Coal Mining: Energy and Non-Energy Threats

Discuss about the Introduction to Risk Analysis and Risk Assessment.

The energy threat associated with coal mining is the formation of coal dust during the mining process. The coal dust when suspended in the atmosphere especially in areas with poor ventilation and air circulation tends to generate the risk of explosion to the individuals in the immediate environment. Moreover, a spacious coal mine is more susceptible to explosion risk compared to a small and densely packed mine. The non-energy threat associated with the mining of coal stems from the presence of highly flammable hydrocarbon gas pockets in coal mines. In most common hydrocarbon gas found in coal mines is methane. Methane is nontoxic however when it concentration in the surround ranges between 5-15% it tends to be explosive(Haring 2015).

The energy being used by the Airplane is fossil fuel which on its own is not a major risk. However, a combination of fuel vapor and oxygen creates a highly flammable mixture that is highly explosive in the presence of fire. As such, a downed aircraft poses extensive risk to the people in and around it, if it is on fire and fuel is leaking from the engines. The non-energy threat associated with an aircraft crash is the high likelihood of bodily harm caused by the plane or debris falling from the sky with substantial speed. This threat extends to individuals on the ground: driving on the road or walking past it.  The other energy threat is related to the chances for people being electrocuted by power lines that where damaged by the falling aircraft(Haring 2015).

The non-energy threat here stems from the freezing water of the North Sea that are capable of causing hypothermia in only minute of being submerged in the icy water. As such, the risk of hypothermia from the cold water is very high and this likely to be the cause of the women’s worsened state(Costard 2008).

The suspension bridges are normally designed with very durable and tough material; however, years of uses and natural weathering tend to weak the strength of the suspension cables. Therefore, there is a risk of the cables breaking and the bridge collapsing. Nevertheless, this non-energy threat is very minimal but considerably destructive when it occurs(Costard 2008).

The non-energy threat here is being burned under a landslide. The likelihood of a landslide occurring in any given day is considerably low; however, the destruction caused by land shifting can be considerably damaging especially in densely populated areas.

Airplane Travel: Energy and Non-Energy Threats

The collapsing of a building is a non-energy threat that is a moderately serious risk in developing nations where housing regulations are not stringently enforce by local authority.

Food contamination is a non-energy threat that is very common in densely populated work environments where food handling is done with very little health inspection or hygiene monitoring. The risk of food being contaminated with pesticide in the attempt to eradicate pests is considerably high especially when the endeavor is done by unskilled individual.

The energy threats associated with this case stem from fires caused by explosion at the coal mine and faulty electrical connection at the power plant. In addition, the coal mine has the potential risk of significantly contaminating the air making it non-breathable and high harmful. The risk of a wild fire damaging the neighboring town is a substantial non-energy threat that stems from negligence from the owners of the two energy production sources(Lanard & Sandman 1987).

The likelihood of a cage’s locking mechanism becoming defective is a non-energy threat that stems from weakening or damage to animal cages. Therefore, there is need for park cages to be regularly checked before workers are put in any compromising situations. In addition, working with animals is inherently dangerous because they are wild creatures that are difficult to predict; as such, measures should be taken to safeguard the lives of park workers(Lanard & Sandman 1987).

The collapse of a mine tailing dam is not a common risk but is capable of happening. Therefore, there is a need for management at such locations to create measures to mitigate the occurrence of this risk.

Consequence 1: The fish farm would incur heavy losses resulting from poor fish yield and low sales returns.

Consequence 2: The withdrawal of investors due to fear of substantial losses occurring eroding their faith in the business.

Consequence 3: The management team of the fish farm will be removed to make way for a more compete team of individuals

Consequence 4: The fish farm workers will lose their jobs because the farm will be unable to pay them following substantial losses(Gurian 2001).

Consequence 1 is a severe problem since it would cause the business to be deemed unprofitable and may even result in it being put under receivership to recover shareholders’ equity.

Consequence 2 would considerably diminish business funds making it difficult for the management team to finance normal operations, new venture, and business expansion.

Freezing Water: Non-Energy Threats

Consequence 3 would cause a significant change in management technique which can either be beneficial or harmful to the business in the long-run.

Consequence 4 would result in the loss of a trained workforce forcing the business to suspend or minimize operation until a new workforce can be recruited and trained.

Business collapse-the business will lose all credibility with extended loss, decrement in investors, and an incompetent management team. The fall of business profitability and solvency marks the winding down of the enterprise, which will eventually result in its shutdown.

Poor workforce training-the company has an unskilled workforce that leads to poor fish yield and extended problems with delegation of duties. The incompetent workforce will result in poor task performance and extended cases of insubordination(Sjöberg, Moen & Rundmo 2004).

