Test

1. Risk factor concept

There are 2 types of risk:
Environmental risk
Work risk
When we know the risks that characterize equipment, we can protect our life and
we can protect the environment.
Risk means the probability of an adverse effect the results of a particular
exposure.
Risk Factor - variable in a casual model and is related to a vast response. That
variable may act with other factors or in some other way (multiplications)
Risk Ratio - the ratio fond by the responses in which those with the risk factors are
related to those without that risk factor. If the ratio is greater than 1 the risk
factor increased the risk to those exposed to it.
2. Risk assessment in the work
Risk assessment involves the necessity to identify all the risk factors of the system
under consideration and quantifying their size, based on the combination of two
parameters: first is severity and second the frequency with maximum possible
consequent impact on the human body.
For each risk factor the overall levels of risk for the entire system is analyzed. The
principle for risk evaluation is already contained in the European standards and
its the base on various methods with practical application.
The, SR EN 292-1/1996, was taken over in Romania after European standard. This
standard specifies that "factors to be taken into account when we assessing the
risk:
(a) probabilty to produce of a lesion or deflection of the health status;
(b) maximum severity expected for a lesion or health.
c) the infestation degree of the environment, with pollutants.
The assessment of the risk it is necessary to browse through following steps:
a- to identify the risk factors of the system being analyzed;
b - the establishment action consequences on the victim, respectively their
seriousness;
c - determination of probability of action on the worker;
d -assigning levels of risk, depending on the severity of consequences probability
of risk factors action.
3. The evaluation of the risk presented by the chemicals
Regarding chemical risk, the assessment procedure is often difficult because of
the richness of chemical agents and preparations used. There arent known
dangers involved in these chemical agents. Chemical risk perception is more
difficult for small companies whose activity requires the use of chemicals, without
that they be registered as having chemistry activity in the field.
Chemical risk is not confined to business premises, but also extends in its vicinity,
owing to the impact on the activities of the undertaking may have on the
environment: fire, explosion, air pollution soil and groundwater plies.
Because of these dual constraints on prevention of risks, for employees and for
the environment, the leader of businesses will have to implement a policy of
prevention which favors replacing dangerous products with less dangerous
products. It would have to be in view, in particular, chemical reduction of risks to
employees, taking care not to affect the environment and, conversely, not to
increase such risks to employees in an attempt to reduce their impact on the
environment.
4. Determination of global pollution index in an industrial plant
The formula for calculating the global level of risk is as follows:
Nr =
r R
r
i i
i=1
n
i
i=1
n

,
Nr - the global risk level in the work place;
r
i
- The rank of risk factor "i";
R
i
-the risk level for risk factor i ;
n - Number of risk factors identified in the work place;
The level of risk global (Nr) on the place of employment is calculated as the
weighted average of the levels of risk for the risk factors identified. Because the
result obtained to reflect as closely as possible the reality, is used as an element
of the weighting factor rank the risk which is equal to the level of risk.
5. Matrix (Leopold)
Matrix method is the most used instrument of environmental risk assessment.
The matrix is a table, where is co-positioned activities that can produce an
environmental impact. Matrix lines represent the criteria which will mark the risk
of one activity. In each cell of the matrix may be marked a digit by showing so far
as the business is likely to have a negative or positive effect to the given criterion.
The environmental characteristics to be aimed in an impact analysis are:
-physic-chemical characteristics of the soil, water, air;
-biological conditions: flora, fauna;
-factors of cultural activities: lands use, recreation, cultural interest, facilities and
man-made activities;
-ecological relationships: salt in water resources, water polluted, insects
transmitters of diseases, etc.
6. Illustrative method for general assessment of the environmental status
Aim of assessing the impact of human activities on the environment, as well as to
follow the development of the pollution phenomenon, there is a need for an
assessment of health, or of environment pollution, to a moment. Assessment of
the pollution degree for the environment is represented by the global index of
pollution. An assessment also allows a mark at the regional level in the status of
the environment quality.
