What is risk II Types of risk II concept of risk

What is risk?

In simple word, risk is the possibility that some injury, loss or any unfavorable event will happen in the future. Risk is the potentiality of harmful and inauspicious situation to occur. In our everyday life, we need to tackle with several kinds of risks. Some of the risks are easy to avoid but some are inevitable. People fall in accidents and injuries when they cannot overcome the threats of risky situations and circumstances. Physical infrastructures like buildings, houses, roads and human residential areas are under the risk of natural calamities like landslide, earthquake, fire, volcano, etc. If we identify the risks and their potential threats, we can minimize the hazardous effects to human being.

Types of Risk

In order to cope with the problems created by different kinds of risks, the nature of risk should be identified and analyzed. This can guide us for formulating the mitigating measures against the hazardous results. Risks can be categorized into the following two groups:

A) Risks originated from Natural Phenomena

The earth has its own system of its natural processes. Water cycle, gaseous cycles, wind, geographical vividness, geothermal phenomena and movement of tectonic plates are some of the major dynamic aspects of the earth. When these processes and phenomena lose their balance, natural calamities occur. They may create moderate to heavy loss of human lives and properties. Some of the problems created by natural phenomena are discussed below:

a) Earthquake

Earthquake is an incident of shaking of the earth's surface. When there is earthquake, the man-made structures like buildings, roads, town area etc. are cracked or destroyed. People die and buried under rock, soil, concrete and other hard materials piled due to such devastation. It is a natural phenomenon and human has no control over such incidents. Regarding the risks, we can minimize the possible harms and hazards with appropriate precautions and measures against it.

Precautions against the risk of the earthquake:

• Apply anti-earthquake technologies while constructing houses.
• Learn first aid for wound, fracture, bleeding and unconsciousness.
• Learn how to turn off the gas, water, and electricity.
• Make up a plan where to meet your family after an earthquake.
• Don't leave heavy objects on shelves or at height (They'll fall during a quake)
• Anchor heavy furniture, cupboards, and appliances to the walls or floor properly with the help of experts.
• Learn the earthquake plan at your school or workplace.
• Learn the technique of "Drop, Cover and Hold on!' and determine the safe places earlier.

Considerations for safety measures during an earthquake.

i. "Drop, cover and hold on!" Drop to the floor, get under a sturdy table, and hold on until the shaking stop. If your entire body does not fit underneath the furniture, position you body so that the at least your head and neck are covered.

ii. If you are indoors, stay there; most injuries occur when people inside try to move to a different location or try to leave. Avoid windows, exterior walls, stairwells, elevators, and objects that could fall. Be aware that the electricity may go out and the fire alarm or sprinkler system may turn on.

iii. If you are outside, get into an open area. Stay clear of buildings, power lines, street-lights, and anything that can fall on you.

iv. If driving, move out of traffic as quickly as possible and shut off the engine. Avoid bridges and overpasses, and anything that could fall onto your vehicle (car, bike etc.), such as trees, light posts, power-lines and signs.

v. IF you are on a wheelchair, stay in it. Move to a safe location, lock your wheels, and cover your head and neck.

After an earthquake, there may be minor to heavy devastation of physical property and human lives. We must have patience at that time. Shaking may occur several times even for a year or more after a big earthquake. Such shaking incidents after a mega earthquake are called aftershock.

b) Flood and landslide

Flood is the accumulation of excessive water and its overflow inside or outside the river. Flood occurs when the rivers collect excessive water from its tributaries and cannot hold within its mainstream. Flood erodes the soil, rock, agricultural land and man-made structures near the bank. It may cause sliding of huge mass of soil and rock downward from the upper part of inclined surface. A landslide is the movement of rock, debris or earth down a slope. They result from the failure of the materials which make up the hill slope and are driven by the force of gravity. Landslides are known also as landslips, slumps or slope failure.

Effects of Flood and Landslide

Landslides causes property damage, injury, and death and adversely affect a variety of resources. For example, water supplies, fisheries, sewage disposal systems, forests, dams and roadways can be affected for years after a slide event. The negative economic effects of landslides include the cost to repair structures, loss of property value, disruption of transportation routes, medical costs in the event of injury, and indirect costs, such as lost timber and fish stocks, Water availability, quantity, and quality can be affected by landslides.

Precautions against Flood and Landslide

Sometimes, flood and landslides are predictable. Sometimes there is no warning of flash floods, and that is why it is important to think of them and prepare for them before they happen. Some of the measures for precautions against flood and landslides are:

i. Plant trees and shrubs and keep a lot of deep-rooted vegetation in the surroundings and community. They make strong grip on the soil and protect from flood and landslide.

ii. Keep emergency numbers and important information handy, as well as emergency supplies, kits, first aid items. These may include water, readymade food, can opener, battery-operated radio, flashlight and protective clothing.

iii. Fold and roll up anything onto higher or safer ground including chemicals and medicines.

iv. Keep an adequate supply of food, candles and drinking water in case you are trapped inside your house.

v. Know about local relief centers and evacuation routes and discuss among family members as well as with community people.

vi. Make sure everything that is of importance is secured (jewelry, documents, pets, and other valuables). 

Safety during flood and landslide

1. Seek safer ground. Do not wait for instructions.
2. Be ready to evacuate the risky place as conveniently as possible.
3. If the residential home or building must be left, do not walk through moving water and sliding ground. Moving water can knock off the feet. Use a stick to test depth.
4. Rescue children, elderly people, pregnant women and diseased people with priority.
5. Provide consolation and help to the wounded or injured people.
6. Turn off all electrical appliance, gas, heating and the like if there is a bit of time.
7. Leave the area before it gets too late. Do not drive through the water as moving water can sweep you away.
8. Stay away from power lines or broke power transmission cables.
9. Try to keep away from flood water as it may contain chemicals or other hazardous materials.

