GOOD

AFTERNOON
Welcome to Module 3
At the end of the lesson, the students
can:
• Differentiate hazards, exposure, and vulnerability
using examples from real-life situations.
• Identify a hazard and give examples.
• Explain the effect of hazards on different
elements.
 SAN ANDREAS 2015
In the aftermath of a massive earthquake in California, a rescue-chopper
pilot makes a dangerous journey with his ex-wife across the state in order
to rescue his daughter.
“Would you like to have a drink with me?”
“Give life to magic, not magic to life”
HAZARD
 HAZARD
• Hazards exist anywhere and anytime in our daily life.
• It was shown that simple objects at home or at school can cause accidents
and harm people. Slip & fall accidents are caused by wet or uneven floors and
scattered objects on floors, road accidents are caused by moving vehicles, and
electric shocks are caused by faulty wiring or unsafe handling of electric
gadgets.
• A hazard or “peligro” in Filipino is “a potentially damaging physical event,
phenomenon or human activity that may cause the loss of life or injury,
property damage, social and economic disruption or environmental
degradation. (UNISDR 2015).
• Hazards can include latent conditions that may represent future
threats and can have different origins: natural (geological, hydro-
meteorological, and biological) or human-induced processes
(environmental degradation and technological hazards).
• The term “hazardous event” was introduced and defined as “the
occurrence of a natural or human-induced phenomenon in a
particular place during a particular period of time due to the
existence of a hazard.”
• If an earthquake or flood occurs in a specific area where there is no
settlement or people, no one gets affected.
• The event is simply a “hazardous event.” However, if the same
earthquake or flood occurs in a very populated and developed area,
the hazardous event may result to losses in lives and property.
Hence, the “hazardous event” becomes a “disaster.”
• Natural hazards have impacts on crucial social systems and
urban sectors within cities specifically on (a) urban
infrastructure, (b) human health and safety, and (c) vulnerable
communities/urban poor.
THE PHILIPPINES AS A HAZARD-PRONE
COUNTRY (Oreta 2013)
• The Philippines is one of the most hazard-prone countries in the
world, why?
• It is regularly subjected to various hazards because of its geologic and
geographic conditions.
• The Philippines is an earthquake country where at least five
earthquakes occur per day.
• The 1990 Luzon earthquake which affected Baguio and Dagupan was one
of the destructive earthquakes that hit the country so far. The most
recent earthquakes occurred in 2013 which destroyed many heritage
churches in Bohol and Cebu. The high seismicity of the Philippines is due
to the plate interactions, displacements along the Philippine Fault Zone
which decouples the north-westward motion of the Pacific with the
southeastward motion of the Eurasian, and movements along other
active faults such as the Lubang, Casiguran, and Mindanao faults.
• The Philippines, having 22 active volcanoes including Pinatubo
which erupted in 1991, Mayon and Bulusan which showed unrest in
2016, is also prone to volcanic hazards related to eruptions such as
lava flows, pyroclastic flows, lahar flows, ash or tephra falls and
poisonous volcanic gases.
• Tropical depressions, tropical cyclones, and typhoons are weather
disturbances characterized by strong winds and voluminous rains.
Typhoons have wind speeds from 120 kph. They move generally in
a west-northwest direction at 15 kph on average, intensifying as they
approach the Philippine Sea. Winds of 200 kph or more can be
observed in typhoons approaching the shores. On average, 20
typhoons occur in the Philippines with the period from July to
November as the most active cyclone season.
• Within Asia and the Pacific, the Philippines experienced the fourth
highest frequency (98) of intense hydrological disasters during
1971–2010, topped only by Indonesia, India, and China, all of which
have much larger land areas. But the Philippines experienced the
highest frequency (218) of intense meteorological disasters in the
region during the same time (Thomas, V. et al. 2013).
• In 2006, super typhoons Milenyo and Reming and typhoon
Ondoy in 2009 cost billions of pesos of damages in
infrastructures.