It is considered that it is possible to assess quality of the environment at a given
moment, by the quality indicators on the environment (air, water, soil quality,
state of health and the deficit of plants and animals species.
7. Environmental indicators
Urban areas
1.population density
2.movement
3.homes disrupted by noise
4.lead in ambient air urban
5.birds in urban areas
6.consumption of mercury and cadmium
7.consumption and reuse of paper and glass
8.use agricultural areas
9.rabbits and birds in areas of arable land
10. plants which have disappeared or are in danger of disappearing
11. the health status of forests
12.The use of pesticides
Air
13.consumption of substances that deplete the ozone layer
14.produces carbon dioxide
15. Produces of sulfur dioxide
16. Produces of nitrate compounds
17.precipitated nitrogen compounds
Water
18.quality of groundwater
19.the content of nitrates in groundwater
20.use fertilizers in agriculture
21.quality flowing waters
22.Quality lakes
23.the oxygen content in the sea area
24.fish in marine waters
25.quality bathing waters arranged
8. The methodology for evaluation of environmental impact
- the quality index formula
The formulas of environmental quality index is ( I
c
):
L
project
I
c
= ------------- = E
-1
L
reglementation
L
proiect
project actions
L
reglementat
reglementations of Normative actions ;
E environmental effects
Interplay between actions project (L
project
) and environmental effects ( E ) can be
highlight by marking the appropriate box of its size estimated by a common
system to the whole assembly (with +, - or zero), as follows:
- + positive influence
- 0 influence zero -
- negative influence
I
c
= 0 to +1 - positive influences. Environmental is influenced in
admissible limits.
I
c
= - 1 to 0 - negative influences. Environmental is influenced over
admissible limits.
I
c
= 0 - Environmental is not influenced.
- the polluted global index
The index of global pollution - I
PG
." : resulting from the relationship between the
surface, that represents the ideal (S
i
) and actual status (Sr ).
I
PG
= S
i /
S
r
I
PG
= 1 , no polluted existance
I
PG
> 1 it existing environmental quality modification.
Status ideal ( S
i
): shall be plotted by a regular geometrical shape inscribed in a
circle with a radius of 10 units of worthiness.
Actual Status (Sr): this is an irregular geometric figure obtained by pooling of
points that represents the value of equivalent quality index in the ladder of
worthiness and which falls into regular geometric figure status ideal.
9. Prioritizing the risk in the context of industrial investment developing
environmental risk
Environmental management strategies must therefore consider economic
demands and social needs, with the capacity of the environment to cope with
discharges, pollution and other perturbations, and to support human and other life
change risk assessment across a range of sectors.
To do this the following process has been used:
Identify and characterize the objective: it must to explain the investment
opportunity, by using the workshops and systematically mapping of cross-sector
impacts.
Assess vulnerability: As well as looking at possible future climate changes, this
step of the method considers exposure to the risks through an assessment of the
adaptive capacity of major sectors at the organizational level, an analysis of
government policy, and uses a social vulnerability checklist to characterize
impacts that have particular equity issues.
Identify main risks: A subset of risks with relatively higher magnitude and
likelihood, and those where urgent decisions are needed will be selected for
further analysis.
Report on risks: using the assessment of impacts and vulnerability together, a
report will be created to help Government identify priority areas for action,
geographic variations and compare different risks where possible.
10. About risk reducing
Risk reducing means to find the best strategy to diminish the risks when we
developing an industrial investment. The focus is on the risks that will remain
after the chosen management option is implemented. This is commonly referred
to as the residual risk. There is a substantial amount of regulation that may
constrain or enable an activity with uncertain consequences.
In some cases it may be appropriate to strike a balance between risk reduction
and cost, such as required under the regulatory principles of ALARP (As Low As
Reasonably Practicable) and BAT (Best Available Technique).
The ALARP principle is from a specific regulatory framework that applies when risk
needs to be reduced to as low as reasonably practicable. Adoption of the principle
implies that any further reduction in the risk beyond ALARP can be achieved only
at grossly disproportionate cost and that the benefits afforded by accepting the
risk are judged to outweigh the costs.
