MOdule 7: Vulnerabilities of Different Elements Exposed to Hazards

Vulnerabilities of different elements are determined due to its exposure to particular and specific hazard.

Physical vulnerability includes population density levels, place of a settlement, the site design, and materials used for
infrastructure and housing. When hazardous events occur, normally physical elements are severely damaged. For
example, UP Visayas buildings were totally destroyed during the super typhoon Yolanda in 2008 leaving the structure
totally damaged. Another example is the decreased in population density like what happened in Baguio during the 1990
earthquake in North Luzon when a lot of people were injured and died.

Social vulnerability happens due to inability of people, organization, and societies to prevent severe effects from hazards
because of the expected behavior in social interactions, institutions, and system of cultural values. For example, during
typhoon the line of communications were cut off when cell sites shutdown or disruption of transport system due to
inability of small vehicles to pass through the flooded areas or unpassable roads and bridges. With some difficulties in the
delivery of services such as relief goods and medicines, a lot of problems occurred like shortage of food and spread of
infectious diseases. Therefore, when social elements were exposed to hazard, these may lead to disruption of normal
processes and activities in the community

Level of economic vulnerability is based on the economic status of individuals, communities, and nations. The poorer
the country, the more vulnerable to disasters because they lack the funds or budgets to build sturdy structures and put
other engineering measures in place which protect them from being affected by disasters. So, we can say that Philippines
is more vulnerable to an event such as earthquake compared to Japan. Though both countries are exposed to earthquake
hazard because both are located in the Pacific ring of fire, but due to differences in economic status, Japan is more
resilient because of its ability to afford changes in architectural and engineering designs of building and infrastructures to
make them less vulnerable to earthquake. Another example is the Covid-19 pandemic wherein the most affected are those
who belong to low income and informal workers. Social and economic vulnerability can be combined also known as
socioeconomic vulnerability.

Environmental vulnerability is caused by natural resources depletion and destruction. Organisms like humans, animals,
and plants are all dependent on the environment for survival. Human activities like deforestation, burning of fossil fuels,
and kaingin affect the natural abilities of the environment to protect itself from any natural hazard due to absence of trees
which may cause landslide and flashfloods. Sometimes the effects are irreversible. Quantifying vulnerability is used in
estimating how much mitigation and preparedness measures will be applied. Computation is based on the previous hazard
events and severity of their effects. Vulnerability can be expressed as: 0 = lowest degree of vulnerability and 1 as the
highest degree. Vulnerability of people is the ratio of casualties or injured to the total population. Vulnerability of
buildings is expressed as a repair cost or degree of damage.

The Philippines has high vulnerability due to the following reasons:

• It lies in the Pacific typhoon belt and we are visited by an average of 20 typhoons every year.
• Rugged nature of the landscape makes it vulnerable to landslide, mudflows, and other disasters.
• It is an archipelagic country with many small islands where some areas are at below sea level.
• It has the longest shoreline in the world at 32,400 km making it vulnerable to storm surges.
• It is still a primary agricultural and fishing economy.
• With poor institutional and social capacity to manage, respond, and recover from natural hazard events.
• With high level of poverty
• Aside from typhoon, it is also at risk to volcanic eruptions, quakes, and floods.

Module 8: Effects of Hazard, Exposure and Vulnerability to Disaster Risks

Hazard is a harmful condition, substance, human behavior or condition that can cause loss of life, injury or other health
effects, harm to property, loss of livelihood and services, social and economic disruption or damage to the environment.
Any risk which is imminent is threat.

Exposure is the presence of elements at risk or chance of being harmed from a natural or man-made hazard event.
Elements include the individuals, households or communities, properties, buildings and structures, agricultural
commodities, livelihoods, and public facilities, infrastructures and environmental assets present in an area that are subject
to potential damage or even losses. The more a community is exposed to hazard factors, the higher is the disaster risk or
higher chance disaster occurrence.

Vulnerability means the characteristics and circumstances of a community, system, or asset, that make it susceptible to
the damaging effects of a hazard and inability of a community to prevent,mitigate, prepare for and respond to hazardous
events.

Risk implies the probability of possible adverse effects. This results from the interaction of social and environmental
systems, from the combination of physical danger, and exposed item vulnerabilities.

Disaster is a serious disruption to the functioning of a community or society which causes widespread human, material,
economic or environmental losses that exceed the capacity of the community or society concerned to cope with the use of
their own resources. It results from the mix of hazards, risk conditions and inadequate capability or measures.

Exposure and vulnerability, on the other hand, are distinct. A certain community can be exposed but it does not mean
that it is vulnerable. Buildings and structures in Japan are exposed to earthquake, but they are not vulnerable since their
architectural and engineering designs are earthquake proof or resistant. However, to become vulnerable, it must be
exposed to hazard first. Exposure to hazard can make a community vulnerable. But not all communities that are exposed
to hazard can be considered vulnerable. Vulnerability depends on the preparedness and readiness to a hazard of the
community. It depends mostly on how they mitigate, respond, and recover. If a certain community has the ability to
reduce the vulnerability by reducing the risk, the said community is already considered as less vulnerable or resilient.

