RISK ASSESSMENT

Rolie A. Castro

What is Risk Assessment?

US-EPA uses risk assessment to characterize the nature and magnitude of health risks to humans and ecological receptors from chemical contaminants and other stressors, that may be present in the environment.

What is Risk Assessment?

A Risk Assessment is a systematic method of looking at work activities, considering what could go wrong, and deciding on suitable control measures to prevent loss, damage or injury in the workplace. The Assessment should include the controls required to eliminate, reduce or minimise the risks. (Healthy Working Lives)

What is Risk Assessment?

According to Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Risk assessment is the process where you identify hazards, Analyze or evaluate the risk associated with that hazard, Determine appropriate ways to eliminate or control the hazard.

What is the goal of risk assessment?

The aim of the risk assessment process is to remove a hazard or reduce the level of its risk by adding precautions or control measures, as necessary.

Why is risk assessment important?

Create awareness of hazards and risks. Identify who may be at risk (employees, cleaners, visitors, contractors, the public, etc). Determine if existing control measures are adequate or if more should be done. Prevent injuries or illnesses when done at the design or planning stage. Prioritize hazards and control measures.

How do you do a risk assessment?

The following definitions are usually applied to these terms: Hazard Anything with the potential to cause harm, electricity, hazardous substances and noise are examples of typical hazards. Risk The likelihood that damage, loss or injury will be caused by a hazard and how severe the outcome may be.

How do you do a risk assessment?

Identify the hazards associated with work activities Identify who could be harmed by those hazards Identify how you manage the risks at present and what further steps might be required to reduce the risks further. These are your control measures. Record the findings of your assessment and inform those at risk of the controls Review the Risk Assessment on a regular basis, e.g. if the staff, the activity, or the equipment used change.

How are the hazards identified?

Look at all aspects of the work. Include non-routine activities such as maintenance, repair, or cleaning. Look at accident / incident / near-miss records. Include people who work "off site" either at home, on other job sites, drivers, teleworkers, with clients, etc. Look at the way the work is organised or "done" (experience and age of people doing the work, systems used, etc).

How are the hazards identified?

Look at foreseeable unusual conditions (for example: possible impact on hazard control procedures that may be unavailable in an emergency situation, power outage, etc.). Examine risks to visitors or the public. Include an assessment of groups that may have a different level of risk such as young or inexperienced workers, persons with disabilities, or new or expectant mothers.

What options exist to rank or prioritize risks?

Table 2 Risk Assessment by the British Standards Organization
Severity of Harm Likelihood of Harm Slight Harm Moderate Harm Extreme Harm

Very unlikely Unlikely Likely Very likely

Very low risk Very low risk Low risk Low risk

Very low risk Medium risk High risk Very high risk

High risk Very high risk Very high risk Very high risk

How do you do a risk assessment?

Definitions for Likelihood of Harm: Very Likely Typically experienced at least once every six months by an individual Likely Typically experienced once every five years by an individual. Unlikely Typically experienced once during the working lifetime of an individual Very Unlikely Less than 1% chance of being experienced by an individual during their working lifetime.

What are methods of hazard control?

Hazard control methods are often grouped into the following categories: Elimination (including substitution) Engineering controls Administrative controls Personal protective equipment

Exposure Pathway
Exposure Exposure occurs when you come in contact with a material and that material enters your body. Pathway A path or pathway is the course along which a material in the environment moves from its source to a new location.

Exposure Pathway
Exposure Pathway refers to the way in which a person may come into contact with a hazardous substance, whether it is a chemical, biological, or some other harmful substance.

Exposure Pathway
Chemicals can be released into the soil, water or air from spilled or leaking containers, leaking landfills or dumps, through spraying, or released from smokestacks. When a substance enters the ecosystem where it is not normally found, it is called a contaminant. Humans become exposed to these contaminants by touching, breathing, or ingesting substances that contains the chemical

Exposure Pathway
To determine if human health is at risk of disease from contaminants, two things must occur: There must be an exposure to a contaminant The contaminant must be toxic.

Elements of Exposure Pathway

Elements of Exposure Pathway

The Source How the material gets in the environment. Example Landfill Pond Creek Incinerator Tank Drum Factory

Elements of Exposure Pathway

The transport media How the contaminant moves through the environment Example Soil Sediment Animals Plants Groundwater Surface water Air

Elements of Exposure Pathway

The exposure point How people came in contact with the contaminant Example Residence Business Residential yard Playground Campground Waterway

Elements of Exposure Pathway

The exposure route How the contaminant entered the body Example Breathing air that contains the material Eating or drinking something with the material in it Getting it on your skin or touching something that has the material in it or on it

Elements of Exposure Pathway

The receptor population How susceptible the population contaminant Example Residents Hunters/Fishermen Recreational populations Visitors Workers is to the

Role of Exposure Assessment in Risk Assessment

An exposure assessment provides information on how much of a substance a population has been or will be exposed to. An exposure assessment enables the results of toxicity assessments to be applied to the real world. That is, once the exposure assessment has estimated the amount of a substance the population of interest has actually been exposed to,

Ecological Risk Assessment

ERA ERA is the practice of determining the nature and likelihood of effect of our actions on animals, plants, and the environment ERA deal with human-caused changes that alter important features of ecological systems such as lakes, streams, forests, or watersheds.

What is ERA used for?

Industry, government agencies, policy makers, citizens, and legislators use ERA to support environmental management decisions. ERA helps organize information and contributes to informed decisions. ERA can be used to evaluate relative benefits of different clean-up options at hazardous waste sites, screen new chemicals prior to their commercial production, evaluate the risks that imported agricultural products may introduce exotic agricultural pests, or determine the threats to valued ecological resources in a watershed.

What are ERAs basic concepts?

ERAs evaluate two basic elements: exposure and effects. Exposure The interaction of stressors with receptors. Measures of exposure can include concentrations of contaminants or physical changes in habitat. Effects The analysis of effects evaluates changes in the nature and magnitude of effects as exposure changes.

How is ERA done?

ERAs include the following: 1) Problem formulation: clearly defining the problem 2) Analysis: characterizing potential or existing exposure to stressors and their effects 3) Risk characterization: integrating and evaluating exposure and effects information.

How is ERA done?

What are ERAs designed to protect?

ERAs may address any of a variety of environmental properties ranging from the survival of individual members of an endangered species to the productivity of the community in a stream or the biological diversity of an entire region. The endpoints for the ERA should be ecologically relevant to the ecosystem they represent and being susceptible to the stressors of concern.

Ecological Risk Assessment

While improving the science behind ERA will always be desirable, ERA is now and will continue to be a valuable tool supporting scientifically sound environmental decision-making.