Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
of chemical substances, polluting technologies, contaminated land and waste. In this
chapter SEA stands for Socio-Economic Assessment.
In spite of the drawback that the results of ERA, SEA and LCA cannot be smoothly
aggregated to get a fully quantitative value to inform decision makers, all of these tools
are important during ERM. Expert teams should learn of hazards and values of the
compartments, find the balance between risks and benefits and the pros and cons in the
decision-making procedure by weighing the individual compartments in a momentarily
acceptable way. Certain evaluation methods such as multi-criteria analysis (MCA) may
be applicable for the aggregation of the details of ERA, LCA and SEA but experts of
the three areas should agree in weighting and rating all the assessed environmental,
health, economic, and social components.
1.1 Risk management and RMOs
ERM is the “identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks'' (as defined in ISO
31000) followed by coordinated and efficient application of resources to minimize,
monitor, and control the probability and/or impact of hazardous agents and contami-
nants in the environment. The tasks and phases of ERM are defined by standards and
guidelines in every relevant area (Risk Management Guidance, 2009; EPA ETV, 2013;
OECD Risk Management of installations and chemicals, 2013; Risk Management
Research, 2013; OECD Risk Management Tools, 2013):
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Identification of the risks and responsible “owners'' of the risk;
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Evaluation of the quality and quantity of the risk;
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Assessing the potential or actual impacts;
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Assessing the options for managing/reducing the risks;
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Characterizing and prioritizing the RMOs;
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Developing risk management plans;
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Planning risk reduction (RR);
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Authorizing the implementation of the risk management plans;
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Implementing management option;
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Verifying the result of the risk management/reduction measure.
RMOs in a very general sense include avoidance, control, acceptance, and transfer
of risk as well as appropriate use of knowledge, research, and innovation.
- Avoidance means the use of alternative materials and technologies which do not
have as high risk as the original ones. It is a very effective RMO and it can be
applied and evaluated at an acceptable uncertainty level;
- Controlling risk involves the development of a RR plan and monitoring its steps.
The key aspect is a valid conceptual risk model and experienced professionals
who identify the key control points and the relevant control measures. The plan
can be complex including various RMOs used at the same time or consecutively.
The control measures are provisions or technology applications as well as their
combination;
- Accepting risk may be a necessity, for example, in the case of natural risks or
unknown, unidentified risks, or relatively low risks. However, it is not a viable
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