identifies a filtering facepiece as a dust mask and there are specific minimal

requirements for the use of this type of respirator. According to 29 CFR 1910.134(c)(2), the employer

is only responsible for providing a copy of Appendix D of the standard to the employees.

Negative Pressure Respirators

There are several requirements if tight-fitting negative pressure respirators are allowed. The employer

is responsible for developing and implementing a written program for this type of respirator that

includes:

Provisions for medical evaluations

Procedures for cleaning, storing, and maintaining the respirators

Training as outlined in Appendix D

Designating a program administrator

OSHA/VOSH mandates the implementation of these program elements; otherwise, the following

“potential hazards or problems could result:

A respirator wearer’s health could be jeopardized due to an undetected medical condition (e.g.

asthma, heart condition)

A dirty respirator could cause dermatitis

A dirty or poorly disinfected respirator could cause an ingestion hazard.”2

Several questions surrounding fit testing and the use of “approved” respirators usually arise during

development of a voluntary respiratory protection program. In a Standard Interpretation letter dated

February 2, 2006, a question was raised regarding the use of voluntary respirators and the

requirements for fit testing and facial hair. The letter states, “the voluntary use of respirators in

atmospheres which are not hazardous does not require the mask to be fit tested or the wearer to

maintain a tight fit, so beards that could interfere with the faceseal or function of filtering facepieces

would not be prohibited by the standard.”3

OSHA addresses “approved” respirators in a letter of interpretation dated October 1, 1999. This letter

states, “The reason OSHA does not require employers to select National Institute of Occupational

Safety and Health (NIOSH) approved respirators for voluntary use is because voluntary use is only

permitted in an environment that presents no health hazard. However, as a matter of promoting safe

work practices, OSHA continues to encourage voluntary users to select NIOSH-approved

equipment.”4

Consider the following when implementing a voluntary respiratory protection program:

Determining the type of respirator to be worn,

Implementing the mandated program elements as required by OSHA/VOSH,

Encouraging employees to read and follow the manufacturers’ instructions,

Choosing a NIOSH approved respirator

Maintaining good records (written program and medical evaluations), and

Providing training.

In some cases respirators are required under the OSHA/VOSH standards. In other situations

respirators are supplied by the employer or the employee for use on a voluntary basis to provide an

additional level of protection or comfort. Respirators are valuable tools in protecting the health and

safety of employees; however, respirators may themselves become a hazard if not used and

maintained properly.

flammable materials

Flammability

Flammability is the ease with which a substance will ignite, causing fire or combustion.

Materials that will ignite at temperatures commonly encountered are considered flammable,

with various specific definitions giving a temperature requirement. The flash point is the

important characteristic. Flash points below 100 °F (37.8 °C) are regulated in the United

States by OSHA as potential workplace hazards. Examples of flammable liquids are gasoline,

ethanol, and acetone. Diesel fuel is in one of the less heavily regulated flammability

categories, and biodiesel is considered nonflammable with a flash point usually over 300 °F

(150 °C) even though biodiesel will combust inside a diesel engine.

The word flammable is of relatively recent origin but has in many contexts, especially safety,

taken the place of the word inflammable, an older term with the same meaning. Some find

inflammable misleading, falsely concluding that the Latin prefix in- (here an intensifier)

always means ‘not’. Hence, gasoline trucks will doubtless continue to be labelled flammable,

while for those in internet circles inflaming someone will continue to have a very different

meaning from flaming them.

Flash point

The flash point of a flammable liquid is the lowest temperature at which it can form an

ignitable mixture with air. At this temperature the vapor may cease to burn when the source

of ignition is removed. A slightly higher temperature, the fire point, is defined at which the

vapor continues to burn after being ignited. Neither of these parameters is related to the

temperatures of the ignition source or of the burning liquid, which are much higher. The flash

point is often used as one descriptive characteristic of liquid fuel, but it is also used to

describe liquids that are not used intentionally as fuels.

Examples of fuel flashpoints

Petrol (gasoline) is designed for use in an engine which is driven by a spark. The fuel should

be premixed with air within its flammable limits and heated above its flash point, then ignited

by the spark plug. The fuel should not preignite in the hot engine. Therefore, gasoline is

required to have a low flash point and a high autoignition temperature.

Diesel is designed for use in a high-compression engine. Air is compressed until it has been

heated above the autoignition temperature of diesel; then the fuel is injected as a high-

pressure spray, keeping the fuel-air mix within the flammable limits of diesel. There is no

ignition source. Therefore, diesel is required to have a high flash point and a low autoignition

temperature.

Fire point

The fire point of a fuel is the temperature at which it will continue to burn after ignition for at

least 5 seconds. At the flash point, a lower temperature, a substance will ignite, but vapor

might not be produced at a rate to sustain the fire. Fire point and autogenous ignition are

additional considerations when selecting fire resistant greases. You can search for a term

paper saying that industrially, fire point is the lowest temperature at which industrial greases

produce sufficient vapors to form a mixture in air that continuously supports combustion after

ignition.

Combustion

Combustion or burning is a chemical process, an exothermic reaction between a substance

(the fuel) and a gas (the oxidizer), usually O2, to release heat. In a complete combustion

reaction, a compound reacts with an oxidizing element, and the products are compounds of

each element in the fuel with the oxidizing element.

In most cases, combustion uses oxygen (O2) obtained from the ambient air, which can be

taken as 21 mole percent oxygen and 79 mole percent nitrogen (N2).

All about flammable materials, 10.0 out of 10 based on 1 rating

CONTROL MEASURES AND EQUIPMENT

Ventilation

Flammable Liquid Storage

Eye Wash Fountains and Safety Showers

Personal Protective Equipment

Respirators

Eye Protection

Protective Clothing

Ventilation (Hoods)

Always work in a hood when working with toxic chemicals that have low air

concentration limits or that have high vapor pressures.

Fume hoods should provide 100 linear feet per minute of air flow.

There should be a label on each hood verifying that the airflow has been checked

within the last six months. If there is any doubt that a hood is working properly call

the Science Center Office (x3136) and mark on the hood "Out of Order".

Laboratory personnel should understand and comply with:

o A fume hood is a safety backup for condensers, traps, or other devices that

collect vapors and fumes. It is not used to "dispose" of chemicals by

evaporation.

o The apparatus inside the hood should be placed on the floor of the hood at

least six inches away from the front edge. Large apparatus should be placed on

"legs" at least two inches off the work surface to allow for adequate airflow

through the hood. In the event of hood failure, personnel should remove

materials if necessary and consult the Laboratory Supervisor for any other

steps to be taken.

o Fume hood sashes should be lowered at all times except when necessary to

open them to adjust the apparatus that is inside the hood.

o The hood interior should never be used as a storage area for chemicals,

apparatus, or other materials. This can adversely effect the hood's ability to

contain toxic gases or vapors.

Flammable Liquid Storage

Large volumes of flammable liquids in the stockroom (one gallon size) should be

stored in an approved flammable liquid storage cabinet or in the chemical storage

room in the stockroom. All flammable materials should be ordered in plastic coated

bottles when available.

Large volumes in individual laboratories should be stored in secondary containers in

approved cabinets under the hood.

For safety and to minimize disposal costs, order the smallest practical amounts of

hazardous chemicals.

Eye Wash Fountains and Safety Showers

All laboratories must have quick and easy access to safety showers and eyewashes. Be

sure that access to eyewashes and safety showers is not restricted or blocked by

storage objects.

Personnel in the laboratory must be aware of the location of these devices.

The functioning of eyewash fountains and safety showers are verified periodically by

Physical Plant or the Chemical Hygiene Officer. Promptly report any unit that is not

functioning properly to the Science Center Office (x3136) for repair.

Personal Protective Equipment

If personal protective equipment is required, it is included in the Standard Operating

Procedure for that chemical. The type and level of equipment can be determined with the aid

of the Chemical Hygiene Officer. Any use of personal protection equipment should only be

considered after the options of reducing the hazards by engineering controls such as the use

of hoods or experimental design are reviewed and implemented where possible.

Respirators

If there is a need to wear a respirator, the following procedures must be followed:

Obtain a medical approval form from Metrowest Medical Center-Natick Campus or

your personal physician and submit it to the Chemical Hygiene Officer. Completed

forms are filed in the Science Center Office.

The Chemical Hygiene Officer will arrange for the proper selection, fit testing, and

training before use of a respirator can begin. (This will take some advance time to

schedule. The actual time to complete the requirements is less than 30 minutes.)

There will be an annual review of respirator use.

Eye Protection

The use of eye protection shall be determined by the laboratory supervisor and the Chemical

Hygiene Officer.

Protective Clothing

The use of protective clothing, including gloves, shall be determined by the laboratory

supervisor and the Chemical Hygiene Officer.

The Standard Operating Procedure for a particular chemical shall include whether

protective clothing is required. Standard Operating Procedures

Protective clothing shall be chosen, with the aid of the Chemical Hygiene Officer.

Contaminated protective clothing shall be decontaminated if possible or disposed of

properly. This includes packaging the clothing in containers or bags and calling the

Chemical Hygiene Officer for assistance.

Open-toed shoes or sandals should not be worn in laboratories.

Contaminated lab coats should not be worn.

Risk assessment

Risk assessment is a step in a risk management procedure. Risk assessment is the

determination of quantitative or qualitative value of risk related to a concrete situation and a

recognized threat (also called hazard). Quantitative risk assessment requires calculations of

two components of risk: R, the magnitude of the potential loss L, and the probability p, that

the loss will occur.

Methods may differ whether it is about general financial decisions or environmental,

ecological, or public health risk assessment.

Explanation

Risk assessment consists in an objective evaluation of risk in which assumptions and

uncertainties are clearly considered and presented. Part of the difficulty of risk management

is that measurement of both of the quantities in which risk assessment is concerned - potential

loss and probability of occurrence - can be very difficult to measure. The chance of error in

the measurement of these two concepts is large. A risk with a large potential loss and a low

probability of occurring is often treated differently from one with a low potential loss and a

high likelihood of occurring. In theory, both are of nearly equal priority in dealing with first,

but in practice it can be very difficult to manage when faced with the scarcity of resources,

especially time, in which to conduct the risk management process. Expressed mathematically,

Financial decisions, such as insurance, express loss in terms of dollar amounts. When risk

assessment is used for public health or environmental decisions, loss can be quantified in a common

metric,such as a country's currency, or some numerical measure of a location's quality of life. For

public health and environmental decisions, loss is simply a verbal description of the outcome, such as

increased cancer incidence or incidence of birth defects. In that case, the "risk" is expressed as:

If the risk estimate takes into account information on the number of individuals exposed, it is

termed a "population risk" and is in units of expected increased cases per a time period. If the

risk estimate does not take into account the number of individuals exposed, it is termed an

"individual risk" and is in units of incidence rate per a time period. Population risks are of

more use for cost/benefit analysis; individual risks are of more use for evaluating whether

risks to individuals are "acceptable"....

Risk assessment in public health

In the context of public health, risk assessment is the process of quantifying the probability of

a harmful effect to individuals or populations from certain human activities. In most

countries, the use of specific chemicals, or the operations of specific facilities (e.g. power

plants, manufacturing plants) is not allowed unless it can be shown that they do not increase

the risk of death or illness above a specific threshold. For example, the American Food and

Drug Administration (FDA) regulates food safety through risk assessment.[1] The FDA

required in 1973 that cancer-causing compounds must not be present in meat at

concentrations that would cause a cancer risk greater than 1 in a million lifetimes. The US

Environmental Protection Agency provides basic information about environmental risk

assessments for the public via its risk assessment portal.[2]

How the risk is determined

In the estimation of the risks, three or more steps are involved, requiring the inputs of

different disciplines:

1. Hazard Identification, aims to determine the qualitative nature of the potential adverse

consequences of the contaminant (chemical, radiation, noise, etc.) and the strength of the

evidence it can have that effect. This is done, for chemical hazards, by drawing from the

results of the sciences of toxicology and epidemiology. For other kinds of hazard, engineering

or other disciplines are involved.

2. Dose-Response Analysis, is determining the relationship between dose and the probability or

the incidence of effect (dose-response assessment). The complexity of this step in many

contexts derives mainly from the need to extrapolate results from experimental animals (e.g.

mouse, rat) to humans, and/or from high to lower doses. In addition, the differences between

individuals due to genetics or other factors mean that the hazard may be higher for particular

groups, called susceptible populations. An alternative to dose-response estimation is to

determine an effect unlikely to yield observable effects, that is, a no effect concentration. In

developing such a dose, to account for the largely unknown effects of animal to human

extrapolations, increased variability in humans, or missing data, a prudent approach is often

adopted by including safety factors in the estimate of the "safe" dose, typically a factor of 10

for each unknown step.

3. Exposure Quantification, aims to determine the amount of a contaminant (dose) that

individuals and populations will receive. This is done by examining the results of the

discipline of exposure assessment. As different location, lifestyles and other factors likely

influence the amount of contaminant that is received, a range or distribution of possible

values is generated in this step. Particular care is taken to determine the exposure of the

susceptible population(s).

Finally, the results of the three steps above are then combined to produce an estimate of risk.

Because of the different susceptibilities and exposures, this risk will vary within a population.

Small subpopulations

When risks apply mainly to small subpopulations, there is uncertainty at which point

intervention is necessary. What if a risk is very low for everyone but 0.1% of the population?

A difference exists whether this 0.1% is represented by *all infants younger than X days or

*recreational users of a particular product. If the risk is higher for a particular sub-population

because of abnormal exposure rather than susceptibility, there is a potential to consider

strategies to further reduce the exposure of that subgroup. If an identifiable sub-population is

more susceptible due to inherent genetic or other factors, there is a policy choice whether to

set policies for protecting the general population that are protective of such groups (as is

currently done for children when data exists, or is done under the Clean Air Act for

populations such as asthmatics) or whether if the group is too small, or the costs to high.