 Safety after flood and landslides

1. Stay away from flood water - do not attempt to swim, walk or drive through the area.
2. Do not drink tap water until it is proven safe to drink.
3. Search and rescue the injured victims from the flooded or landslide areas.
4. Pay proper attention to sanitation. Avoid spread of disease germs through the dead and decaying bodies.

 c) Glacial falls (Avalanche)

Glacier is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. It is also called avalanche or snowslide. When it falls downward with significant movement so that it may cause devastating effects on the lower ground, it is called glacial falls. When the accumulation of snow exceeds limit of its own weight, there is occurrence of glacial falls. Some of the causes of glacial falls are discussed below:

Causes related to human activities: Construction of houses and heavy constructions at highland make the surface area weighty. It can destroy the natural balance of the land structure as well. It may result in glacial falls. Similarly, the accumulation of waste materials like bottles, wrappers, broken instruments, etc. loosen the grip between the bulks of ice-masses and let it slide down. Human encroachment at the mountain areas increases the chance of glacial falls.

Causes related to natural phenomena: Natural phenomena like regular accumulation of ice at highland for prolonged period of time and accumulation of snow without any support of rock and soil results in increase of ice-mass more than the threshold limit. It results in slow or rapid fall of ice downwards. Similarly, global warming and changing climate has irregular and abrupt rise in temperature of higher atmosphere. It results in sudden heavy melting of ice. Such incidence creates heavy flow of water and ice downward causing glacial falls.

Precautions and safety against glacial falls

1. Do not pollute the environment at higher altitude.
2. Make strict rules against the  environmental and implement strictly.
3. Make people aware of the precautions and threats of glacial falls.
4. If there is probability of life-threatening glacial falls, prepare to escape away in time to the safer place.
5. Identify the risky area and evacuate if possible.
6. Construct walls or rocks and metallic wires to prevent rapid flow of ice-masses.
7. Stay inside home when there is heavy snowfall or rain.
8. Manage rescue materials and equipments to provide necessary aids in time.
9. Manage medical team or first aid team always ready at risky places.

Explosion of Glacial lake

A glacial lake is a lake which originates from a melting glacier. When there is excessive accumulation of snow on the glacier, the volume of water increases enormously. If the marginal support of lake cannot hold the increased weight accumulated inside the lake, it outbreaks suddenly causing tremendous and powerful flow of water. Such incident is called explosion of glacial lake.

b) Risks originated from Human activities

Risk a situation involving potentiality of exposure to danger. In other words, risk is an exposure to the chance of injury or loss. There are a number of human activities that lead to the loss of human lives, properties and the natural components. Some of the risks originated from human activities are discussed below.

a) Physical Risk

Physical aspects of man-made structures like buildings, bridges, dams, industrial equipments posses risk if they are constructed in unscientific ways. Risk increases after functional expiry of their constituent materials. Such risk may result in injury of people or loss of their lives in broken or collapsed buildings. Physically weak dams near lead to massive flood and increased risk for the lives and property of people.

b) Chemical Risks

Chemical risks mean the potentiality of unfavorable circumstances caused due to the exposure with harmful chemical substances. In order to get higher yield from the agricultural crops, farmers are using excessive chemical fertilizers and toxic substances in their field. It ultimately causes inevitable risk to human health. Increased pollution in the environment has caused respiratory tract infection, skin allergy, carcinogenic threats and devinted body functions of people. Excessive use of drugs and medicines, prolonged exposure to the harmful chemicals in industries and use of chemically unsafe materials in different activities have increased chemical  risks realted to human health and the environment.

c) Biological Risks

Risks originated from the biological components like disease-germs, biotic poisons and allergens are called biological risks. There are number of causative agents of different disease in the environments. Fungal spores, bacteria, viruses, protozoa, worms, toxic plants and allergens are common biological risk factors around our environment. Such risks increase the potentiality of onset of different diseases and threat on human health. Waste materials produced from hospitals and health centre contain communicable disease-germs. The biological risks can be minimized by personal hygiene, good health habits and caution against such risk-factors in appropriate ways.

d) Mechanical Risks

Present human life depends upon the industrial products and machines. Therefore, a number of people are engaged in the works with heavy and risky machines. People get injured, lose their hands and legs, and they become handicapped in accidents. Accident of vehicles, trains and aeroplane is also one of the most prominent mechanical risks that cease lives of people remarkably. In order to prevent such risks, the worker should be trained properly to run risky machines and the means of transportation. Safety measures and precautions should be give more importance.

Technique of Minimizing Risks

Minimizing risks can  protect people's health from disease and injuries. It can save life and properties. We cannot control all natural hazards. Earthquake, volcano, tsunami cannot be brought under control of human influence and resistance. But, we can minimize the probabilities of landslide and flood by environmental planning, a forestation , terrace farming and such other techniques. Risks that may arise with uncontrollable natural calamities can be minimized by the construction of the earthquake resistant buildings. It can be accomplished with engineering techniques and use of quality constituents like bricks, cements, rod etc. Risk-education helps in preparation against such natural calamities and uncontrollable natural hazards. Environmental sanitation, health education, safety behaviors, first aid education and application of the principles of sustainable development help in minimizing the risks originated from natural phenomena and human activities both.

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