Poster: National Risk of Civil Emergencies - Report Example

Student Name: Tutor: Title: Poster: National Risk of Civil Emergencies Course: INTRODUCTION The National Risk Register of Civil Emergencies is a reference document meant for organizations and individuals who want to prepare well for emergencies. The document has been published since 2008, and offers up-to-date details on the types of civil emergencies people in the United Kingdom could encounter in the next five years. The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 defines a civil emergency as a situation or event that threatens serious damage to human welfare in any place in the United Kingdom. Series damage refers to loss of human life; human injury or illness, damage to property; homelessness; disruption to the supply of water, food, money, fuel or energy; disruption of transport facilities; system of communication disruption; or disruption of health related services. A situation of event that threatens serious damage to the environment may contamination of land, water or air with chemical, radioactive or biological matter, or destruction or disruption of animal or plant life. Each year the government conducts classified analysis of risks of civil emergencies that are faced by people in the United Kingdom-National Risk Assessment. The National Risk Register is public version of NRA. The seriousness of the risk of emergency depends on its likelihood of happening in the next five years and the impacts that the people will experience if it occurs. The highest risks are thus the highly to happen and possess the highest impact in the event of happening. SUMMARY The NRR and NRA comprises of: All types of emergencies provided in the Act but not every single act that may involve emergency and not everyday occurrences like street crimes that may result into extended damage and misery over a long period of time but not included in the Act. Risks that are that have a likelihood of occurring in the next five years but not risks that may only occur in the long term. Risks of emergencies that significantly and directly cause damage to the environment or human welfare in the UK and not events that occur outside UK unless they directly affect her people. The NRA and NRR cover only emergency events without including longer-term like technological advances or climate change. Impact of trends on emergency events is considered each year as being part of risks’ assessment. There is still ongoing work on the interpretation of national security risks and any adjustments to the understanding of the risks which will be summarized in 2015 National Security Strategy. Scientific expertise is used to inform the review and development of risks. Data like historical analysis as well as numeric modeling can be used to estimate the likelihood of risk scenarios. The likelihood of terrorists and other malicious attacks are evaluated subjectively. The NRR and NRA take into account the following with regard to the definition of an emergency in the Act while assessing the expected effects of an emergency: Injury or illness over the period since the start of an emergency The number of fatalities that are attributable directly to the emergency. The degree of social disruption to daily lives of people. economic harm psychological harm The above dimensions are scored on a scale of 0 to 5. The mean of the scores is then determined. Most emergencies are best managed by local emergency planners and emergency responders. The Act offers a common framework for planning, constituting a duty on emergency planners and responders to assess and identify the risks of emergencies affecting the area in which operate they operate while the government offers guidance based on NRA. The highest priority risks are considered by the government owing to their both impact and likelihood such as: Pandemic influenza-this remains as significant civil emergency risk. They have been three influenza pandemics in the 20th century all different in the degree of severity. Coastal flooding-the likelihood of a severe consequences is lower owing to investment made in the coastal flood defences. Catastrophic terrorist attacks-the September 9/11 events confirmed terrorism cannot be ruled out. The counter-terrorism of the government is prioritizing efforts to prevent terrorists from gaining access to the expertise as well as material needed to accomplish attacks for such magnitude and prepare for consequences Severe effusive (gas-rich) volcanic eruption abroad-volcanic eruption abroad can have an impact on UK and its citizens. Severe wild fires-this are uncontrolled and unplanned fires in the natural environment. Moorland, heath and forest are at risk as since grass in these areas is prone to wild fires. The NRR risk matrix Risks are shown individually on the matrix as they appear in the NRA. Risks are grouped into groups as opposed to indicating their exact position in the NRA. A judgment is arrived at where best to place that category on the matrix to consider the position of the risk within that category. The matrix is largely the same to that of 2012 but there have been some adjustments. Public disorder has move a box to the left to reflect the work put in place to enhance interpretation of the risk following 2011 risks. Risks Descriptions Human diseases can assume various forms and thus impacts can vary considerably in both nature and scale. Examples chosen give an impression of possible diseases that have a disruptive effect, but they are not exhaustive. The most recent Influenza pandemic is the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic. influenza pandemic come about owing to influenza viruses that are markedly different from the circulating influenza viruses. Flooding that occurred in England in summer 2007 and in Aberdeenshire and Cumbria indicated the various forms of flooding that are encountered in the United Kingdom faces. It indicated the widespread and significant impact on businesses, people, essential services and infrastructure that can be caused by flooding. The increasing temperatures of the sea levels attributed to climate change are likely to compound the frequency as well as severity of extreme weather events and hence likelihood of flooding. Sources of flooding are from sea (tidal or coastal), from streams and rivers, and from the surface water. All the three forms of flooding happen during a single storm. Severe space weather is also a risk. Weather on the earth like snow, wind, and