Sometimes, a more specific calculation can be applied whether it is more important to

analyze each method specifically the changes of the risk assessment method in containing all

problems that each of us people could replace.

Acceptable risk increase

The idea of not increasing lifetime risk by more than one in a million has become common

place in public health discourse and policy. How consensus settled on this particular figure is

unclear. In some respects, this figure has the characteristics of a mythical number. In another

sense, the figure provides a numerical basis for what to consider a negligible increase in risk.

Some current environmental decision making allows some discretion to deem individual risks

potentially "acceptable" if below one in ten thousand increased lifetime risk. Low risk criteria

such as these do provide some protection for the case that individuals may be exposed to

multiple chemicals (whether pollutants or food additives, or other chemicals). But both of

these benchmarks are clearly small relative to the typical one in four lifetime risk of death by

cancer (due to all causes combined) in developed countries. On the other hand, adoption of a

zero-risk policy could be motivated by the fact that the 1 in a million policy still would cause

the death of hundreds or thousands of people in a large enough population. In practice

however, a true zero-risk is possible only with the suppression of the risk-causing activity.

More stringent requirements, or even the 1 in a million one, may not be technologically

feasible at a given time, or so expensive as to render the risk-causing activity unsustainable,

resulting in the optimal degree of intervention being a balance between risks vs. benefit. For

example, it might well be that the emissions from hospital incinerators result in a certain

number of deaths per year. However, this risk must be balanced against the available

alternatives. In some unusual cases, there are significant public health risks, as well as

economic costs, associated with all options. For example, there are risks associated with no

incineration (with the potential risk for spread of infectious diseases) or even no hospitals.

But, often further investigation identifies further options, such as separating noninfectious

from infectious wastes, or air pollution controls on a medical incinerator, that provide a broad

range of options of acceptable risk - though with varying practical implications and varying

economic costs. Intelligent thought about a reasonably full set of options is essential. Thus, it

is not unusual for there to be an iterative process between analysis, consideration of options,

and then further analysis.

Risk assessment in auditing

In auditing, risk assessment is a very crucial stage before accepting an audit engagement.

According to ISA315 Understanding the Entity and its Environment and Assessing the Risks

of Material Misstatement, "the auditor should perform risk assessment procedures to obtain

an understanding of the entity and its environment, including its internal control."<evidence

relating to the auditor’s risk assessment of a material misstatement in the client’s financial

statements. Then, auditor obtains initial evidence regarding the classes of transactions at the

client and the operating effectiveness of the client’s internal controls.In auditing, audit risk

includes inherent risk, control risk and detection risk.

Risk assessment and human health

There are many resources that provide health risk information. The National Library of

Medicine provides risk assessment and regulation information tools for a varied audience. [3]

These include TOXNET (databases on hazardous chemicals, environmental health, and toxic

releases),[4] the Household Products Database (potential health effects of chemicals in over

10,000 common household products),[5] and TOXMAP (maps of US Environmental Agency

Superfund and Toxics Release Inventory data). The United States Environmental Protection

Agency provides basic information about environmental risk assessments for the public.[6]

Risk assessment in information security

Main article: IT risk management#Risk assessment

IT risk assessment can be performed by a qualitative or quantitative approach, following

different methodologies.

Risk assessment in project management

In project management, risk assessment is an integral part of the risk management plan,

studying the probability, the impact, and the effect of every known risk on the project, as well

as the corrective action to take should that risk occur.[7]

Risk assessment for megaprojects

Megaprojects (sometimes also called "major programs") are extremely large-scale investment

projects, typically costing more than US$1 billion per project. Megaprojects include bridges,

tunnels, highways, railways, airports, seaports, power plants, dams, wastewater projects,

coastal flood protection, oil and natural gas extraction projects, public buildings, information

technology systems, aerospace projects, and defence systems. Megaprojects have been shown

to be particularly risky in terms of finance, safety, and social and environmental impacts.

Risk assessment is therefore particularly pertinent for megaprojects and special methods and

special education have been developed for such risk assessment.[8][9]

Quantitative risk assessment

Further information: Quantitative Risk Assessment software

Quantitative risk assessments include a calculation of the single loss expectancy (SLE) of an

asset. The single loss expectancy can be defined as the loss of value to asset based on a single

security incident. The team then calculates the Annualized Rate of Occurrence (ARO) of the

threat to the asset. The ARO is an estimate based on the data of how often a threat would be

successful in exploiting a vulnerability. From this information, the Annualized Loss

Expectancy (ALE) can be calculated. The annualized loss expectancy is a calculation of the

single loss expectancy multiplied by the annual rate of occurrence, or how much an

organization could estimate to lose from an asset based on the risks, threats, and

vulnerabilities. It then becomes possible from a financial perspective to justify expenditures

to implement countermeasures to protect the asset.

Risk assessment in software evolution

Further information: ACM A Formal Risk Assessment Model for Software Evolution

Studies have shown that early parts of the system development cycle such as requirements

and design specifications are especially prone to error. This effect is particularly notorious in

projects involving multiple stakeholders with different points of view. Evolutionary software

processes offer an iterative approach to requirement engineering to alleviate the problems of

uncertainty, ambiguity and inconsistency inherent in software developments.

Criticisms of quantitative risk assessment

Barry Commoner, Brian Wynne and other critics have expressed concerns that risk

assessment tends to be overly quantitative and reductive. For example, they argue that risk

assessments ignore qualitative differences among risks. Some charge that assessments may

drop out important non-quantifiable or inaccessible information, such as variations among the

classes of people exposed to hazards. Furthermore, Commoner and O'Brien claim that

quantitative approaches divert attention from precautionary or preventative measures.[10]

Others, like Nassim Nicholas Taleb consider risk managers little more than "blind users" of

statistical tools and methods.[11]

Risk analysis

Risk Analysis can refer to: Quantitative Risk Analysis, Qualitative Risk Analysis, Risk

analysis and so on.

Quantitative risk analysis

Qualitative Risk Analysis

Risk analysis (engineering)

o Probabilistic risk assessment , an engineering safety analysis

Risk analysis (business)

Risk Management

Risk management tools

Certified Risk Analyst

Food safety risk analysis

Risk Assessment Scope

This risk assessment chapter aims to identify the potential risks associated with the proposed

Redbank upgrades to the previously disturbed site known as Exploration Retention Licence

(ERL)

94, on Wollogorang Station, Northern Territory (N.T.). The existing risks as a result of the

legacy

issues are also assessed. The study relied on project information provided by the proponent as

well

as expert advice from sub-consultants to the project. This risk assessment was based on the

proposed expansion works at the time of writing (Redbank Mine Study Report), and any

future

variations of a substantive nature may influence the findings of this risk assessment, and thus

may

require revision of this document.

The study is primarily an environmental risk assessment; however, it does also address risks

and

hazards to humans and facilities. The terms of reference are as defined in the guidelines to the

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) (refer to Appendix A)

The risk assessment to date has generally been qualitative. Redbank understand the need, and

are

committed to increasing the level of research and information gathering concurrently with

progression of the project in order to provide relevant data for eventual semi-quantitative

analysis.

The nature of the site, the known deposits, and in particular the legacy environmental issues

associated with the site, has thus-far discouraged development interests from potential mining

companies. Redbank Copper are of the required type and size to find future development of

the

site attractive, however their type and size also limits their ability to invest in significant

environmental repair prior to the project returning an income. As a result of this constraint,

the

risk treatment and management options proposed in this initial risk assessment have been

developed with the aim of gradual improvement over time. The legacy environmental issues

have

been impacting the offsite environment for over a decade, and it could be assumed that

Redbank’s

involvement and subsequent environmental management will lower the level of

environmental risk

from current.

The company has plans in place (refer to the Water Management Plan (WMP) Appendix B,

Waste

Discharge Licence (WDL) Monitoring Plan Appendix C, and Environmental Management

Plan

(EMP) Appendix I) that will not only minimize the environmental impacts from proposed

expansions, but improve the current environmental conditions that are the result of legacy

issues.

It must be understood that improvements in the ecological condition of the most severely

impacted

off site environment will be gradual. The long term aim is to thoroughly investigate and

understand the legacy issues so as to be able to undertake actions that will prevent the

ongoing

impacts from both the legacy issues and the proposed activities.

Legacy environmental issues have to date provided a solid knowledge base for planning and

development of the proposed activities as they dramatically indicate the impacts of poorly

developed and managed sites.

There is a level of residual risk associated with this development, yet the Department of

Regional

Development, Primary Industries, Fisheries and Resources (DRDPIFR), Wollogorang Station,

and

the Indigenous stakeholders are generally supportive of Redbank Copper developing this

project on

the basis that the environmental legacy issues are repaired. The practicality of this is that it

improvements must occur incrementally during the life of the project and that new

developments

will not repeat the mistakes of the past. The current environmental situation is unacceptable

but

attempts to repair the situation will require the support of a profitable and operating mine.

Redbank Copper – EIS, 2009 EcOz Environmental Services 93

5.2 Risk Assessment Objectives

Solid environmental risk assessment provides a project management team with an analysis of

issues, prioritization of issues, and the ability to make informed decisions. (AS/NZS

4360:2004)

Continual awareness of risk management “enhances and encourages the identification of

greater

opportunities for continuous improvement through innovation” (AS/NZS 4360:2004).

Specific

benefits of risk assessment to this project include;

1. comprehensive understanding of potential impacts upon the environment

2. fewer surprises;

3. the ability to take advantage of opportunities based on project confidence;

4. improved decision making, planning, performance and effectiveness, via improved

information;

5. improved efficiency;

6. improved stakeholder relationships and general reputation;

7. improved due diligence, accountability and governance and

8. the potential improved wellbeing of employees and the public.

The success of risk management and or treatment of risks will be measured and identified

through

the Mining Management Plan (MMP) process so as to ensure that risk management remains a

solid

and valuable tool for the project managers and regulators.

5.2.1 Risk Assessment Methods

The methods used for this Environmental Risk Assessment follow those described in the

Australian Standard AS/NZS 4360: 2004 Risk Management. Evaluation of potential impacts

has

been guided by the US Environmental Protection Agency guidelines for ecological risk

assessment

(e.g. US EPA 1998) and background information detailed in this draft EIS.

Environmental risk assessment and management provides a formal set of processes that help

when

making decisions affecting the environment, project design, and project development. Risk

assessment also assists decision-makers to deal with uncertainty. The risk assessment process

is

designed to minimise uncertainty associated with potential and actual risks and hazards.

This Risk Assessment aims to assess the risks and identify management practices to mitigate

potential impacts resulting from the project. The objectives for the risk assessment were

specifically:

• To identify the hazards and resultant risks to the environment from the project as a whole,

and threats from environmental aspects to the project;

• To rank and prioritise risks through a risk assessment process; and

• To evaluate the risks and identify management measures to mitigate the risks.

This involves the value judgment determination of key assumptions based on existing

knowledge

as well as determining a level of tolerable risk. The determined tolerable risk levels varied

according to whether the risk was based on legacy issues, or whether the risk was based on

newly

proposed activities (which should prove to involve a low level of risk). The tolerable risk

approach

utilizes the As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP) concept and helps identify and rank

risks

and potential risks according to the ability of the project to manage the risk. This method

identifies

risks that are either –

Loss Prevention and Control Techniques

An effective health and safety program relies on the use of various loss prevention and control

techniques to prevent or control hazards that contribute to job related injuries and illnesses.

Hazards in the workplace take many forms, including air contaminants, tasks involving

repetitive motions, chemical spills, equipment with moving parts, extreme heat or cold, noise, fire and

toxic materials such as silica and asbestos. There are seven basic methods or techniques recommended

by OSHA to prevent or control these hazards before they result in an injury or illness.

1. ENGINEERING CONTROLS

The most preferred method for controlling health and safety hazards is to eliminate or control

the source of the hazard by the use of engineering controls. Some examples of engineering

controls include:

* Ergonomically designed tools, equipment and workstations.

* Isolation or enclosure of hazardous processes or noisy equipment.

* Mechanical exhaust systems/booths for controlling toxic materials.

* Substitution of products that are not hazardous or less hazardous than the product(s)

currently in use.

* Replacement of potentially unsafe equipment or machinery with new

equipment/machines that meet or exceed safety standards.

* Electrical or mechanical safety interlocks and guards for machine hazards.

* Provisions to shutdown and lockout machinery and processes when performing

service or repair.

* Fire prevention/suppression systems.

II. PROCEDURAL CONTROLS

When engineering controls are not feasible or affordable, or when guards or enclosures on

equipment must be temporarily removed to conduct repairs and/or when employees are

performing non-routine hazardous work such as confined space entry, procedural controls

should be used to protect the safety and health of workers.

Procedural controls include work rules, general work practices and specific safe operating

procedures. The following techniques should be used to insure that employees always follow

these procedural controls:

* Work practice training to help workers understand why special precautions

are needed.

* Positive reinforcement to promote and encourage safe work habits.

* Correction of unsafe performance.

* Disciplinary action, if needed, to enforce safety rules and protect employees and

visitors.

Note: Procedural controls are a proven method of preventing accidents, however, they are

only as effective as the management systems that insure their constant use.

III. PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

A further method of controlling exposure to hazards when worker exposure cannot be

completely engineered out of normal operations and maintenance work is to provide personal

protective equipment (PPE). The term PPE includes safety glasses and goggles, face shields,

aprons, hard hats, hearing protectors, chemical resistant clothing and gloves, steel toed shoes

and respirators.

