MULTI-HAZARD RISK ASSESSMENT, USING COLOUR MAPPING ON NATURAL Essay

MULTI-HAZARD RISK ASSESSMENT, USING COLOUR MAPPING ON NATURAL DISASTERS i.e FLOODING, EROSION - Essay Example Luiz, in his book ‘The 1755 Lisbon Earthquake: Revisited’, states that multi-hazard risk assessment considers three issues which include the interaction of generically different types of hazards, comparison of different types of risks from financial and disaster management points of view, and finally the consequential risks for industrial production, infrastructure, and the economy. Moreover, in the case of an imaginary disaster workshop, there exist aims to be achieved, objective messages for Non-Governmental Organisations and locals, solutions in multi-hazard assessment, as well as target information from the multi-hazard risk assessment using colour mapping on natural disasters. Colour mapping, also known as colour coded mapping is a risk assessment tool that allows objective and visual determination of risk levels. It also provides a route on which priority events can be identified hence easy assigning of responsibilities and determination of actions to be taken. Thi s method of colour coding was developed by Maria Dineen, as a result of the growing need to manage the increasing volume of incident investigations. Initially, Maria established only three incident grades. These grades include Green to represent minor events that do not require follow-up, yellow for moderate events that require local management action and red to represent significant events that require senior management attention. Later, orange was also introduced to represent events that, although not requiring follow up by the senior management, they should be reviewed and monitored by relevant local management teams (â€Å"Consequences UK†). Risk assessment aims at identifying, measuring, quantifying, and evaluating the worst effects of natural hazards in a comprehensible and comparable way (Haimes, 2009). The use of colour mapping in risk assessment by an organisation aims at various things. First, an organisation aims at introducing clearly defined levels of accountabil ity for action and learning from adverse events. Secondly, organisations aim at curbing disasters and risks before they take place. Colour coding enables an organisation to identify any potential disasters. In addition to that, organisations aimed at risk assessment are required to explore safety and quality to ensure that no one is hurt in the future. It also aims to reduce consequential risks that may take place after a disaster has passed. This aims at creation of a safety culture in the organisation. Another aim of using colour mapping in multi-hazard risks assessment, is to use it as a tool for qualitative analysis. Qualitative analysis is important in the incident management process. Colour mapping gives a quality analysis since it eases the analysis process. The concentration of one colour over a certain region on a map show the level of risk experienced in that area without necessarily requiring an expert’s interpretation. More so, colour coding enables a systematic d etermination of the events that require more attention. For instance, colour red represent an urgent attention to a certain area; so more concentration and spread of it shows that a larger area is at a high level of risk (Zhang, 2009). However, it goes without saying that challenges will be faced in application of colour mapping. In most cases, it is possible for someone to confuse between code red and code orange which are different although they represent very close levels of risk. This can compromise the