Physical elements Population

Buildings: Urban land use, construction types, building Density of population, distribution in space, distribution in
height, building age, total floor space, replacement costs. time, age distribution, gender distribution, handicapped,
income distribution
Monuments and cultural heritage
Essential facilities Socio-economic aspects
Organization of population, governance, community
Emergency shelters, Schools, Hospitals, Fire Brigades, organization, government support, socio-economic levels.
Police, Cultural heritage and traditions.
Transportation facilities Economic activities

Roads, railway, metro, public transportation systems, Spatial distribution of economic activities, input-output
harbor facilities, table,
airport facilities. dependency, redundancy,
unemployment, economic
production in various sectors.
Life lines Environmental elements

Water supply, electricity supply, gas supply, Ecosystems, protected areas, natural parks, environmentally
telecommunications, mobile telephone network, sewage sensitive areas, forests, wetlands, aquifers, flora, fauna,
system. biodiversity
Disaster mitigation measures are those that eliminate or reduce the impacts and risks of hazards by means of proactive
measures taken before an emergency or disaster takes place. Mitigation is the action of reducing something's severity,
seriousness, or painfulness.

Module 9: Hazard and Its Types

After identifying hazards in the previous activity, this part gives information about the types of hazard and its example.

Hazards can be categorized in different types:

1. Natural hazards - arise from natural processes in the environment.
e.g. earthquakes, tsunami, landslides, volcanic eruptions and floods

2. Quasi-natural hazards- arise through the interaction of natural processes and human activities
e.g. pollution or desertification, smog and fog

3. Technological (or man-made) hazards- These arise directly as a result of human activities.
e.g. accidental release of chemicals, toxic and pesticides to floral and fauna

Hazards Signs and Symbols

These signs and symbols with corresponding meaning below help people to be extra cautious, aware and observant in
surroundings. Each picture is designed to become recognizable to anyone as a signal word like “danger” or “warning”.

Technology or Man Made Hazards Signs and Symbols

• FLAME
- Flammable • EXPLODING BOMB
- Self-heating - Explosives
- Emits Flammable Gas - Self-reactives
- Pyrophoric - Organic Peroxides

• HEALTH HAZARD • SKULL AND CROSSBONES

- Reproductive toxicity - Fatal or toxic
- Respiratory sensitizer - Acute toxicity
- Target organ toxicity
- Aspiration toxicity

Natural Hazards Signs and Symbols

Quasi-Natural Signs and Symbols

• ENVIRONMENT

- Aquatic toxicity - Air toxicity

Module 10: Hazard: Its Impact, Identification and Risk Assessment

What are the Different Impacts of Hazards?
A hazard can bring about many impacts which can come in different types. Facilities and infrastructures are commonly
the target of natural hazards. Specifically, these impacts can trigger accidents and the release of toxic substances, fires and
explosions, potentially resulting in health effects, environmental pollution and economic losses.

One way to classify hazard impacts is by means of general impact themes

namely:
• Danger to life which includes physical and psychological harm
and diseases
• Denial of access like energy, water, communication and
transport access
• Damage to the physical environment like buildings and land

For the purpose of this module, we will focus on six (6) more specific types of hazard
impacts.
1. Physical impact 4. Economic impact
- Physical injuries (bone fracture, wounds, bruises) - Loss of job due to displacement
- Destruction and loss of vital infrastructure like - Loss of harvest and livestock
transportation system, - Loss of farms, fish cages and other source of food
roads, bridges, power lines and communication lines. - Loss of money and other valuables
- Wide spread destruction of housing and buildings
5. Environmental impact
2. Psychological impact - Loss of forest due to forest fires
- Grief and psychological illness - Loss of fresh water due to salination
- Marital conflict - Disturbance of biodiversity
- Depression due to loss of loved ones and properties - Loss of natural rivers
- Chronic anxiety
6. Biological impact
3. Socio- cultural impact - Epidemic to people, flora and fauna
- Displacement of population - Chronic and permanent illness caused by biological
- Loss of cultural identity agents
- Forced of adoption of new sets of culture - Proliferation of different viral diseases
- Ethnic conflicts

Identification of Hazards and Risk Assessment

Hazard identification is the process of determining all physical and nonphysical agents in the workplace or specific
environment. Most occupational health and safety problems are caused by hazards which are not eliminated or managed.
In order to prevent untoward incidents in a workplace or community, elimination or controlling of hazards is crucial. In
some workplaces where hazards cannot be eliminated, they must be monitored and properly managed at the least.

Risk assessment is a way to determine which hazards and risks should be prioritized by taking into consideration the
probability and severity of impact.

Below are the steps in hazard identification and risk assessment.

1. Identify the hazards. Use the following methods:

a. Observation - use your senses of sight, hearing, smell and touch - combined with knowledge and experience.

b. Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) - obtain them from manufacturers and suppliers. It gives information on possible
harm from hazardous substances and precautions that need to be taken.

c. Hazard and risk surveys - interview other people about their safety concerns as far as the workplace is concerned.
Utmost consideration should be given to children or visitors who could be at risk.

d. Discussion groups - are useful for identifying hazards and recommending solutions.

e. Safety audits – a committee must be assigned to periodically check safety in the area.

2. Assess the Risk. Once a hazard has been identified, the likelihood and possible severity of injury or harm will need to
be assessed before determining the best way to minimize the risk. High-risk hazards need to be addressed more urgently
than low- risk ones.
Table 1. Risk Assessment Scoring Matrix

3. Make the changes. Once risks are assessed, the next step is to make decision for some necessary changes. These
changes include removing the hazard and replacing it with something less hazardous, engineering modifications like
installation of exhausts, safety barriers and safety exits, modification of procedures, etc. Combination of the risk control
measures mentioned above to effectively reduce exposure to hazards can also be done.

Table 2. Risk assessment and control measures to counter risks

4. Checking the changes made. To make sure risk has been minimized, and a further hazard has not been created, the new
safety measures may need to be carefully tested before work begins again. Risk assessment doesn’t end with making
changes. It is essential that these changes made are monitored and checked. It must be monitored if the changes done are
being followed consistently and if these changes contribute to the improvement of safety management in the workplace.
This last step has to be done periodically to accurately assess the effectiveness of the entire process.