Many OSHA standards require certain types of personal protective equipment depending

upon the level and duration of exposure. There is also an OSHA standard that specifically

addresses PPE (See 29 CFR 1910.132). If respirators are required by your organization, a

written respirator program is also required (See 29 CFR 1910.134).

The keys to the effective use of PPE to control hazards are:

* Proper selection based on a detailed written hazard assessment.

* Proper fit and comfort.

* Employee and supervisory training.

* Replacement procedures for damaged or worn parts and equipment

* Consistent enforcement.

IV. ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROLS

Administrative controls should be used when no other method is known or feasible to control

hazards. They include rotation of workers through different jobs, longer rest breaks and

additional relief workers. The purpose of these controls is to reduce worker exposure to toxic

substances, extreme temperatures or to ergonomic hazards often found in highly repetitive

tasks. Administrative controls however require ongoing and consistent training and

enforcement to be effective. They also are costly and increase the workload of supervisors.

Because of these limitations, administrative controls should always be used in conjunction

with other controls and replaced (when feasible) with more effective methods.

V. MEDICAL PROGRAMS AND SURVEILLANCE

Medical Programs

The availability of first aid and emergency medical assistance is essential in order to

minimize the harmful consequences of injuries and illnesses. The nature of the services

needed for your organization will depend on the potential seriousness of injuries and the

health-hazard exposures that may occur and/or the proximity of a clinic or hospital to your

worksite. The key components of an effective occupational medical program for the treatment

of injured or ill employees include:

* Written policy and procedures.

* Adequate training and assignment of emergency responders and first aid personnel (if

applicable to your worksite).

* Reliable outside medical consultation on matters relating to worker's health.

* First aid supplies, blood borne pathogens, protective equipment for emergency

responders and biohazard clean-up kits.

* Medical record retention system and first aid logs.

Medical Surveillance

Medical surveillance involves the systematic collection and evaluation of employee health

data and medical tests to identify specific instances of illness or health trends that may

suggest an adverse effect from workplace exposures. Many OSHA Standards specify that

employees exposed to certain potentially harmful substances, i.e., lead, asbestos, etc. above

the permissible "action level" and/or employees who are required to wear respirators or

hearing protection must receive (at no cost to them) an initial and sometimes an annual

physical examination.

Employees who develop signs or symptoms of a medical problem related to an exposure or

who are assigned to a known problem area should also be included in the medical surveillance

program.

A comprehensive medical surveillance program will: 1) help identify serious unknown

hazards or deficiencies in your hazard control system, 2) provide for early detection of

medical problems, 3) lower lost work days and medical costs, and 4) improve employee

moral and productivity.

VI. EMERGENCY PLANNING

Planning and training for emergencies are essential in order to minimize the harmful

consequences of an emergency incident. If employees are not thoroughly trained to react to

emergencies so that their responses are immediate and precise, they may expose themselves

and others to greater danger rather than reduce their exposure.

The types of emergencies that may arise at your worksite depends on the nature of your

operations and its geographical location. They could include fire, severe weather, chemical

spills and bomb threats. A written plan must be developed to address each of these emergency

situations. The extent to which training and drills are needed will depend on the potential

severity and complexity of each emergency and the previous training of emergency

responders.

VII. PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE

Preventive maintenance (PM) on equipment plays a critical role in ensuring that hazard

controls remain in place and are effective. A good PM program also helps to ensure that new

hazards are not created due to malfunctioning equipment. A ventilation system for example

relies on the proper functioning of duct work, fans, motors and filters. Many guards on

machines are electronic or electrically energized and require scheduled maintenance to

continue to operate smoothly.

A good PM program is achieved by first conducting a comprehensive survey of the

maintenance needs at each worksite. The next step is to establish a maintenance schedule and

assign responsibility for performing each task identified in the survey.

Finally, Posting and/or computerizing this schedule helps maintenance employees and

supervisors to better plan their work activities and holds them accountable for following the

schedule.

Suggested Loss Prevention and Control Techniques*

* Develop written safe work procedures, including the use of (PPE), based on a detailed written

hazard assessment of the jobs and activities in your workplace. Make sure that the employees

performing each job/activity understand and follow the proper safety procedures.

* Conduct an ergonomic risk assessment of your worksite including office areas. This may

require the services of a safety or ergonomics consultant and/or a person within your

organization who has completed training in ergonomics.

* Develop a procedure to insure that work orders pertaining to health and safety problems receive

immediate attention.

* Develop a comprehensive written fire prevention plan and inspection program for fire

extinguishers, sprinklers, alarms and smoke detectors.

* Utilize mechanical devices whenever possible to lift and transport heavy objects.

* Establish a program of regular inspections and preventative maintenance for equipment,

vehicles and machines to prevent breakdowns that can create hazards.

* Conduct air sampling to determine exposure levels to hazardous materials.

* Complete an inventory list of the chemicals and other hazardous materials currently used at

your worksite. Obtain a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for each substance and train

employees on the proper use and disposal of these products.

* If possible, substitute less toxic products/chemicals for those products that have a high risk

factor. Avoid (if possible) using products that are carcinogenic.

* Provide adequate ventilation and exhaust systems and equipment when workers are exposed to

hazardous levels of dust, vapors and fumes..

* Check battery charging stations, maintenance operations, laboratories, heating systems and any

other corrosive materials usage and storage areas to ensure you have the required eye wash

stations and showers.

* Develop a procedure for your employees to notify their supervisor or another member of

management when they observe conditions that appear harmful to them and encourage them to

report hazards promptly. Develop safety suggestion forms.

* Purchase flammable storage cabinets and approved storage containers when flammable liquids

are not in use. Train employees to work safely with these chemicals.

* Purchase ergonomic office chairs, wrist rests, anti-glare screens, etc. as needed.

* Train employees to use good hygiene and safety practices when working with chemicals.

Provide appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

* In areas where workers are exposed to cumulative trauma disorders due to repetitive motion,

establish a program of job rotation, exercises and/or rest breaks. If possible, engineer out the

exposure by making appropriate work place modifications.

ELEMENTS OF A NATIONAL FOOD

CONTROL SYSTEM

4.1 Objectives

The principal objectives of national food control systems are:

Protecting public health by reducing the risk of foodborne illness;

Protecting consumers from unsanitary, unwholesome, mislabelled or adulterated food;

and

Contributing to economic development by maintaining consumer confidence in the

food system and providing a sound regulatory foundation for domestic and

international trade in food.

4.2 Scope

Food control systems should cover all food produced, processed and marketed within the

country, including imported food. Such systems should have a statutory basis and be

mandatory in nature.

4.3 Building Blocks

While the components and priorities of a food control system will vary from country to

country, most systems will typically comprise the following components.

(a) Food Law and Regulations

The development of relevant and enforceable food laws and regulations is an essential

component of a modern food control system. Many countries have inadequate food

legislation and this will impact on the effectiveness of all food control activities carried out in

the country.

Food law has traditionally consisted of legal definitions of unsafe food, and the prescription

of enforcement tools for removing unsafe food from commerce and punishing responsible

parties after the fact. It has generally not provided food control agencies with a clear mandate

and authority to prevent food safety problems. The result has been food safety programmes

that are reactive and enforcement-oriented rather than preventive and holistic in their

approach to reducing the risk of foodborne illness. To the extent possible, modern food laws

not only contain the necessary legal powers and prescriptions to ensure food safety, but also

allow the competent food authority or authorities to build preventive approaches into the

system.

In addition to legislation, governments need updated food standards. In recent years, many

highly prescriptive standards have been replaced by horizontal standards that address the

broad issues involved in achieving food safety objectives. While horizontal standards are a

viable approach to delivering food safety goals, they require a food chain that is highly

controlled and supplied with good data on food safety risks and risk management strategies

and as such may not be feasible for many developing countries. Similarly, many standards on

food quality issues have been cancelled and replaced by labelling requirements.

In preparing food regulations and standards, countries should take full advantage of Codex

standards and food safety lessons learned in other countries. Taking into account the

experiences in other countries while tailoring the information, concepts and requirements to

the national context is the only sure way to develop a modern regulatory framework that will

both satisfy national needs and meet the demands of the SPS Agreement and trading partners.

Food legislation should include the following aspects:

it must provide a high level of health protection;

it should include clear definitions to increase consistency and legal security;

it should be based on high quality, transparent, and independent scientific advice

following risk assessment, risk management and risk communication;

it should include provision for the use of precaution and the adoption of provisional

measures where an unacceptable level of risk to health has been identified and where

full risk assessment could not be performed;

it should include provisions for the right of consumers to have access to accurate and

sufficient information;

it should provide for tracing of food products and for their recall in case of problems;

it should include clear provisions indicating that primary responsibility for food safety

and quality rests with producers and processors;

it should include obligation to ensure that only safe and fairly presented food is placed

on the market;

it should also recognise the country's international obligations particularly in relation

to trade; and

it should ensure transparency in the development of food law and access to

information.

Guidelines for the development of food laws are contained in Annex 6.

(b) Food Control Management

Effective food control systems require policy and operational coordination at the national

level. While the detail of such functions will be determined by the national legislation, they

would include the establishment of a leadership function and administrative structures with

clearly defined accountability for issues such as: the development and implementation of an

integrated national food control strategy; operation of a national food control programme;

securing funds and allocating resources; setting standards and regulations; participation in

international food control related activities; developing emergency response procedures;

carrying out risk analysis; etc.

Core responsibilities include the establishment of regulatory measures, monitoring system

performance, facilitating continuous improvement, and providing overall policy guidance.

(c) Inspection Services

The administration and implementation of food laws require a qualified, trained, efficient and

honest food inspection service. The food inspector is the key functionary who has day-to-day

contact with the food industry, trade and often the public. The reputation and integrity of the

food control system depends, to a very large extent, on their integrity and skill. The

responsibilities of the inspection services include:

Inspecting premises and processes for compliance with hygienic and other

requirements of standards and regulations;

Evaluating HACCP plans and their implementation;

Sampling food during harvest, processing, storage, transport, or sale to establish

compliance, to contribute data for risk assessments and to identify offenders;

Recognizing different forms of food decomposition by organoleptic assessment;

identifying food which is unfit for human consumption; or food which is otherwise

deceptively sold to the consumer; and taking the necessary remedial action;

Recognizing, collecting and transmitting evidence when breaches of law occur, and

appearing in court to assist prosecution;

Encouraging voluntary compliance in particular by means of quality assurance

procedures;

Carrying out inspection, sampling and certification of food for import/export

inspection purposes when so required;

In establishments working under safety assurance programmes such as HACCP,

conduct risk based audits.

Proper training of food inspectors is a prerequisite for an efficient food control system. As

current food systems are quite complex, the food inspector must be trained in food science

and technology to understand the industrial processes, identify potential safety and quality

problems, and have the skill and experience to inspect the premises, collect food samples and

carry out an overall evaluation. The inspector must have a good understanding of the relevant

food laws and regulations, their powers under those laws, and the obligations such laws

impose on the food sector. They should also be conversant with procedures for collecting

evidence, writing inspection reports, collecting samples and sending them to a laboratory for

analysis. With gradual introduction of HACCP systems in the food industry, the inspector

should be trained to handle HACCP audit responsibilities. Clearly, there is a continuing need

for training and upgrading the skills of existing inspectional staff and having a policy for

human resource development, especially the development of inspectional specialists in

specific technical areas.

As human resources in some food control agencies in developing countries may be limited,

environmental health inspectors are often also asked to work as food inspectors. This is not

the ideal situation as they may lack the skills and knowledge to effectively evaluate and

inspect food operations. If environmental health inspectors must be used, then they should be

carefully supervised and provided with on-the-job training.

(d) Laboratory Services: Food Monitoring and Epidemiological Data

Laboratories are an essential component of a food control system. The establishment of

laboratories requires considerable capital investment and they are expensive to maintain and

operate. Therefore careful planning is necessary to achieve optimum results. The number and

location of the laboratories should be determined in relation to the objectives of the system

and the volume of work. If more than one laboratory is required, consideration should be

given to apportioning the analytical work to achieve the most effective coverage of the food

analyses to be performed and also to having a central reference laboratory equipped for

sophisticated and reference analyses.

All food analysis laboratories may not be under the control of one agency or ministry, and a

number could be under the jurisdiction of the states, provinces and local authorities. The

Food Control Management should, however, lay down the norms for food control

laboratories and monitor their performance.

The laboratories should have adequate facilities for physical, microbiological and chemical

analyses. In addition to simple routine analysis, the laboratories can be equipped with more

sophisticated instruments, apparatus and library facilities as required. It is not only the type of

equipment that determines the accuracy and reliability of analytical results but also the

qualification and skill of the analyst and the reliability of the method used. The analytical

results of a food control laboratory are often used as evidence in a court of law to determine

compliance with regulations or standards of the country. It is therefore necessary that utmost

care be taken to ensure the efficient and effective performance of the laboratory. The

introduction of analytical quality assurance programmes and accreditation of the laboratory

by an appropriate accreditation agency within the country or from outside, enables the

laboratory to improve its performance and to ensure reliability, accuracy and repeatability of

its results. Prescription of official methods of sampling and analysis also support this effort.

An important element of a national food control system is its integration in a national food

safety system so that links between food contamination and foodborne diseases can be

established and analyzed. Access to reliable and current intelligence on the incidence of

foodborne illness is critical. The laboratory facilities for this type of activity are generally

situated outside the food control agencies. It is essential, however, that effective linkages are

established between food control agencies and the public health system including

epidemiologists and microbiologists. In this way information on foodborne diseases may be

linked with food monitoring data, and lead to appropriate risk-based food control policies.

This information includes annual incidence trends, identification of susceptible population

groups, identification of hazardous foods, identification and tracing of causes of foodborne

diseases, and the development of early warning systems for outbreaks and food

contamination.