rain possess terrestrial impacts and different meteorogical causes. Space weather such as geomagnetic storms, solar radio noise, and radiation storms has various terrestrial impacts and is due to different forms of solar phenomena. Other forms of risk apart from natural hazards include major accidents and malicious attacks such as: attack on crowded places attacks on infrastructure attacks on transport systems unconventional attacks cyber security CRITIQUE The target audience of the NRR is the general public that has to be informed of different kinds of risks and preparedness and responses lined up for any risk. The matrix does not change as fast as changes in global warming and other instances that may increase events of emergencies. This is public version of threats and hazards faced by the country and consequently should use a language and demonstrations that are easily understood. The register has to be highly adaptable when it comes to outlining the changing trends of risks experienced (OECD, 2010). Some issues that have not been considered as risks may develop into hazard later on in life. Grouping together of non-zoonotic and zoonotic animal diseases may not give an opportunity to an elaborate analysis of the risks. A risk should not be profiled just after it has happened but the government should target profiling risk even before they occur in the UK (Aven, 2012). Diseases analyzed as not exhaustive and that lives room for unpreparedness in case the risk strikes. There is still room for improvement when it comes to proposing for action in case of any risks (Bennett, 2010). The connection between the local government, the people and the central government is not very elaborate. There is no elaborate action provided for dealing with some particular risks like cyber crime apart from general suggestions that leave a lot to be desired. Full response plans have to be developed on how to counter a certain risk. There has to be a balance between preparedness and preparing for a response. The National Risk Assessment and National Security Assessment would be more effective if they could relocate emerging risks into the NRR more expediently prior to their impact being felt. It is a big challenge when it comes to prediction certain consequences attributed to severe air pollution. The register provides an important classification of risks that provides first hand information for someone who wants about a particular risk. Various risks have been assessed beginning from natural hazards, major accidents, and malicious attacks. Elaborate examples of types of risks have been given to help people in the UK understand learn various responses to different risks. Most of these risks are qualified as opposed to being quantified (Shaw, 2011). They have been discussed pointing out incidents where and when they occurred and how they are important to risk assessment in the United Kingdom. From the result the United Kingdom is faced with varying types of risk from the earth to space. The risks differ in magnitude and impacts and their disruption to human lives. Risks faced by the UK are continually changing. The government examines the most important emergencies that the country and its citizens could face within a span of five years using the NRA. The public version, NRR, has to be tailor-made towards the intended audience. The register make people understand the various harms and disruption of lives experienced when a certain type of risk occurs. The author has tried as much as possible to use a language that is easily and understand and shows clarity of ideas and thoughts. The review of the risk within a period of five years provides room for adjustment to adapt changing forms of risks in the country. The register provides links in for various subjects in case the reader wants to learn more about something. This provides a chance for in-depth analysis of anyone who wants to understand a particular risk and the response given to it (Cox, 2009). The United Kingdom sets a good example in Europe with regard to profiling threats and hazards that lead to risks. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION The bulk of the details being discussed in the register will tire any reader who is looking for useful information on a specific risk. A lot of details center on background information that reduce room for discussing the policies of government departments in coming up with adaptive measures to deal with risks posed (Hillson, 2012). Much work and effort should be directed towards developing easily understood measures to increase preparedness in case of disasters. The risk network is not well coordinated and there a lot of work to be done when it comes to developing cohesive groups of responders. The register has to be specific to the audience and target particular areas of interest that provide useful information. Some of the details are tiresome to go through can be directed to the experts to interpret and come up with simpler directions for users (Hancock, 2008). A normal citizen with limited knowledge of geography will not understand some of the information shared. The use of the matrix complicates the whole picture and makes it difficult for a person to understand the intensity of the risk and how it is being approached. The objective should be to create awareness and preparedness among the members of the public as well as informing adequately. The importance of communication in any given circumstances has to be emphasized in the register. The various roles of the local responders and the government in facilitating response to a disaster have to be elaborate and precise. Further research has to be conducted to give a clear guidance of risk management in the UK. REFERENCES 1. Aven, T., 2012, Foundations of Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, London. 2. Bennett, P, 2010, Risk Communication and Public Health, Oxford University Press. London, P.158. 3. Cox, L.A., 2009, Risk Analysis of Complex and Uncertain Systems, Springer, New Mexico. 4. Hancock, C., 2008, Issues in Healthcare Risk Management, Lulu.com. 5. Hillson, D., 2012, Exploiting Future Uncertainty (Ebk - Epub) Creating Value from Risk, Gower Publishing, Ltd, New York. 6. OECD, 2010, Reviews of Regulatory Reform Risk and Regulatory Policy Improving the Governance of Risk: Improving the Governance of Risk, OECD Publishing, Sydney. p.51. 7. Shaw, A., 2011, Negotiating Risk: British Pakistani Experiences of Genetics, Berghahn Books, London. Read More