The application of BAT means that the estimation of the risk associated with a
particular activity that can change over time, as the new techniques and
technologies are developed, and the costs of existing techniques vary. Such
changes may warrant another iteration of the risk assessment process.
11. Problem formulation on risk assessment
The process used to create the national flood risk assessment is as follows:
The flood outline is split into impact zones that are 50m x 50m in size.
Information on flood defenses; example: their location, standard of protection
and condition are linked with the impact zones to identify which defenses affect
which impact zones. Information about the height of the natural banks affecting
each impact zone is also added.
Predicted flood water levels are then compared to the height of the natural banks
and the defenses to calculate the likelihood of flooding by defenses and natural
banks overtopping for each impact zone.
The same predicted flood water levels are then compared to the condition of
defenses to calculate the likelihood of the defenses failing and the effect that this
would have on each impact zone.
The overall likelihood of flooding for each impact zone is calculated by combining
the figures above.
The flood probability results are then put into three categories:
-Whether the risk management strategy terminated, mitigated, transferred,
exploited or accepted the inherent risk, (residual risks may remain).
The responsibility for addressing the residual risk is either shared by society
(societal risk), remains with the individuals involved in developing or
implementing the risk management strategy (private risk) or it is transferred
further (to insurers).
Reporting risk management strategies is an important part of addressing the risk,
particularly regarding decisions on addressing the most serious risks, and needs to
be quickly and effectively communicated to the appropriate level and the
appropriate individual within an organization (Cooper et. al., 2005). It is essential
to be aware of accountability at both the organizational and individual levels.
At a time of crisis, the public generally expect the Government to provide a strong
lead and to take charge of events and manage situations, thereby protecting the
public. Where there is a need for leadership and reassurance, or a need for
accountability and justification of decisions, the public will often look to governing
authorities to deliver clear messages on how risks are being managed.
When reporting a risk management strategy to the public, communicating the
importance of self-responsibility to the public should not be forgotten. The
actions of an individual may exacerbate an outcome (either for themselves or for
others) and, if the public are not aware that they also have a responsibility to take
reasonable care, the fault may be unduly proportioned to other organizations.
A number of cross-cutting aspects relating to communicating the risk
management process should be referred to and considered prior to
communication.
Surveillance implies an active evaluation of changing circumstances. Perhaps the
residual risk is sensitive to some external influence that requires active
monitoring. For example, a change in European environmental legislation may
initially have no impact, but may have an impact over time as environmental
attributes change and, therefore, the implemented risk management strategy
requires monitoring.
The emergence of new risks may be the result of a diverse set of risks such as
climate change, increasing urbanization, demographic changes, changes in social
attitudes towards risk acceptability, and advances in technologies available to
reduce risk. This can result in a new set of conditions against which existing risks
should be compared and altered if necessary.
The implication is that environmental risk assessments need to be living
documents rather than static one-off reports. This issue of reviewing the entire
risk management process is detailed.
12. Planning the risk probability
High-impact events with a low probability, such as certain animal disease
outbreaks, severe flooding or natural disasters, are often addressed with the
development of an emergency plan and a business continuity plan that ensure
essential business activities can continue in the face of serious disruption as a
result of these events.
In general, regulatory bodies have strategies in place of contingency planning. For
example the Environment Agency has in place a flood warning system to provide
sufficient warning to those living in flood risk areas.
The Health Protection Agency has a handbook for recovery options following a
radiation incident.
The Food and Environment Research Likewise, the scale of risks and whether
local, national or international intervention is required should be considered.
It is important to look at the potentially wider consequences of a risk so that
decisions based on a local situation are appropriate on a national and
international scale, mitigating the potential for conflict and environmental
damage or harm. If this happens in advance, then decision-making in a crisis of
international proportions is likely to happen faster and with greater justification
and public satisfaction. Effective public engagement is vital for the success of such
strategies.
Addressing the risk involves undertaking any action, procedure or operation in
order to meet the objectives of the risk management strategy.