(e) Information, Education, Communication and Training

An increasingly important role for food control systems is the delivery of information,

education and advice to stakeholders across the farm-to-table continuum. These activities

include the provision of balanced factual information to consumers; the provision of

information packages and educational programmes for key officials and workers in the food

industry; development of train-the-trainer programmes; and provision of reference literature

to extension workers in the agriculture and health sectors.

Food control agencies should address the specific training needs of their food inspectors and

laboratory analysts as a high priority. These activities provide an important means of building

food control expertise and skills in all interested parties, and thereby serve an essential

preventive function.

RISK ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES

The risk analysis process provides the foundation for the

entire recovery planning effort

By Geoffrey H. Wold and Robert F. Shriver

There may be some terminology and definition differences related to risk analysis,

risk assessment and business impact analysis. Although several definitions are

possible and can overlap, for purposes of this article, please consider the following

definitions:

•A risk analysis involves identifying the most probable threats to an organization

and analyzing the related vulnerabilities of the organization to these threats.

•A risk assessment involves evaluating existing physical and environmental

security and controls, and assessing their adequacy relative to the potential threats

of the organization.

•A business impact analysis involves identifying the critical business functions

within the organization and determining the impact of not performing the business

function beyond the maximum acceptable outage. Types of criteria that can be

used to evaluate the impact include: customer service, internal operations,

legal/statutory and financial.

Most businesses depend heavily on technology and automated systems, and their

disruption for even a few days could cause severe financial loss and threaten

survival. The continued operations of an organization depend on management’s

awareness of potential disasters, their ability to develop a plan to minimize

disruptions of mission critical functions, and the capability to recover operations

expediently and successfully. The risk analysis process provides the foundation for

the entire recovery planning effort.

A primary objective of business recovery planning is to protect the organization in

the event that all or part of its operations and/or computer services are rendered

unusable. Each functional area of the organization should be analyzed to determine

the potential risk and impact related to various disaster threats

RISK ANALYSIS PROCESS

Regardless of the prevention techniques employed, possible threats that could arise

inside or outside the organization need to be assessed. Although the exact nature of

potential disasters or their resulting consequences are difficult to determine, it is

beneficial to perform a comprehensive risk assessment of all threats that can

realistically occur to the organization. Regardless of the type of threat, the goals of

business recovery planning are to ensure the safety of customers, employees and

other personnel during and following a disaster.

The relative probability of a disaster occurring should be determined. Items to

consider in determining the probability of a specific disaster should include, but

not be limited to: geographic location, topography of the area, proximity to major

sources of power, bodies of water and airports, degree of accessibility to facilities

within the organization, history of local utility companies in providing

uninterrupted services, history of the area’s susceptibility to natural threats,

proximity to major highways which transport hazardous waste and combustible

products.

Potential exposures may be classified as natural, technical, or human threats.

Examples include:

Natural Threats: internal flooding, external flooding, internal fire, external fire,

seismic activity, high winds, snow and ice storms, volcanic eruption, tornado,

hurricane, epidemic, tidal wave, typhoon.

Technical Threats: power failure/fluctuation, heating, ventilation or air

conditioning failure, malfunction or failure of CPU, failure of system software,

failure of application software, telecommunications failure, gas leaks,

communications failure, nuclear fallout.

Human Threats: robbery, bomb threats, embezzlement, extortion, burglary,

vandalism, terrorism, civil disorder, chemical spill, sabotage, explosion, war,

biological contamination, radiation contamination, hazardous waste, vehicle crash,

airport proximity, work stoppage (Internal/External), computer crime.

All locations and facilities should be included in the risk analysis. Rather than

attempting to determine exact probabilities of each disaster, a general relational

rating system of high, medium and low can be used initially to identify the

probability of the threat occurring.

The risk analysis also should determine the impact of each type of potential threat

on various functions or departments within the organization. A Risk Analysis

Form, found Here(PDF Format), can facilitate the process. The functions or

departments will vary by type of organization.

The planning process should identify and measure the likelihood of all potential

risks and the impact on the organization if that threat occurred. To do this, each

department should be analyzed separately. Although the main computer system

may be the single greatest risk, it is not the only important concern. Even in the

most automated organizations, some departments may not be computerized or

automated at all. In fully automated departments, important records remain outside

the system, such as legal files, PC data, software stored on diskettes, or supporting

documentation for data entry.

The impact can be rated as: 0= No impact or interruption in operations, 1=

Noticeable impact, interruption in operations for up to 8 hours, 2= Damage to

equipment and/or facilities, interruption in operations for 8 - 48 hours, 3= Major

damage to the equipment and/or facilities, interruption in operations for more than

48 hours. All main office and/or computer center functions must be relocated.

Certain assumptions may be necessary to uniformly apply ratings to each potential

threat. Following are typical assumptions that can be used during the risk

assessment process:

1. Although impact ratings could range between 1 and 3 for any facility given a

specific set of circumstances, ratings applied should reflect anticipated, likely or

expected impact on each area.

2. Each potential threat should be assumed to be “localized” to the facility being

rated.

3. Although one potential threat could lead to another potential threat (e.g., a

hurricane could spawn tornados), no domino effect should be assumed.

4. If the result of the threat would not warrant movement to an alternate site(s), the

impact should be rated no higher than a “2.”

5. The risk assessment should be performed by facility.

To measure the potential risks, a weighted point rating system can be used. Each

level of probability can be assigned points as follows:

Probability Points

High 10

Medium 5

Low 1

To obtain a weighted risk rating, probability points should be multiplied by the

highest impact rating for each facility. For example, if the probability of hurricanes

is high (10 points) and the impact rating to a facility is “3” (indicating that a move

to alternate facilities would be required), then the weighted risk factor is 30 (10 x

3). Based on this rating method, threats that pose the greatest risk (e.g., 15 points

and above) can be identified.

Considerations in analyzing risk include:

1. Investigating the frequency of particular types of disasters (often versus seldom).

2. Determining the degree of predictability of the disaster.

3. Analyzing the speed of onset of the disaster (sudden versus gradual).

4. Determining the amount of forewarning associated with the disaster.

5. Estimating the duration of the disaster.

6. Considering the impact of a disaster based on two scenarios;

a. Vital records are destroyed

b. Vital records are not destroyed.

7. Identifying the consequences of a disaster, such as;

a. Personnel availability

b. Personal injuries

c. Loss of operating capability

d. Loss of assets

e. Facility damage.

8. Determining the existing and required redundancy levels throughout the

organization to accommodate critical systems and functions, including;

a. Hardware

b. Information

c. Communication

d. Personnel

e. Services.

9. Estimating potential dollar loss;

a. Increased operating costs

b. Loss of business opportunities

c. Loss of financial management capa- bility

d. Loss of assets

e. Negative media coverage

f. Loss of stockholder confidence

g. Loss of goodwill

h. Loss of income

i. Loss of competitive edge

j. Legal actions.

10. Estimating potential losses for each business function based on the financial

and service impact, and the length of time the organization can operate without this

business function. The impact of a disaster related to a business function depends

on the type of outage that occurs and the time that elapses before normal operations

can be resumed.

11. Determining the cost of contingency planning.

DISASTER PREVENTION

Because a goal of business recovery planning is to ensure the safety of personnel

and assets during and following a disaster, a critical aspect of the risk analysis

process is to identify the preparedness and preventive measures in place at any

point in time. Once the potential areas of high exposure to the organization are

identified, additional preventative measures can be considered for implementation.

Disaster prevention and preparedness begins at the top of an organization. The

attitude of senior management toward security and prevention should permeate the

entire organization. Therefore, management’s support of disaster planning can

focus attention on good security and prevention techniques and better prepare the

organization for the unwelcome and unwanted.

Disaster prevention techniques include two categories: procedural prevention and

physical prevention.

Procedural prevention relates to activities performed on a day-to-day, month-to-

month, or annual basis, relating to security and recovery. Procedural prevention

begins with assigning responsibility for overall security of the organization to an

individual with adequate competence and authority to meet the challenges. The

objective of procedural prevention is to define activities necessary to prevent

various types of disasters and ensure that these activities are performed regularly.

Physical prevention and preparedness for disaster begins when a site is constructed.

It includes special requirements for building construction, as well as fire protection

for various equipment components. Special considerations include: computer area,

fire detection and extinguishing systems, record(s) protection, air conditioning,

heating and ventilation, electrical supply and UPS systems, emergency procedures,

vault storage area(s), archival systems

SECURITY AND CONTROL CONSIDERATIONS

Security and controls refer to all the measures adopted within an organization to

safeguard assets, ensure the accuracy and reliability of records, and encourage

operational efficiency and adherence to prescribed procedures. The system of

internal controls also includes the measures adopted to safeguard the computer

system.

The nature of internal controls is such that certain control procedures are necessary

for a proper execution of other control procedures. This interdependence of control

procedures may be significant because certain control objectives that appear to

have been achieved may, in fact, not have been achieved because of weaknesses in

other control procedures upon which they depend.

Concern over this interdependence of control procedures may be greater with a

computerized system than with a manual system because computer operations

often have a greater concentration of functions, and certain manual control

procedures may depend on automated control procedures, even though that

dependence is not readily apparent. Adequate computer internal controls are a vital

aspect of an automated system.

Security is an increasing concern because computer systems are increasingly

complex. Particular security concerns result from the proliferation of PCs, local

area networking, and on-line systems that allow more access to the mainframe and

departmental computers. Modern technology provides computer thieves with

powerful new electronic safecracking tools.

Computer internal controls are especially important because computer processing

can circumvent traditional security and control techniques. There are two types of

computer control techniques: (1) general controls that affect all computer systems,

and (2) application controls that are unique to specific applications.

Important areas of concern related to general computer internal controls include:

organization controls, systems development and maintenance controls,

documentation controls, access controls, data and procedural controls, physical

security, password security systems, communications security.

Application controls are security techniques that are unique to a specific computer

application system. Application controls are classified as: input controls,

processing controls, output controls.

INSURANCE CONSIDERATIONS

Adequate insurance coverage is a key consideration when developing a business

recovery plan and performing a risk analysis. Having a disaster plan and testing it

regularly may not, in itself, lower insurance rates in all circumstances.

However, a good plan can reduce risks and address many concerns of the

underwriter, in addition to affecting the cost or availability of the insurance.

Most insurance agencies specializing in business interruption coverage can provide

the organization with an estimate of anticipated business interruption costs. Many

organizations that have experienced a disaster indicate that their costs were

significantly higher than expected in sustaining temporary operations during

recovery.

Most business interruption coverages include lost revenues following a disaster.

Extra expense coverage includes all additional expenses until normal operations

can be resumed. However, coverages differ in the definition of resumption of

services. As a part of the risk analysis, these coverages should be discussed in

detail with the insurer to determine their adequacy.

To provide adequate proof of loss to an insurance company, the organization may

need to contract with a public adjuster who may charge between three and ten

percent of recovered assets for the adjustment fee. Asset records become extremely

important as the adjustment process takes place.

Types of insurance coverages to be considered may include: computer hardware

replacement, extra expense coverage, business interruption coverage, valuable

paper and records coverage, errors and omissions coverage, fidelity coverage,

media transportation coverage.

With estimates of the costs of these coverages, management can make reasonable

decisions on the type and amount of insurance to carry.

These estimates also allow management to determine to what extent the

organization should self-insure against certain losses.

RECORDS

Records can be classified in one of the three following categories: vital records,

important records, and useful records.

Vital records are irreplaceable. Important records can be obtained or reproduced at

considerable expense and only after considerable delay. Useful records would

cause inconvenience if lost, but can be replaced without considerable expense.

Vital and important records should be duplicated and stored in an area protected

from fire or its effects.

Records kept in the computer room should be minimized and should be stored in

closed metal files or cabinets. Records stored outside the computer room should be

in fire-resistant file cabinets with fire resistance of at least two hours.

Protection of records also depends on the particular threat that is present. An

important consideration is the speed of onset and the amount of time available to

act. This could range from gathering papers hastily and exiting quickly to an

orderly securing of documents in a vault. Identifying records and information is

most critical for ensuring the continuity of operations.

A systematic approach to records management is also an important part of the risk

analysis process and business recovery planning. Additional benefits include:

reduced storage costs, expedited service, federal and state statutory compliance.

Records should not be retained only as proof of financial transactions, but also to

verify compliance with legal and statutory requirements. In addition, businesses

must satisfy retention requirements as an organization and employer. These records

are used for independent examination and verification of sound business practices.

Federal and state requirements for records retention must be analyzed. Each

organization should have its legal counsel approve its own retention schedule. As

well as retaining records, the organization should be aware of the specific record

salvage procedures to follow for different types of media after a disaster.

CONCLUSION

The risk analysis process is an important aspect of business recovery planning. The

probability of a disaster occurring in an organization is highly uncertain.

Organizations should also develop written, comprehensive business recovery plans

that address all the critical operations and functions of the business.

The plan should include documented and tested procedures, which, if followed,

will ensure the ongoing availability of critical resources and continuity of

operations.

A business recovery plan, however, is similar to liability insurance. It provides a

certain level of comfort in knowing that if a major catastrophe occurs, it will not

result in financial disaster for the organization.

Insurance, by itself, does not provide the means to ensure continuity of the

organization’s operations, and may not compensate for the incalculable loss of

business during the interruption or the business that never returns .

Health and SafetyExecutive

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5. COMAH - Guidance

6. Technical aspects

7. Measures documents

8. Relief systems / vent systems

Relief systems / vent systemsThis Technical Measures document refers to codes and standards applicable to the design of relief and vent systems.

Related Technical Measures documents are:

Explosion relief

Quench systems

Secondary containment

Control systems

General principles

Process plant can be subjected to excessive overpressure or underpressure due to:

External fire;

Process abnormality or maloperation;

Equipment or service / utility failure;

Changes in ambient conditions;

Excess chemical reaction.