• Typhoon Pablo in 2012 devastated parts of Mindanao – an island
historically ‘typhoon-free.’ Typhoon Yolanda on November 8, 2013,
was one of the most intense tropical cyclones on record which
triggered a storm surge killing at least 6,000 people and devastating
Tacloban City and many areas in the Visayas.
• In an ADB report (Thomas, V. et al. 2013) about climate change-related
disasters in Asia, it was stated that as in many parts of the world,
temperatures have risen in the Philippines with annual means rising by
0.65 °C during 1951–2010, or an average of 0.0108 °C per year increase.
• When temperature increases, the capacity of air to hold water increases
by about 7% per 1°C warming. This leads to increased moisture in the
atmosphere for storms, whether individual thunderstorms, extra tropical
rain, snow storms, or tropical cyclones, to produce more intense
precipitation events.
• Between January to September 2011, more than 50 incidents of flash
flooding and more than 30 landslides occurred, mostly caused by
increased rainfall (NDRRMP 2011).
• In the Philippines, it was observed that from 2001 to 2008, the 24-
hour rainfall intensity appeared to increase in most parts of the
country relative to the 1971–2000 baseline values. And the frequency
of extreme daily rainfall in most parts of the country is also, generally,
trending higher.
• The typical paths of tropical cyclones per decade have been changing
too. A 30-year running average of the frequency of tropical cyclones
passing over the Philippines according to PAGASA indicates that there
was a slight increase in the Visayas during 1971–2000 compared with
1951–1980 and 1960–1990. The typical path of cyclones has also shifted
southward towards the central Philippines; tropical cyclones of weaker
intensity now have very intense associated rains, while the frequency of
hot days and warm nights is increasing (Thomas, V. et al. 2013)
• The country recently has experienced rainfall in 2012 with higher intensities
compared to the normal.
• Flooding is one of more common occurrences that bring disaster to the
country.
• A map of major flood-prone areas in the Philippines (Balce et al 1994) reveals
that half of the capital towns and cities in the Philippines are actually situated
in flood plains, which are obviously flood-prone areas. Floods affect a big
segment of the populace since floodplains are densely inhabited. Metro
Manila has experienced more frequent and intense rainfall in the past years
which has a great impact on traffic. For example, on a rainy day on June 17,
2013, Metro Manila experienced rainfall volume between 61 mm to 105 mm
for only three hours which coincided with rush hours trapping commuters
and motorists on the road (Ortiz 2013).
• Other hazards that have brought disaster to the country are landslides and
mudflows (2006 Southern Leyte landslide). Landslides are usually
triggered by earthquakes, while mudflows are caused by heavy rainfall.
The coastal areas are also exposed to adverse impacts of storm surges (2013
Yolanda), tsunami (1976 Moro Gulf Earthquake), and sea-level changes.
• The top 3 disasters are related to the climate - storm,
flood, and mass movement (wet). Geophysical hazards –
volcano and earthquake – follow with the most number of
occurrences.
 TYPES OF HEALTH HAZARD
PHYSICAL HAZARDS
➢Occupational hazard that involve environmental and can cause harm.
➢For example: fire, explosion, heat, heavy boxes blocking the cabinet.
CHEMICAL HAZARDS
➢Occupational hazard caused by exposure to chemicals in the
workplace that can lead to chronic (long term detrimental health)
effect.
➢For example: gases, liquid, solvent, etc.
BIOLOGICAL HAZARDS
➢Biological substances that pose a threat to the health of living organism,
primarily that of humans.
➢For example: Virus, bacteria, and fungus.
PSYCHOLOGOCAL HAZARDS
➢Affect the mental well-health being/ health of employees by
overwhelming individual coping mechanism and impacting
employees’ ability to work in a healthy and safe manner.
➢For example: overwork, abuse, harassment, tiredness, etc.