Possible mechanisms that drive the occurrence of the event stem from a need to make changes to the business operation. For instance, the need to yield more tons of fish may motivate the fish farm management to introduce new ways of propagating fish numbers, promoting fish growth, and reducing fish deaths. Another mechanism is the need to increase company profits by elevating sales and net profits. The desire by management to increase profits is one of the mechanisms that lead to the events. Lastly, a need to increase efficiency and improvements in the fish production process is one of the mechanisms that promoted the occurrence of the event(Vasvári 2015).

The pre-condition for the need to increase the aggregate fish yield by the farm is the existence of low fish production in terms of tons. The second pre-condition relates to the need by management to increase profits, as such, the organizations may have been realizing diminished returns before the mechanism. The last pre-condition is the performance of the company below optimal efficiency thereby necessitating the need by management to improve business operations(Vasvári 2015).

The company will have to rebrand to ensure that they are able to maintain their market appear after the poor fish yield that would create a substantial fish deficit in the market. Entry of new firms into the market because demand will outweigh supply due to diminished fish presence. The business can be franchised by a more successful and stable fish production organization.

The time sequence model sheds attention to counter measures that are meant to prevent risk. One of these approaches is education and training; this approach centers on use of effective teaching tools to ensure that everyone is successfully educates on ways to mitigate risk and optimize workplace safety/wellbeing. Moreover, this approach seeks to align individuals with the necessary skills they will need to perform the task they are expected to perform in the workplace without putting themselves or other at risk(Gurian 2001). Education and training is considerably more importance compared to other prerequisite approaches because it tends to emphasis on the importance of knowing workplaces procedures and performance requirement. Rigorous standards are normally imposed on education and training approaches to ensure that training programs effectively train employees to be safe and healthy when performing their duties(Gurian 2001).

Suspension Bridges: Non-Energy Threats

Time zone 1 provides the opportunity to prevent the event from occurring. Therefore, by providing education and training the organization is able to award employees with the skills required for them to prevent unfortunate events from occurring like machine related injuries. As such, education and training ensures that the qualifications of an individual to work at a given job are directly correlated to their ability to properly safeguard lives. For instance, a crane operator at a loading dock is educated not to operate the crane during bad weather because unpredictable movement in the crane putting unnecessary strain on the winch. In addition, the crane operator is not expected to load and offload containers when the shipping port is buzzing with activity to ensure that no harm comes to other people(Gurian 2001).

The risk of having my car destroyed in a road accident. There are numerous road accidents that take places across the country that result in vehicle destruction and countless insurance claims.

Unit of exposure for this risk is the overall amount that the car insurance company would have to pay to me if the car was involved in an accident and was totally written off. Hence, the unit of exposure is $4,000for my Volvo car.

The measure of likelihood of a young person being involved in a road accident in Australia is based on historic data from the government’s records on road accidents. Therefore, the occurrence of road accidents involving young drivers relative to the rest of the population of drivers in the past decade will give the probability for being involved in an accident(Blows et al. 2003).

The unit of frequency is therefore the number of accidents that has taken place over the past decade that have involved young drivers and resulted in the cars being total write-offs.

Consequence 1 would stem from the loss of car and with that my ability to move freely using personal mobility means.Consequence 2 would result in the filling of an insurance claim in the effort to get a new car or reimbursement for the loss. Consequence 3 would result in the loss of wealth because I would have to pay for a new car if the insurance claim fails(Blows et al. 2003).

ISO Guide on Risk Management defines risk as any effect of uncertainty on objectives(ISO 2009). This explanation indicates that an event is a direct result of expectation either positive or negative. Therefore, risk is viewed as the probability that a given situation takes places that alters our objective.

References

Blows, S, R Ivers, MW, Connor, J, Ameratunga, S & Norton, R 2003, ‘Vehicle year and the risk of car crash injury’, National Institute of Health, vol 9, no. 4, pp. 353-356.

Costard, S 2008, ‘Introduction to Risk Analysis and Risk Assessment’, Royal Veterinary College, vol 27, no. 1, pp. 1-44.

Gurian, PL 2001, ‘Risk Perception, Risk Communication, and Risk Management’, Department of Engineering, Drexel University , Drexel E-Repository and Archive (iDEA) , Philadelphia.

Haring, I 2015, ‘Introduction to Risk Analysis and Risk’, Springer, vol XLI, no. 123, pp. 1-19.

ISO, S 2009, ‘ISO Guide 73: 2009 Risk management ‘, ISO Guide, vol 1, no. 1, pp. 1-15.

Lanard, J & Sandman, PM 1987, ‘A Quick Introduction to Risk Perception’, U.S.Environmental Protection Agency Journal, pp. 21-22.

Sjöberg, L, Moen, B-E & Rundmo, T 2004, ‘Explaining risk perception.An evaluation of the psychometric paradigm in risk perception research’, Rotunde, vol 16, no. 3, pp. 1-35.

Vasvári, T 2015, ‘Risk, Risk Perception,Risk Managent: A Review of the Literature’, Focus: Public Finance Quarterly, vol II, no. 15, pp. 1-20.