To achieve a more inherently safe design, and to arrive at the most economical solution overall consideration should always be given to:

Can the overpressure or underpressure hazard be eliminated by changes in process or plant design?;

Can the overpressure or underpressure hazard be reduced by reducing inventories or changing process conditions?;

Can the overpressure or underpressure be contained by designing equipment to withstand maximum feasible

pressure?;

Can alternative protection to a relief system be considered?;

Can the required relief system be minimised by mechanical or instrumented systems?.

Explosion Relief is considered in a separate Technical Measures Document. Relief systems considered in this document are based on systems where pressure rise occurs over several seconds or longer, and there is no reaction front. In these cases we may assume:

Safety valves can open in time;

Piping is adequately sized to provide pressure relief;

Relief flow may be determined by steady-state flow equations;

Conditions are approximately uniform throughout each phase at any moment;

Further pressure generation by reaction in the relief piping is negligible.

General principles applicable to relief systems include:

In all cases, relief devices must be selected and located to minimise disturbance to plant and environment;

Relief devices must not be isolated from equipment they protect while the equipment is in use;

The discharge from a relief device should pass to a safe location which may be:

A dump tank;

Upstream in the process;

A storage tank;

A quench vessel or tower;

A sewer;

The atmosphere;

A knockout drum;

A scrubber;

An incinerator;

A flare stack.

Design basis and methodology of all relief stream packages must be documented, and incorporated into plant modification and change procedures to ensure that relief stream invalidation does not occur.

Sizing of vents (especially exothermic reactions, storage tanks)

One of the biggest problems in sizing vents is the availability and accuracy of physical property data for the reaction components. It is good practice when sizing a relief system to utilise several design methods to achieve consistency in design.

When sizing pressure / vacuum relief systems for storages, if several tanks are connected up to a single relief system the relief device should be capable of accommodating the simultaneous vent loading at a relieving pressure less than the lowest tank design pressure.

Venting can either be normal or atmospheric venting or emergency venting. Different measures may be adopted to provide protection for the vessel or tank in each case. The worst case scenario is generally experienced when tanks are exposed to fire.

Normal venting requirements may be met by installation of pressure-vacuum relief valves. Emergency venting may be accomplished by installation of a bursting or rupture disc device. Depending upon the tank contents and the physical characteristics of these contents consideration should be given to the vent discharge point and configuration. Guidance is provided in recognised industry standards.

There are various recognised methods for sizing vents. These include:

API Methods;

NFPA Methods;

Vapour / Gas Only method;

Leung’s method;

Level Swell method;

Stepwise method;

Nomogram method;

Fauske’s method;

Two-phase method;

DIERS method;

Huff’s method;

Boyle’s method.

The use of DIERS (Design Institute for Emergency Relief Systems) methodology is becoming increasingly widespread. Detailed analysis of relief systems using this methodology, together with experimental testing, is now the accepted practice.

Flame arresters

Flame arresters are commonly installed on the vent outlet of tanks containing liquids with flashpoints below 21°C, generally where pressure-vacuum vent valves are not in use. Their prime function is to prevent the unrestricted propagation of flame through flammable gas or vapour mixtures, and secondly to absorb heat from unburnt gas.

Flame arresters should be designed for each specific application, and due to the likelihood of progressive blockage a rigorous inspection and maintenance schedule should be in place.

Relief valves

Relief valves are characterised by:

Slow response times (tenths of a second up to > 1 second);

Risk of blockage;

Trace leakage.

Design considerations for relief valves include:

The pressure drop before the safety valve must be low to avoid instability;

The design must take into consideration differences between gas and liquid duties;

Back pressure can affect opening / closing pressures, stability and capacity;

The relief valve usually solely determines relief capacity if appropriate piping is used.

Regular proof checks are required to check lifting pressure, particularly if located in a corrosive environment. Also valve seating checks should be undertaken to ensure that the valve is not passing.

Bursting discs

Bursting discs are characterised by:

Very fast response times (milliseconds);

Less risk of blockage than relief valves;

Cheap to install and maintain;

Available in a wide range of materials;

No leakage;

Non re-closing hence may allow large discharges even when pressure falls below relieving (rupture) pressure;

Potential for premature failure due to pressure pulsation, especially if the rupture pressure is close to the operating

pressure;

Rupture pressure affected by back pressure;

Risk of incorrect assembly.

Design considerations for bursting discs include:

Protection against reverse pressure (vac dials);

Differences between disc temperature and vessel temperature;

Main factor affecting relief capacity is piping configuration;

The rupture pressure of a bursting disc is a function of the prevailing temperature. It is common practice for an operator to specify the required rupture pressure at a specific operating or relieving temperature however, if the temperature cycles or changes during the process operation the degree of protection of the vessel can be compromised. This is because as the prevailing temperature decreases the rupture pressure of the bursting disc will increase potentially resulting in the rupture pressure at temperature being greater than the design pressure of the vessel. Thus if the pressure increases at this condition, vessel failure will occur. The converse case can also apply if the rupture pressure is quoted for ambient temperatures, since the actual rupture pressure will decrease under normal operating conditions which can cause premature failure of bursting discs.

The surrounding vent pipework should be adequately sized to accommodate relief flows in the event of bursting disc failure.

Bursting discs are a common method for fulfilling emergency venting requirements, although a routine maintenance programme should cover bursting disc installations.

Bursting disc installations should incorporate vent pipework that is the same diameter as the bursting disc itself.

Combinations of bursting discs and relief valves are occasionally employed for specific applications. Double bursting discs (back to back arrangements) are often provided with a pressure indicator/alarm between them in aggressive environments where failures of the initial disc may occur. In such instances the second bursting disc is reversed to withstand the initial shock pressure.

Scrubbers (design for maximum foreseeable flow)

In many installations, scrubbing systems provide one of the major lines of defence against release of toxic gas. Several key factors must therefore be taken into consideration when designing and sizing the scrubbing system. These include:

Composition of gas load;

The composition of the gas load must be known with respect to:

o Solids loading, particle size distribution and chemical composition;

o Water vapour loading;

o Toxic gas loading;

o Inerts loading.

Variations in gas load;

The basis of the scrubber design should take into consideration the peak gas loading, the minimum gas loading and the

mean gas loading in addition to corresponding variations in inert gas loading.

Depletion / saturation of scrubbing liquor;

Analysis of the reaction stoichiometry between the gas and the scrubbing liquor will give some indication of the

minimum scrubbing liquor strength at which the absorption process can occur for a recirculatory system. A methodology

must be in place that ensures replenishment of the scrubbing liquor at an appropriate point. Hence monitoring of

depletion of scrubber liquor and modelling of breakthrough concentrations is critical. Furthermore, the process may

specify a maximum concentration of absorbed gas in the scrubbing liquor at which the scrubber liquor should be

replenished.

Provision of Back-up systems;

In the vent of scrubber failure, it is sometimes possible to isolate plant and process to prevent toxic gas emission by

implementation of appropriate interlocks and control systems. However, if temporary isolation of plant and process is

unfeasible a back up system should be provided.

Control systems;

The control system for the scrubber operation should be interlocked with the plant and processes that the scrubber

services such that in the event of scrubber failure process operations can be isolated and / or suspended. The control

system should feature scrubber diagnostics that verify and indicate that the scrubber is healthy and working.

Monitoring and instrumentation;

Typical instrumentation on a toxic gas scrubbing system should include:

o Stack gas analyser;

o Scrubbing liquor flow indicator;

o Scrubbing liquor tank level indication;

o Flow indication or DP instrumentation across scrubbing fan;

o Process interlocks for event of scrubber failure.

Stack heights

The concentration of waste gases at ground level can be reduced significantly by emitting the waste gases from a process at great height, although the actual amount of pollutants released into the atmosphere will remain the same.

The basis for design begins with determination of an acceptable ground-level concentration of the pollutant or pollutants. If the waste gas is to be discharged through an existing stack, or the stack size is restricted the ground-level concentration should be determined and if it is unacceptable appropriate control measures should be adopted. Steps in the design methodology include:

For a given stack height, the effective height of the emission can be determined by employing an appropriate

plume-rise equation;

Application of atmospheric dispersion formula enables the downward path of the emission to be modelled. Various

formulae may be employed. These include:

o Bosanquet-Pearson model;

o Gaussian model employing Briggs formulae;

o Wilson model

o Pasquill-Gifford model;

o Sutton model;

o TVA model.

Various software models are available to undertake these calculations. The most widely used in the UK is the ADMS

model.

Factors affecting stack design include:

o Composition of waste gas (and changes in composition);

o Physical and chemical properties of waste gas;

o Topography (buildings, hills, lakes and rivers etc.);

o Seasonal changes in weather;

o Prevailing winds (direction and speed);

o Humidity;

o Rainfall

Flaring

Flaring may be used to destroy flammable, toxic or corrosive vapours, particularly those produced during process upsets and emergency venting.

Key design factors to ensure flare safety and performance include:

Smokeless operation;

Flame stability;

Flare size and capacity;

Thermal radiation;

Noise level;

Reliable pilot and ignition system;

Flashback protection.

The major safety issues are the latter two items. BS 5908 : 1990 recommends that permanent pilot burners should be provided with a reliable means of remote ignition. An additional means of ignition, e.g. a piccolo tube should be provided, independent of power supplies. Flare header systems should be provided with an inert gas purge sufficient to provide a positive gas flow up the stack to prevent back diffusion of air.

Forced ventilation (especially to control direction of flow and dilution)

Non-pressurised systems in which fumes and vapours are generated should have adequate ventilation to remove those fumes to a safe place. This may be a scrubber or a stack for discharge. Consideration should also be given to the venting of discharges from relief systems. Both dedicated enclosed forced ventilation systems and area forced ventilation will need to be considered.

A further purpose of ventilation is to dilute and remove the hazardous substance to such an extent that the concentration in the protected space is kept to acceptable levels. Ventilation rates are generally designed to reduce the concentration to about one quarter of these levels.

The use of forced ventilation has an impact on the area extent and classification of hazardous areas. The methodology for assessment of type and degree of ventilation is covered in British Standards. Although mainly applied inside a room or enclosed space, forced ventilation can also be applied to situations in the open air to compensate for restricted or impeded natural ventilation due to obstacles.

Spot ventilation

General ventilation is applied to the room or compartment as a whole (see forced ventilation above). It may also be applied locally to the plant or process as spot or local ventilation. Basic design principles include:

Fume extraction inlet should be as close to the source of gas or vapour as possible;

The rate of extraction of fume should be greater than or equal to the rate of generation of fume in the particular

area;

Air supply inlets should be located to provide ventilation for other regions that may become contaminated;

General air movement should be from areas surrounding the emission source, across the contaminated zone and

thence through the fume extraction inlet;

A velocity of 0.5 to 2 m/s is generally recommended (Lees 25.7). Trunking is often used to allow operators to

move the point of extraction as required.

Special cases: chlorine, Lpg storage

In the event of overpressure in liquid chlorine storage tanks, the discharge line from the pressure relief system should enter a closed expansion vessel with a capacity of nominally 10% of the largest storage vessel. This expansion vessel should then be manually relieved at a

controlled rate to an absorption system. Further information concerning bulk chlorine storage relief systems is provided in HS(G)28.

In the event of overpressure of LPG storage tanks, the tank should be fitted with a pressure relief valve connected directly to the vapour space. Underground or mounded vessels affect full flow capacity of pressure relief valves. Further information concerning LPG storage relief systems is provided in LPGA Cop 1.

In the event of overpressure in anhydrous ammonia storage tanks, the tank should be protected by a relief system fitted with at least two pressure relief valves should be fitted. Further information concerning anhydrous ammonia storage relief systems is provided in HS(G)30.

What is a Disaster?A disaster is a natural or civil emergency that substantially damages or impairs a community. Examples of natural disasters are hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and earthquakes. Other disasters that may affect school districts are fires, safety incidents such as shootings, and terrorist attacks, among others.

HistoryHurricane Katrina was the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes in American history.

Katrina made its second landfall as a Category 3 storm on the morning of August 29, 2005 in southeast Louisiana.

Levees separating Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans, Louisiana were breached by the surge, ultimately flooding roughly 80% of the city and many areas of neighboring parishes. Severe wind damage was reported well inland.

Hurricane Rita made landfall on September 24, 2005 in far southwestern Louisiana as a Category 3 hurricane. Storm surge caused extensive damage along the Louisiana and extreme southeastern Texas coasts and completely destroyed some coastal communities. The storm killed seven people directly; many others died in evacuations and from indirect effects.

Take time to visit the best practices ideas that are provided for you so that your district can learn from experiences of the past. And if you have ideas of your own, based on experiences you've had, contact us and let us know about your "best practices."

Disaster PlanningAn ever-growing repertoire of physical disasters (9/11, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tornados) and human and reputational crises (Duke LaCrosse, Ohio U. privacy data leaks, unexpected deaths of presidents and chancellors) remind us that higher education institutions regularly face challenging, unexpected circumstances with an intensity well beyond that found in routine operations.

Many disaster and crisis communications plans exist in departmental silos, often well below the attention of individuals with positions of responsibility with regard to the mission and strategic vision of the institution. With the growing popular understanding of the positive roles colleges and universities play in our society, those entrusted with the stewardship of campuses need to work toward the goal of linking all such plans to the institution's strategic planning.