The risk management strategy needs to have a documented rationale; it is
important to be explicit and clear about the actions that you will undertake in
support of the risk management strategy.
Reporting risk management strategies is an important part of addressing the risk
and can benefit one or a number of stakeholders.
13. The dynamic of risk management
The dynamic of risk management is a phenomenon that is developing in space
and time. Depending of the context in which may be realized technological
process changes, the managing effectively of work place risk, can thus require
regular ongoing monitoring, iteration of the previous analysis deliberation and
constructive communication and learning during the processes.
Such activities strengthen the evidence base that supports the risk management
strategy and ultimately help to reduce the uncertainties that surround the risk
problem. This is particularly the case for those risks that might be deemed
marginal in their magnitude or, because of their specific characteristics, are
sensitive to change. Examples include where the progressive erosion of cliffs
increases the risks to people and property over time, or where changes to
international border controls influences the likelihood of exotic animal disease
agents entering a country.
Reporting the work place risk management strategies is therefore an important
part of addressing the risk and can benefit one or a number of stakeholders.
We reinforce the most important aspects to take in consideration during the
environmental risk assessment and management process.
We refers to the gaining an awareness of knowledge, expertise, information,
skills, values, expectations, failures and successes as a result of the risk
assessment and management process.
Learning as such is often inevitable, but should nonetheless be sought and
acknowledged.
14. Strategic programmes and operational risks
Some of the key issues for consideration in comparing environmental risks with
other business risk include the observations that:
-environmental impacts are not easily monetized and are often difficult to express
in quantitative terms. This should not detract from their importance;
-environmental risks are frequently newsworthy events that pose considerable
knock-on reputational impacts to organizations;
-environmental impacts may be felt over timescales well beyond conventional
business planning cycles (decades, centuries);
-outsourced operations may incur environmental risks through the less
responsible operations and practices of contracted parties. Whilst contract
clauses might guard against these impacting on the institution, in practice these
risks may still return to bite the contracting organization;
Strategic decisions about corporate priorities required for implementation
Strategic Operational Programmes and project being concerned with open,
heterogeneous systems. Environmental risks frequently harbor more uncertainty
that those associated with closed, engineered systems:
-regulatory risk is often greater for environmental impacts because of the rapidly
developing nature of environmental legislation;
-regulators increasingly view corporate responsibilities to managing
environmental risks as a surrogate for corporate social responsibility and good
risk governance in general.
Internal audit will verify compliance with the requirements of the risk
management goals and explore the elements involved in identifying, assessing
and addressing risks. Auditing should encompass the quality of available data,
suitability of assigned responsibilities and the timescales for action. By assessing
and auditing the internal risk management capabilities of the organization, and
comparing these with external organizations in similar sectors, institutions have
sought to gauge where improvements can be made to their own processes. Some
10 years of benchmarking practice in risk management have revealed the
importance of organizational culture, leadership on risk issues, the necessity of
discussing an institutions appetite for risk and the management of risk
knowledge as critical components of a well-developed risk management
capability.
Components of good risk governance (after Price Waterhouse Coopers, 2005):
Leadership, his strategy and ethical values
Leader creates ethical workplace
Personal ethical practices
Communicate Mission and Objectives
Policies and procedures
Top-down alignment of strategy
People and Communication
Commitment to Competence
Employee competence
Training
Information and Communication
Information quality
Top-down communication
Communication across processes
Accountability and Reinforcement
Assignment of Authority and Responsibility
Assignment of ownership
Demonstrated accountability
Human Resource Policies and Practices and
Performance Measurement
Performance indicators
Incentives and discipline
Risk Management and Infrastructure
Identify and Assess Risk
Risk assessment practices
Risk tools and processes
Establish Processes and Controls
Process reliability and efficiency
Control effectiveness and efficiency
System access and security
15. Environmental factors taking into account for polluted global index
- Indices of quality on environmental factors(water, air, soil-sub soil, noise, human
settlement, biodiversity, landscape)