00:09
So moving from case studies of the application of emergency
00:12
management in a response setting, we're now going to
00:14
look at risk analysis, which is the basis for all emergency
00:17
management.
00:18
We're going to look at that in the context of emergency
00:21
management in New Zealand.
00:24
First though, let's look at what risk
00:25
analysis is in outline.
00:29
We need to understand the context within which risk
00:31
management is going to be dealt.
00:34
We need to set some criteria about how are we going to
00:37
manage the risks that we face as an organisation, as a
00:40
community, or as a nation.
00:43
We need to set some goals against which we can measure
00:46
the effectiveness of the risk management
00:48
that we put in place.
00:49
We need to then identify the risks that are most critical
00:53
to our way of life, or our way of operating, or the services
00:56
that we deliver.
00:58
We then need to analyse that risk so we have a good
01:01
understanding of the risk scape in general and any of
01:05
the specific risks that we need to look at in particular.
01:10
We need to evaluate those risks and look at the ones
01:13
that are most critical and determine those, the areas
01:17
within which treatment against them is necessary.
01:21
We then need to come up with measures to treat them.
01:24
And within the emergency management context, those
01:26
measures fall within risk reduction, readiness,
01:30
response, and recovery.
01:32
We then need to monitor and review as we go through the
01:35
application of what we've developed in relation to those
01:37
risks, to ensure that what we're doing is as effective as
01:40
it can be, learning lessons as we go and
01:42
adjusting as we need to.
01:45
Within New Zealand, we've got a National Civil Defence
01:47
Emergency Management Strategy which sets those
01:50
goals for New Zealand.
01:52
It talks about building community awareness for the
01:55
risks that we face and about emergency management in
01:58
general to build community understanding, enhance
02:02
community preparedness, and increase community
02:05
participation in emergency management in
02:08
the holistic sense.
02:11
Goal two is about reducing risk from hazards.
02:13
The strategy identifies some particular responsibilities
02:17
for organisations in New Zealand to come up with
02:19
mechanisms to reduce risk over time.
02:24
It then goes on in goal three to require the enhancement of
02:28
capability to manage emergencies, particularly
02:32
within organisations with a responsibility within the
02:35
National Civil Defence Emergency Management Plan, but
02:38
communities as well, and business sector involvement in
02:41
emergency management as well.
02:45
Goal four is about enhancing the capability to recover from
02:49
emergencies.
02:50
So even in the National Civil Defence Emergency Management
02:52
Strategy, you can see a comprehensive approach to
02:55
emergency management being applied.
02:59
In support of both the Civil Defence Emergency Management
03:02
Strategy and the National Civil Defence Emergency
03:04
Management Plan in particular and local emergency management
03:07
arrangements, New Zealand has developed a National
03:10
Hazardscape, which has identified the risks that our
03:13
communities face.
03:15
It lists a range of hazards that are the most significant
03:19
for New Zealand to take into account in risk management.
03:23
The top five of those are earthquake, volcano,
03:27
landslide, tsunami, and coastal hazards.
03:30
Floods, severe winds, snow, drought, wildfires, animal and
03:35
plant disease, because of New Zealand's dependence on
03:38
agriculture in particular, to human disease epidemics,
03:42
infrastructure failures, major transport accidents,
03:45
terrorism, and food safety.
03:47
So they are the major hazards that New Zealand may have to
03:50
deal with at a national level and therefore has mechanisms
03:53
in place to deal with understanding those risks in
03:56
more detail, reducing them, being ready for them,
04:00
responding to them effectively, and then being
04:02
able to recover from them subsequently.
04:06
The mechanisms for response in particular are dealt with in
04:08
New Zealand's Civil Defence Emergency Management Plan.
04:13
The plan focuses on the aspects of emergencies,
04:17
particularly large-scale emergencies, that may cause
04:21
widespread public concern, that are likely to require
04:26
significant resource and support of response and
04:29
recovery, those events that are likely to affect more than
04:34
one region so therefore are larger in scale, where new
04:39
technology or processes and methods may come into account,
04:42
so particularly with technological failures, things
04:46
that we may not have seen coming but areas within which
04:49
we've got significant dependencies.
04:52
When the event may cause severe environmental impact is
04:56
another area in which the National Civil Defence
04:59
Emergency Management Plan has an overview.
05:02
The plan looks at consequences, and it looks
05:04
across the board.
05:05
It looks at human consequences, economic
05:08
consequences, social consequences, infrastructural
05:14
and geographic factors.
05:16
So again, a holistic sense is applied to risk management
05:21
within the National Civil Defence
05:22
Emergency Management Plan.
05:24
It's not just looking at restoring infrastructure.
05:27
It's looking at the broader impacts on communities and the
05:30
environment.
05:33
At a local level, a similar approach is taken.
05:38
So the risk-based approach informs risk analysis at a
05:43
local level.
05:45
It informs risk reduction.
05:47
And as we discussed in earlier topics, that's another
05:50
legislation, particularly the Building Act and Resource
05:52
Management Act in New Zealand's case where risk
05:55
reduction measures can be delivered.
05:59
It's about improving readiness in local communities, in
06:03
communities themselves and within the response
06:05
organisations.
06:06
It's being able to recover effectively, having an
06:08
appropriate recovery structure and appointments in place
06:12
ready to go when an emergency occurs.
06:14
So the risk-based approach applies within the National
06:17
Civil Defence Emergency Management Plan and other
06:19
activities, applies at a regional level within which
06:22
the higher-priority risks will be different from those at the
06:26
national level, and then again at a local level, where the
06:30
same approach is taken to understand the risks that
06:32
local communities face and then coming up with the
06:34
treatment measures against each of those.
06:36
So in conclusion, risk analysis is becoming a more
06:40
and more important component of emergency management.
06:45
And not the least because it's an opportunity for us to be
06:47
able to identify the risks that we are going to manage,
06:50
the mechanisms we're going to use to manage it, and then
06:52
monitor and measure their effectiveness over time.
06:56
Of course we've got more lessons to learn, and we will
06:58
continue to do so.
07:01
So having looked at what risk analysis is, let's now turn to
07:03
an example of the application of risk analysis and risk
07:07
management in a context where it was applied over a
07:09
significant period of time
07:11
culminating in a major disaster.
07:13
That case study is New Orleans.