Related terms: crisis management, disaster mitigation, emergency planning, risk analysis, crisis communications

Emergency management Emergency management is the generic name of an interdisciplinary field dealing with the strategic organizational management processes used to protect critical assets of an organization from hazard risks that can cause events like disasters or catastrophes and to ensure the continuance of the organization within their planned lifetime.[1]

Overview

Emergencies, Disasters, and Catastrophes are not gradients, they are separate, distinct problems that require distinct strategies of response[citation needed]. Disasters are events distinguished from everyday emergencies by four factors: Organizations are forced into more and different kinds of interactions than normal; Organizations lose some of their normal autonomy; Performance standards change, and; More coordinated public sector/private sector relationships are required.[2]

Catastrophes are distinct from disasters in that: Most or all of the community built structure is heavily impacted; Local officials are unable to undertake their usual work roles; Most, if not all, of the everyday community functions are sharply and simultaneously interrupted, and; Help from nearby communities cannot be provided.[3]

Assets are categorized as either living things, non-living things, cultural or economic. Hazards are categorized by their cause, either natural or human-made. The entire strategic management process is divided into four fields to aid in identification of the processes. The four fields normally deal with risk reduction, preparing resources to respond to the hazard, responding to the actual damage caused by the hazard and limiting further damage (e.g., emergency evacuation, quarantine, mass decontamination, etc.), and returning as close as possible to the state before the hazard incident. The field occurs in both the public and private sector, sharing the same processes, but with different focuses.

Emergency Management is a strategic process, and not a tactical process, thus it usually resides at the Executive level in an organization. It normally has no direct power, but serves as an advisory or coordinating function to ensure that all parts of an organization are focused on the common goal. Effective Emergency Management relies on a thorough integration of emergency plans at all levels of the organization, and an understanding that the lowest levels of the organization are responsible for managing the emergency and getting additional resources and assistance from the upper levels.

The most senior person in the organization administering the program is normally called an Emergency Manager, or a derived form based upon the term used in the field (e.g. Business Continuity Manager).

Fields that are under this definition include:

Civil Defense (used in the United States during the Cold War, focusing on protection from nuclear attack)

Civil Protection (widely used with the European Union)

Crisis Management (emphasizes the political and security dimension rather than measure to satisfy the immediate needs of the civilian population).[4]

Disaster Risk Reduction (focus on the mitigation and preparedness aspects of the emergency cycle.) (see Preparedness below)

Homeland Security (used in the United States, focusing on preventing terrorism)

Business Continuity and Business Continuity Planning (focused on ensuring a continuous upward trend of income)

Continuity of Government

[edit] Phases and professional activities

A graphic representation of the four phases in emergency management.

The nature of management depends on local economic and social conditions. Some disaster relief experts such as Fred Cuny have noted that in a sense the only real disasters are economic.[5] Experts, such as Cuny, have long noted that the cycle of Emergency Management must include long-term work on infrastructure, public awareness, and even human justice issues. The process of Emergency Management involves four phases: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.

Recently the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA have adopted the terms "resilience" and "prevention" as part of the paradigm of EM. The latter term was mandated by PKEMA 2006 as statute enacted in October 2006 and made effective March 31, 2007. The two terms definitions do not fit easily as separate phases. Prevention is 100% mitigation, by

definition.[6] Resilience describes the goal of the four phases: an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.[7]

[edit] Mitigation

Mitigation efforts are attempts to prevent hazards from developing into disasters altogether or to reduce the effects of disasters. Mitigation is the effort to reduce loss of life and property by lessening the impact of disasters. This is achieved through risk analysis, which results in information that provides a foundation for mitigation activities that reduce risk, and flood insurance that protects financial investment,.[8] The mitigation phase differs from the other phases in that it focuses on long-term measures for reducing or eliminating risk.[1] The implementation of mitigation strategies is a part of the recovery process if applied after a disaster occurs.[1]

Mitigation measures can be structural or non-structural. Structural measures use technological solutions like flood levees and building retrofitting for earthquakes. Non-structural measures include legislation, land-use planning (e.g. the designation of non-essential land like parks to be used as flood zones), and insurance.[9]

Mitigation is the most cost-efficient method for reducing the effect of hazards although not always the most suitable. Mitigation includes providing regulations regarding evacuation, sanctions against those who refuse to obey the regulations (such as mandatory evacuations), and communication of risks to the public.[10] Some structural mitigation measures may harm the ecosystem.

A precursor to mitigation is the identification of risks. Physical risk assessment refers to identifying and evaluating hazards.[1] The hazard-specific risk ( ) combines a hazard's probability and effects. The equation below states that the hazard multiplied by the populations’ vulnerability to that hazard produces a risk Catastrophe modeling. The higher the risk, the more urgent that the vulnerabilities to the hazard are targeted by mitigation and preparedness. If, however, there is no vulnerability then there will be no risk, e.g. an earthquake occurring in a desert where nobody lives.

Preparedness

Preparedness is how we change behavior to limit the impact of disaster events on people.[11] Preparedness is a continuous cycle of planning, managing, organizing, training, equipping, exercising, creating, evaluating, monitoring and improving activities to ensure effective coordination and the enhancement of capabilities of concerned organizations to prevent, protect against, respond to, recover from, create resources and mitigate the effects of natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters.[12]

In the preparedness phase, emergency managers develop plans of action carefully to manage and counter their risks and take action to build the necessary capabilities needed to implement such plans. Common preparedness measures include:

communication plans with easily understandable terminology and methods.

proper maintenance and training of emergency services, including mass human resources such as community emergency response teams.

development and exercise of emergency population warning methods combined with emergency shelters and evacuation plans.

implement and maintain an emergency communication system that can help identify the nature of an emergency and provide instructions when needed.

stockpiling , inventory, streamline foods supplies, and maintain other disaster supplies and equipment.[13]

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), recommends the following for a disaster preparedness kit: one gallon of water per person per day for three days, non-perishable food for each person for three days, battery powered or hand crank radio and extra batteries, flashlights for each person and extra batteries, first aid kit, whistle, filter mask or a cotton t-shirt for each person, moist towlettes, garbage bags, and plastic ties, wrench or pliers, manual can opener, plastic sheeting and duct tape, important family documents, daily prescription medicine, other things include diapers/formula for babies and special need items. Typically a three day supply of food and water is the minimum recommendation, having a larger supply means longer survival (Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA), n.d.). Small comfort items can be added like a few toys for children, a candy bar, or a book to read. These small items that do not take up much space can come in handy to increase moods during survival time.

develop organizations of trained volunteers among civilian populations. Professional emergency workers are rapidly overwhelmed in mass emergencies so trained, organized, responsible volunteers are extremely valuable. Organizations like Community Emergency Response Teams and the Red Cross are ready sources of trained volunteers. The latter's emergency management system has gotten high ratings from both California, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Another aspect of preparedness is casualty prediction, the study of how many deaths or injuries to expect for a given kind of event. This gives planners an idea of what resources need to be in place to respond to a particular kind of event.

Emergency Managers in the planning phase should be flexible, and all encompassing – carefully recognizing the risks and exposures of their respective regions and employing unconventional, and atypical means of support. Depending on the region – municipal, or private sector emergency services can rapidly be depleted and heavily taxed. Non-governmental organizations that offer desired resources, i.e., transportation of displaced home-owners to be conducted by local school district buses, evacuation of flood victims to be performed by mutual aide agreements between fire departments and rescue squads, should be identified early in planning stages, and practiced with regularity.

Federal Emergency Management Agency. Build-a-kit. Retrieved on January 18, 2012 from http://www.ready.gov/build-a-kit.

[edit] Response

The response phase includes the mobilization of the necessary emergency services and first responders in the disaster area. This is likely to include a first wave of core emergency services, such as firefighters, police and ambulance crews. When conducted as a military

operation, it is termed Disaster Relief Operation (DRO) and can be a follow-up to a Non-combatant evacuation operation (NEO). They may be supported by a number of secondary emergency services, such as specialist rescue teams.

A well rehearsed emergency plan developed as part of the preparedness phase enables efficient coordination of rescue. Where required, search and rescue efforts commence at an early stage. Depending on injuries sustained by the victim, outside temperature, and victim access to air and water, the vast majority of those affected by a disaster will die within 72 hours after impact.[14]

A U.S. Coast Guardsman searches for survivors in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

LA County search and rescue team pulls a Haitian woman from earthquake debris after the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Organizational response to any significant disaster – natural or terrorist-borne – is based on existing emergency management organizational systems and processes: the Federal Response Plan (FRP) and the Incident Command System (ICS). These systems are solidified through the principles of Unified Command (UC) and Mutual Aid (MA)

There is a need for both discipline (structure, doctrine, process) and agility (creativity, improvisation, adaptability) in responding to a disaster.[15] There is also the need to onboard and build an effective leadership team quickly to coordinate and manage efforts as they grow beyond first responders. The leader and team must formulate and implement a disciplined, iterative set of response plans, allowing initial coordinated responses that are vaguely right, adapting to new information and changes in circumstances as they arise.[16]

Recovery

The aim of the recovery phase is to restore the affected area to its previous state. It differs from the response phase in its focus; recovery efforts are concerned with issues and decisions that must be made after immediate needs are addressed.[1] Recovery efforts are primarily concerned with actions that involve rebuilding destroyed property, re-employment, and the repair of other essential infrastructure.[1]

Efforts should be made to "build back better", aiming to reduce the pre-disaster risks inherent in the community and infrastructure.[17] An important aspect of effective recovery efforts is taking advantage of a ‘window of opportunity’[18] for the implementation of mitigative measures that might otherwise be unpopular. Citizens of the affected area are more likely to accept more mitigative changes when a recent disaster is in fresh memory.

In the United States, the National Response Plan dictates how the resources provided by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 will be used in recovery efforts.[1] It is the Federal government that often provides the most technical and financial assistance for recovery efforts in the United States.[1]

Phases and personal activities

Mitigation

Personal mitigation is mainly about knowing and avoiding unnecessary risks. This includes an assessment of possible risks to personal/family health and to personal property.

One example of mitigation would be to avoid buying property that is exposed to hazards, e.g., in a flood plain, in areas of subsidence or landslides. Home owners may not be aware of a property being exposed to a hazard until it strikes. However, specialists can be hired to conduct risk identification and assessment surveys. Purchase of insurance covering the most prominent identified risks is a common measure.

Personal structural mitigation in earthquake prone areas includes installation of an Earthquake Valve to instantly shut off the natural gas supply to a property, seismic retrofits of property and the securing of items inside a building to enhance household seismic safety. The latter may include the mounting of furniture, refrigerators, water heaters and breakables to the walls, and the addition of cabinet latches. In flood prone areas houses can be built on poles/stilts, as in much of southern Asia. In areas prone to prolonged electricity black-outs installation of a generator would be an example of an optimal structural mitigation measure. The construction of storm cellars and fallout shelters are further examples of personal mitigative actions.

Mitigation involves Structural and Non-structural measures taken to limit the impact of disasters. Structural mitigation are actions that change the characteristics of a building or its surrounding, examples include shelters, windows shutters, clearing forest around the house. Non structural mitigation on personal level mainly takes the form of insurance or simply moving house to a safer area.

[edit] Preparedness

Airport emergency preparedness exercise.

Personal preparedness focuses on preparing equipment and procedures for use when a disaster occurs, i.e., planning. Preparedness measures can take many forms including the construction of shelters, implementation of an emergency communication system, installation of warning devices, creation of back-up life-line services (e.g., power, water, sewage), and rehearsing evacuation plans.

Two simple measures can help prepare the individual for sitting out the event or evacuating, as necessary. For evacuation, a disaster supplies kit may be prepared and for sheltering purposes a stockpile of supplies may be created. The preparation of a survival kit such as a "72-hour kit", is often advocated by authorities. These kits may include food, medicine, flashlights, candles and money. Also, putting valuable items in safe area is also recommended.

Response

The response phase of an emergency may commence with search and rescue but in all cases the focus will quickly turn to fulfilling the basic humanitarian needs of the affected population. This assistance may be provided by national or international agencies and organisations. Effective coordination of disaster assistance is often crucial, particularly when many organizations respond and local emergency management agency (LEMA) capacity has been exceeded by the demand or diminished by the disaster itself.

On a personal level the response can take the shape either of a shelter in place or an evacuation. In a shelter-in-place scenario, a family would be prepared to fend for themselves in their home for many days without any form of outside support. In an evacuation, a family leaves the area by automobile or other mode of transportation, taking with them the maximum amount of supplies they can carry, possibly including a tent for shelter. If mechanical transportation is not available, evacuation on foot would ideally include carrying at least three days of supplies and rain-tight bedding, a tarpaulin and a bedroll of blankets being the minimum.

Recovery

The recovery phase starts after the immediate threat to human life has subsided. During reconstruction it is recommended to consider the location or construction material of the property.

The most extreme home confinement scenarios include war, famine and severe epidemics and may last a year or more. Then recovery will take place inside the home. Planners for these events usually buy bulk foods and appropriate storage and preparation equipment, and eat the food as part of normal life. A simple balanced diet can be constructed from vitamin pills, whole-meal wheat, beans, dried milk, corn, and cooking oil.[19] One should add vegetables, fruits, spices and meats, both prepared and fresh-gardened, when possible.

As a profession

Emergency managers are trained in a wide variety of disciplines that support them throughout the emergency life-cycle. Professional emergency managers can focus on government and community preparedness (Continuity of Operations/Continuity of Government Planning), or private business preparedness (Business Continuity Management Planning). Training is provided by local, state, federal and private organizations and ranges from public information and media relations to high-level incident command and tactical skills such as studying a terrorist bombing site or controlling an emergency scene.

In the past, the field of emergency management has been populated mostly by people with a military or first responder background. Currently, the population in the field has become more diverse, with many experts coming from a variety of backgrounds without military or first responder history. Educational opportunities are increasing for those seeking undergraduate and graduate degrees in emergency management or a related field. There are over 180 schools in the US with emergency management-related programs, but only one doctoral program specifically in emergency management.[20]

Professional certifications such as Certified Emergency Manager (CEM)[21] and Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP) are becoming more common as the need for high professional standards is recognized by the emergency management community, especially in the United States. Professional emergency management organizations should also be utilized by professional in this field. These organizations allow for professional networking and the sharing of information related to emergency management. The National Emergency Management Association and the International Association of Emergency Managers are two examples of these professional organizations.

Principles of Emergency Management

In 2007, Dr. Wayne Blanchard of FEMA’s Emergency Management Higher Education Project, at the direction of Dr. Cortez Lawrence, Superintendent of FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute, convened a working group of emergency management practitioners and academics to consider principles of emergency management. This project was prompted by the realization that while numerous books, articles and papers referred to “principles of emergency management,” nowhere in the vast array of literature on the subject was there an agreed-upon definition of what these principles were. The group agreed on eight principles

that will be used to guide the development of a doctrine of emergency management. The summary provided below lists these eight principles and provides a brief description of each.

Principles: Emergency management must be:

1. Comprehensive – emergency managers consider and take into account all hazards, all phases, all stakeholders and all impacts relevant to disasters.

2. Progressive – emergency managers anticipate future disasters and take preventive and preparatory measures to build disaster-resistant and disaster-resilient communities.

3. Risk-driven – emergency managers use sound risk management principles (hazard identification, risk analysis, and impact analysis) in assigning priorities and resources.

4. Integrated – emergency managers ensure unity of effort among all levels of government and all elements of a community.

5. Collaborative – emergency managers create and sustain broad and sincere relationships among individuals and organizations to encourage trust, advocate a team atmosphere, build consensus, and facilitate communication.

6. Coordinated – emergency managers synchronize the activities of all relevant stakeholders to achieve a common purpose.

7. Flexible – emergency managers use creative and innovative approaches in solving disaster challenges.

8. Professional – emergency managers value a science and knowledge-based approach; based on education, training, experience, ethical practice, public stewardship and continuous improvement.

A fuller description of these principles can be found at Principles of Emergency Management

Tools

In recent years the continuity feature of emergency management has resulted in a new concept, Emergency Management Information Systems (EMIS). For continuity and interoperability between emergency management stakeholders, EMIS supports the emergency management process by providing an infrastructure that integrates emergency plans at all levels of government and non-government involvement and by utilizing the management of all related resources (including human and other resources) for all four phases of emergencies. In the healthcare field, hospitals utilize HICS (Hospital Incident Command System) which provides structure and organization in a clearly defined chain of command with set responsibilities for each division.[citation needed]

Within other professions

Practitioners in emergency management (disaster preparedness) come from an increasing variety of backgrounds as the field matures. Professionals from memory institutions (e.g., museums, historical societies, libraries, and archives) are dedicated to preserving cultural heritage—objects and records contained in their collections. This has been an increasingly major component within these field as a result of the heightened awareness following the September 11 attacks in 2001, the hurricanes in 2005, and the collapse of the Cologne Archives.

To increase the opportunity for a successful recovery of valuable records, a well-established and thoroughly tested plan must be developed. This plan must not be overly complex, but rather emphasize simplicity in order to aid in response and recovery. As an example of the simplicity, employees should perform similar tasks in the response and recovery phase that they perform under normal conditions. It should also include mitigation strategies such as the installation of sprinklers within the institution. This task requires the cooperation of a well-organized committee led by an experienced chairperson.[22] Professional associations schedule regular workshops and hold focus sessions at annual conferences to keep individuals up to date with tools and resources in practice in order to minimize risk and maximize recovery.

[edit] Tools

The joint efforts of professional associations and cultural heritage institutions have resulted in the development of a variety of different tools to assist professionals in preparing disaster and recovery plans. In many cases, these tools are made available to external users. Also frequently available on websites are plan templates created by existing organizations, which may be helpful to any committee or group preparing a disaster plan or updating an existing plan. While each organization will need to formulate plans and tools which meet their own specific needs, there are some examples of such tools that might represent useful starting points in the planning process.

In 2009, the US Agency for International Development created a web-based tool for estimating populations impacted by disasters. Called Population Explorer[23] the tool uses Landscan population data, developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, to distribute population at a resolution 1 km2 for all countries in the world. Used by USAID's FEWS NET Project to estimate populations vulnerable and or impacted by food insecurity, Population Explorer is gaining wide use in a range of emergency analysis and response actions, including estimating populations impacted by floods in Central America and a Pacific Ocean Tsunami event in 2009.

In 2007, a checklist for veterinarians pondering participation in emergency response was published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, it had two sections of questions for a professional to ask themselves before assisting with an emergency:

Absolute requirements for participation:

Have I chosen to participate? Have I taken ICS training?

Have I taken other required background courses?

Have I made arrangements with my practice to deploy?

Have I made arrangements with my family?

Incident Participation:

Have I been invited to participate? Are my skill sets a match for the mission?

Can I access just-in-time training to refresh skills or acquire needed new skills?

Is this a self-support mission?

Do I have supplies needed for three to five days of self support?

While written for veterinarians, this checklist is applicable for any professional to consider before assisting with an emergency.[24]

International organizations

International Association of Emergency Managers

The International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to promoting the goals of saving lives and protecting property during emergencies and disasters. The mission of IAEM is to serve its members by providing information, networking and professional opportunities, and to advance the emergency management profession.

It currently has seven Councils around the World: Asia,[25] Canada,[26] Europa,[27] International,[28] Oceania,[29] Student[30] and USA.[31]

The Air Force Emergency Management Association (www.af-em.org, www.3e9x1.com, and www.afema.org), affiliated by membership with the IAEM, provides emergency management information and networking for US Air Force Emergency Managers.

Red Cross/Red Crescent

National Red Cross/Red Crescent societies often have pivotal roles in responding to emergencies. Additionally, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC, or "The Federation") may deploy assessment teams, e.g.[32] Field Assessment and Coordination Team – (FACT) to the affected country if requested by the national Red Cross or Red Crescent Society. After having assessed the needs Emergency Response Units (ERUs)[33] may be deployed to the affected country or region. They are specialized in the response component of the emergency management framework.

United Nations

Within the United Nations system responsibility for emergency response rests with the Resident Coordinator within the affected country. However, in practice international response will be coordinated, if requested by the affected country’s government, by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA), by deploying a UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team.

[edit] World Bank

Since 1980, the World Bank has approved more than 500 operations related to disaster management, amounting to more than US$40 billion. These include post-disaster reconstruction projects, as well as projects with components aimed at preventing and mitigating disaster impacts, in countries such as Argentina, Bangladesh, Colombia, Haiti, India, Mexico, Turkey and Vietnam to name only a few.[34]

Common areas of focus for prevention and mitigation projects include forest fire prevention measures, such as early warning measures and education campaigns to discourage farmers from slash and burn agriculture that ignites forest fires; early-warning systems for hurricanes; flood prevention mechanisms, ranging from shore protection and terracing in rural areas to adaptation of production; and earthquake-prone construction.[35]

In a joint venture with Columbia University under the umbrella of the ProVention Consortium the World Bank has established a Global Risk Analysis of Natural Disaster Hotspots.[36]

In June 2006, the World Bank established the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), a longer term partnership with other aid donors to reduce disaster losses by mainstreaming disaster risk reduction in development, in support of the Hyogo Framework of Action. The facility helps developing countries fund development projects and programs that enhance local capacities for disaster prevention and emergency preparedness.[37]

[edit] European Union

Since 2001, the EU adopted Community Mechanism for Civil Protection which started to play a significant role on the global scene. Mechanism's main role is to facilitate co-operation in civil protection assistance interventions in the event of major emergencies which may require urgent response actions. This applies also to situations where there may be an imminent threat of such major emergencies.

The heart of the Mechanism is the Monitoring and Information Centre. It is part of Directorate-General for Humanitarian Aid & Civil Protection of the European Commission and accessible 24 hours a day. It gives countries access to a platform, to a one-stop-shop of civil protection means available amongst the all the participating states. Any country inside or outside the Union affected by a major disaster can make an appeal for assistance through the MIC. It acts as a communication hub at headquarters level between participating states, the affected country and despatched field experts. It also provides useful and updated information on the actual status of an ongoing emergency.[38]

International Recovery Platform

The International Recovery Platform (IRP) was conceived at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR) in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan in January 2005. As a thematic platform of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) system, IRP is a key pillar for the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005–2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters, a global plan for disaster risk reduction for the decade adopted by 168 governments at the WCDR.

The key role of IRP is to identify gaps and constraints experienced in post disaster recovery and to serve as a catalyst for the development of tools, resources, and capacity for resilient recovery. IRP aims to be an international source of knowledge on good recovery practice.[39]

[edit] Sparkrelief.org

Active in disaster preparedness and in disaster relief, Sparkrelief empowers communities to provide disaster relief through its online platform, which allows users both to offer and find help. Users are able to offer their homes, hotels, or shelters up on the site, which disaster-stricken users are then able to search for based on personal preferences. Sparkrelief has thus far deployed on multiple disasters around the globe, gaining momentum specifically after 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.[40]

[edit] National organizations

[edit] Australia

Natural disasters are part of life in Australia. Drought occurs on average every 3 out of 10 years and associated heatwaves have killed more Australians than any other type of natural disaster in the 20th century. Flooding is historically the most costly disaster with average losses estimated at $400 Million a year. It’s worth noting that the flood of 1990 covered an area larger than Germany.[41]

Fortunately, Australia is a resilient nation with all levels of government as well as business and community based Non Government Organisations (NGO’s) playing a role in the development of safer communities. This wasn’t always the case.

History

Prior to the late 1930s disaster affected communities made do as best they could but in 1938 Australia followed the United Kingdom in establishing an Air Raid Precautions (ARP) Organisation. This was done in response to Giulio Douhet’s theories on aerial warfare that “the bombers will always get through”.

ARP duties included policing blackouts, fire guard messengers, emergency first response until relieved by the emergency and rescue services, as they were trained in basic fire fighting and first aid. They also helped bombed out house holders and assisted the police with crowd control. The Federal Government held the view that the Constitution of Australia gave it the authority to wage war in defence of the nation but the responsibility for the civil protection measures in time of war belonged to its constituent states.

After the Second World War the ARP was substantially reduced but by 1948 public protection issues had again reappeared, centred on the Cold War and the threat posed by nuclear weapons. By 1954 the ARP was disbanded and the State, Territory and Federal Governments agreed to a new rejuvenated “Civil Defence” organisation, with the Federal government providing a supporting role.

During the 50’s and 60’s the Australian community experienced a number of natural disasters and manmade crises. As a public safety asset, these state based Civil Defence organisations were regularly but not always called upon to assist. This changed on 7 February 1967 when the Black Tuesday bushfires swept through the City of Hobart with devastating consequences. The Civil Defence teams had been called out and responded well. The 1967 Tasmanian fires were a seminal point in the development of structured emergency management in Australia. During the early 1970s each state progressively remodelled their

Civil Defence organisations to realign their focus away from the protection of the community in wartime to protection of the community in times of disaster. This transformation was also reflected in a name change from Civil Defence to State Emergency Service (SES). In 1974, the Federal Government established the Natural Disaster Organisation (NDO) within the Department of Defence. This was a support organisation only able to provide a coordination and training role. It did not control the state organisations, manage the response or own the resources required to respond effectively to a crisis.

In January 1993 the NDO was relaunched as Emergency Management Australia (EMA). To recognise the civil, community protection basis it was also transferred from the Department of Defence to the Attorney General’s Department.[42]

EMA

The EMA and the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are not equivalent organisations although they do share a common purpose and similar responsibilities. EMA is the peak body charged with reducing the impact of natural and non-natural disasters in Australia. These are defined as;[41]

Natural

1. Meteorological Drought, heatwaves, bushfires,storms, cyclones and tornadoes.

2. Geological Earthquake, landslides and volcanoes.

3. Biological Human diseases pandemics,vermin, insect and animal plagues exotic animal diseases foot and mouth disease, anthrax, food crop diseases.

4. Extraterrestrial Asteroids and meteorites.

Non – Natural

1. Human caused Major crime, terrorism, error, riot crowd crushes, shooting massacres.

2. Technological Transport, mining, hazardous material, explosions, urban fire,bridge collapse, dam failure, nuclear accidents, and space junk impact.

In 1995 AS NZS 4360:1995, a standard on risk management was produced (since replaced by AS NZS 31000: 2009). The following year EMA recommended to the State Governments that risk management principles now be applied to natural emergency management principles and practises. EMA maintains national level disaster plans for Australia and the South West Pacific but with its limited authority, still only enhances the capabilities of the States and Territories through support, coordination, training and the provision of extra resources when requested. This role has recently been expanded to address the risk of terrorism, climate change, pandemics and the increasing need to provide international crisis assistance. The latter is co-opted through AusAID which is part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Currently, EMA consists of 4 branches as follows;

1. Security Coordination Branch

2. Crisis Coordination Branch

3. Crisis Support Branch

4. Natural Disaster Recovery Program Branch.

States and Territories

EMA operates within a climate of cooperative and constructive dialogue with the States and Territories who operate their own Disaster Acts. There is no federal emergency management legislation. The State and Territory Disaster Acts are administered in most cases by their individual Ministers for Emergency Services who control the peak government agency charged with emergency management at State or Territory level.[43] As each State faces different risks (i.e. fires in the south and floods in the north) their crisis response and management arrangements contain subtle differences. In Queensland, the state is divided into 23 District Disaster Management Groups (DDMG) who liaise with EMQ. Its membership is made up of District Police Commanders,regional government departments,government owned corporations, and NGO's. It offers a middle management interface by providing State government assistance, when requested by Local Disaster Management Groups (LDMG).[44]

Local Government

A fundamental concept in Australia’s emergency management philosophy is sustainability and resilience at a local level. In the state of Queensland, each local Shire, Town, or City Council fund their own community based, volunteer staffed, SES units that report to the peak body which is Emergency Management Queensland (EMQ). There are 73 units in total and each is made up of a single or multiple sub groups, depending on the size of the municipal authority. At this level, LDMG's are established and chaired by the Mayor or other senior elected member of the council.[45]

State Emergency Service

There are a total of 339 SES groups in Queensland. Each group is managed by a Group Leader, qualified in emergency management and its volunteer members are equipped, uniformed, trained and lead to a common standard recommended by EMA and enforced by the authority of EMQ. These groups maintain interoperability with each other and interstate SES groups.

Concepts and Principles

Australia’s emergency management processes embrace the concept of the prepared community. This is achieved through the application of the following;

1. The Australasian Inter-Service Incident Management System (AIIMS.) This is an incident command system, that is robust, scalable and applicable to all manner of crises. The successful management of disasters is achieved by having various divisions (Incident Controller, Logistics, Operations, Planning, Intelligence and Public Information) with appointed leaders responsible for handling specific aspects associated with the crises, reporting to a single Incident C ontroller. This system may be used for the effective coordination of resources in response to any incident or event.

2. Comprehensive Approach. This includes the emergency management phases of Preparation, Prevention, Response and Recovery (PPRR). These are not distinct linear segments, independent of each other but can overlap and run concurrently. It embraces the view that a prepared community is a safer community.

3. All Hazards Approach. This describes arrangements managing the wide range of possible outcomes of crises, as many risks cause similar outcomes that require similar responses.

4. Integrated or All Agencies Approach. At a local community level this includes involvement of government agencies such as the Department of Communities, Bureau of Meteorology, local councils, emergency services such as police, fire, ambulance and SES, as well as NGO’s such as community groups including local church and religious organisations and school parent and citizen committees, volunteer service organisations and media groups, particularly local radio. It embraces the view that working together, informed, alert, active citizens can do much to help themselves and their community.

5. The Bottom Up Approach. This firmly places the leadership of the emergency management processes in the hands of the controller, on the ground, confronting the disaster.[46]

Business

Disasters are just as destructive to business as they are to communities. The recommended structure for an emergency control organisation in a workplace is laid down in AS NZS 3745:2010 Planning for Emergencies in Facilities. While only a guide, this document is reinforced by Workplace Health and Safety Legislation.[47] This places the responsibility of the person in charge of a workplace to ensure the safety of everyone in the workplace. In the States and Territories this is reinforced by further statute and common law. In Queensland, the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service undertake random but regular audits of workplaces to ensure compliance. In addition, well managed businesses should maintain and test their own business continuity plans in accordance with AS/NZS 5050:2010 - Business Continuity - managing Disruption Related Risk. Again this document is only a guide but this work should come under governance as it enhances an organisation’s resilience.

Understanding the Risk

In 2009, The Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters reported that Australia came in at 10th place on the list of countries with the highest number of reported natural disasters during that year.[48] With this understanding of the risk it confronts, Australia maintains a state of preparedness and is constantly advancing its emergency management processes through the resilience improvement cycle.[49]

Canada

Public Safety Canada is Canada’s national emergency management agency. Each province is required to have legislation in place for dealing with emergencies, as well as establish their own emergency management agencies, typically called an "Emergency Measures Organization" (EMO), which functions as the primary liaison with the municipal and federal level.

Public Safety Canada coordinates and supports the efforts of federal organizations ensuring national security and the safety of Canadians. They also work with other levels of government, first responders, community groups, the private sector (operators of critical infrastructure) and other nations.

Public Safety Canada’s work is based on a wide range of policies and legislation through the Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Act which defines the powers, duties and functions of PS are outlined. Other acts are specific to fields such as corrections, emergency management, law enforcement, and national security.

Germany

In Germany the Federal Government controls the German Katastrophenschutz (disaster relief) and Zivilschutz (civil protection) programs. The local units of German fire department and the Technisches Hilfswerk (Federal Agency for Technical Relief, THW) are part of these programs. The German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr), the German Federal Police and the 16 state police forces (Länderpolizei) all have been deployed for disaster relief operations.

Besides the German Red Cross[citation needed], humanitarian help is dispensed by the Johanniter-Unfallhilfe,[citation needed] the German equivalent of the St. John Ambulance, the Malteser-Hilfsdienst,[citation needed] the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund,[citation needed] and other private Organization, to cite the largest relief organisation that are equipped for large-scale emergencies. As of 2006, there is a joint course at the University of Bonn leading to the degree "Master in Disaster Prevention and Risk Governance"[50]

India

The role of emergency management in India falls to National Disaster Management Authority of India, a government agency subordinate to the Ministry of Home Affairs. In recent years there has been a shift in emphasis from response and recovery to strategic risk management and reduction, and from a government-centered approach to decentralized community participation. The Ministry of Science and Technology.headed by Dr Karan Rawat, supports an internal agency that facilitates research by bringing the academic knowledge and expertise of earth scientists to emergency management.

A group representing a public/private has recently been formed by the Government of India. It is funded primarily by a large India-based computer company and aimed at improving the general response of communities to emergencies, in addition to those incidents which might be described as disasters. Some of the groups' early efforts involve the provision of emergency management training for first responders (a first in India), the creation of a single emergency telephone number, and the establishment of standards for EMS staff, equipment, and training. It operates in three states, though efforts are being made in making this a nation-wide effective group.

National Tribal Emergency Management Council

The National Tribal Emergency Management Council (NTEMC) is a non-profit educational organization developed for the purpose of bringing Tribal emergency management organizations from around the Nation together to share information and best practices and to discuss public safety, public health, emergency management and homeland security issues

affecting those in Indian Country. NTEMC facilitates networking and professional capacity building opportunities for our member Tribal organizations.

To best facilitate the formation and foundation of this organization, NTEMC is organized into Regions, based on the FEMA system of 10 Regions. This organization was founded by the Northwest Tribal Emergency Management Council (NWTEMC), a consortium of 29 Tribal Nations and Villages in Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Alaska.

The Netherlands

In the Netherlands the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations is responsible for emergency preparedness en emergency management on national level and operates a national crisis centre (NCC) The country is divided in 25 safety regions (veiligheidsregio) Each safety region is covered by three services police fire and ambulance All regions operate according to the Coordinated Regional Incident Management system Other services such as the Ministry of Defence water board(s) Rijkswaterstaat etc. can have an active role in the emergency management process

[edit] New Zealand

In New Zealand, responsibility for emergency management moves from local to national depending on the nature of the emergency or risk reduction programme. A severe storm may be manageable within a particular area, whereas a national public education campaign will be directed by central government. Within each region, local governments are unified into 16 Civil Defence Emergency Management Groups (CDEMGs).

Every CDEMG is responsible for ensuring that local emergency management is robust as possible. As local arrangements are overwhelmed by an emergency, pre-existing mutual-support arrangements are activated. As warranted, central government has the authority to coordinate the response through the National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC), operated by the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management (MCDEM). These structures are defined by regulation,[51] and best explained in The Guide to the National Civil Defence Emergency Management Plan 2006, roughly equivalent to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Response Framework.

Terminology

New Zealand uses unique terminology for emergency management to the rest of the English-speaking world.

4Rs is a term used to describe the emergency management cycle locally. In New Zealand the four phases are known as:[52]

Reduction = Mitigation Readiness = Preparedness

Response

Recovery

Emergency management is rarely used locally; many government publications retain usage of the term civil defence.[53] For example, the Minister of Civil Defence is responsible for central government's emergency management agency, MCDEM. Civil Defence Emergency Management is a term in its own right. Often abbreviated as CDEM, it is defined by statute as the application of knowledge to prevent harm from disasters.[54]

Disaster very rarely appears in official publications. In a New Zealand context, the terms emergency and incident usually appear when speaking about disasters in general.[55] When describing an emergency that has had a response from the authorities, the term event is also used. For example, publications refer to the “Canterbury Snow Event 2002”[56]

[edit] Pakistan

Disaster management in Pakistan basically revolves around flood disasters with a primary focus on rescue and relief. After each disaster episode the government incurs considerable expenditure directed at rescue, relief and rehabilitation. Within disaster management bodies in Pakistan, there is a dearth of knowledge and information about hazard identification, risk assessment and management, and linkages between livelihoods and disaster preparedness. Disaster management policy responses are not generally influenced by methods and tools for cost-effective and sustainable interventions. There are no long-term, inclusive and coherent institutional arrangements to address disaster issues with a long-term vision. Disasters are viewed in isolation from the processes of mainstream development and poverty alleviation planning. For example, disaster management, development planning and environmental management institutions operate in isolation and integrated planning between these sectors is almost lacking. Absence of a central authority for integrated disaster management and lack of coordination within and between disaster related organizations is responsible for effective and efficient disaster management in the country. State-level disaster preparedness and mitigation measures are heavily tilted towards structural aspects and undermine non-structural elements such as the knowledge and capacities of local people, and the related livelihood protection issues. [57]

[edit] Russia

In Russia the Ministry of Emergency Situations (EMERCOM) is engaged in fire fighting, Civil Defense, Search and Rescue, including rescue services after natural and human-made disasters.

[edit] United Kingdom

The United Kingdom adjusted its focus on emergency management following the 2000 UK fuel protests, severe flooding in the same year and the 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth crisis. This resulted in the creation of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (CCA) which defined some organisations as Category 1 and 2 Responders. These responders have responsibilities under the legislation regarding emergency preparedness and response. The CCA is managed by the Civil Contingencies Secretariat through Regional Resilience Forums and at the local authority level.

Disaster Management training is generally conducted at the local level by the organisations involved in any response. This is consolidated through professional courses that can be

undertaken at the Emergency Planning College. Furthermore diplomas, undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications can be gained throughout the country – the first course of this type was carried out by Coventry University in 1994. The Institute of Emergency Management is a charity, established in 1996, providing consulting services for the government, media and commercial sectors.

The Professional Society for Emergency Planners is the Emergency Planning Society.[58]

One of the largest emergency exercises in the UK was carried out on 20 May 2007 near Belfast, Northern Ireland, and involved the scenario of a plane crash landing at Belfast International Airport. Staff from five hospitals and three airports participated in the drill, and almost 150 international observers assessed its effectiveness.[59]

[edit] United States

Disaster and catastrophe planning in the United States has utilized the functional All-Hazards approach for over 20 years, in which emergency managers develop processes (such as communication & warning or sheltering) rather than developing single-hazard/threat focused plans (e.g., a tornado plan). Processes then are mapped to the hazards/threats, with the emergency manager looking for gaps, overlaps, and conflicts between processes.

This has the advantage of creating a plan more resilient to novel events (because all common processes are defined), encourages planning done by the process owners who are the subject matter experts (e.g., the traffic management plan written by public works director, rather than the emergency manager), and focuses on processes (which are real, can be measured, ranked in importance, and are under our control). This key planning distinction often comes in conflict with non-emergency management regulatory bodies which require development of hazard/threat specific plans, such as development of specific H1N1 flu plans and terrorism-specific plans.

In the United States, all disastrous events are initially considered as local, with a local authorities usually a law enforcement agency (LEA) having charge. Law enforcement agencies, typically have situational responsibility as disasters may lead to the normal tenants for lawful instruction (infrastructure, signage, etc.) being destroyed or in need of extraneous enforcement. Most disasters do not exceed the capacity of the local jurisdiction or the capacity that they have put in place to compensate such as memorandum of understandings with adjacent localities. However, if the event becomes overwhelming to local government, state emergency management (the primary government structure of the United States) becomes the controlling emergency management agency. Under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is lead federal agency for emergency management and supports, but does not override, state authority. The United States and its territories are covered by one of ten regions for FEMA’s emergency management purposes.

If, during mitigation it is determined that a disaster or emergency is terror related or if declared an "Incident of National Significance", the Secretary of Homeland Security will initiate the National Response Framework (NRF). Under this plan the involvement of federal resources will be made possible, integrating in with the local, county, state, or tribal entities. Management will continue to be handled at the lowest possible level utilizing the National Incident Management System (NIMS).

The Citizen Corps is an organization of volunteer service programs, administered locally and coordinated nationally by DHS, which seek to mitigate disaster and prepare the population for emergency response through public education, training, and outreach. Community Emergency Response Teams are a Citizen Corps program focused on disaster preparedness and teaching basic disaster response skills. These volunteer teams are utilized to provide emergency support when disaster overwhelms the conventional emergency services.

The US Congress established the Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance (COE) as the principal agency to promote disaster preparedness and societal resiliency in the Asia-Pacific region. As part of its mandate, COE facilitates education and training in disaster preparedness, consequence management and health security to develop domestic, foreign and international capability and capacity.

Most secondary or long-term disaster response is carried out by volunteer organizations. In the US, the Red Cross is chartered by Congress to coordinate disaster response services. For large events, religious organizations are able to mount volunteers quickly. The largest partners are the Salvation Army and Southern Baptists. The Salvation Army is usually primary for emergency lodging/shelter and direct feeding, chaplaincy and rebuild services;[60] the Baptists' 82,000+ volunteers do bulk food preparation (90% of the meals in a major disaster) for Salvation Army distribution and homeowner services such as debris and downed limb removal, mold abatement, hot showers and laundry, child care and chaplaincy.[61] Similar services are also provided by Methodist Relief Services, the Lutherans, and Samaritan's Purse.

Unaffiliated volunteers can be counted on to show up at most large disasters. To prevent abuse by criminals and for the safety of the volunteers, procedures have been implemented within most response agencies to manage and effectively use these 'SUVs' (Spontaneous Unaffiliated Volunteers).[62]