Shelly Ryn M.

Saligumba 11- Banzon

Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction

Quarter 1- Module 5: Vulnerability

What I Know

1. B 6. B 11. B

2. C 7. C 12. C

3. B 8. D 13. D

4. D 9. D 14. D

5. A 10. B 15. D

What’s In

1.

Figure A Figure B
Dangling wires and cables Moving objects
Books falling off the shelves Slips, trips of falls
Possible means of escape are blocked Collapsing trenches
Poor workstation ergonomics Electricity
Insufficient or Excessive Lighting Airborne fibers and materials

* The person could be electrocuted due to the unsafe wiring. Depending on the length
and severity of the shock, injuries can include: Burns to the skin and burns to internal
tissues. Electrical interference or damage (or both) to the heart, which could cause the
heart to stop or beat erratically.

* Airborne fibers and materials. Unsurprisingly, a lot of dust is produced on construction

sites. The dust on construction sites is often an invisible, fine, and toxic mixture of
hazardous materials and fibres. When a person inhales it, this can damage the lungs
and lead to diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and
silicosis.

* Slips, trips, and falls can happen in almost any environment. As construction sites
often have uneven terrain, buildings at various stages of completion, and unused
materials on site, it is unsurprising that slips, trips, and falls are a common hazard.

Several thousand construction workers are injured every year following a slip or trip,
and that most of these could be avoided by effectively managing working areas and
access routes, such as stairwells and footpaths.

Those in control of construction sites must effectively manage the site so that workers
can move around it safely. Risks should always be reported and sorted to reduce the
chances of injury.

Some causes of slips and trips and how to prevent them include:

Uneven surfaces – The risk of these can be reduced by providing walkways that are
clearly designated as walkways, having good conditions underfoot, and being well lit.
Obstacles – Instances of slipping and tripping over obstacles can be dramatically
reduced by everyone keeping their work and storage areas tidy and designating specific
areas for waste collection.

Trailing cables – Cordless tools should be used where possible. If this is not possible,
cables should be run at high levels.

Wet or slippery surfaces – If a surface is slippery with mud it should be treated with
stone, and if it is slippery with ice it should be treated with grit. Any areas that are
slippery should be signposted, and footwear with a good grip should be worn.

What’s New

Hazards Possible Events Susceptible Reason of

family member/s Vulnerability
(Exposure)
Unfinished Floors A family member All family members It is not yet finished
could be tripped by and could
floor cracks potentially bring
harm to the family.
Circuit Breakers A family member Little brother The little one in the
could be family doesn’t know
electrocuted the dangers of
circuit breakers.
Power Outlets A family member Little brother The little one
could be doesn’t know the
electrocuted dangers of power
outlets.
Hardware tools A family member Little brother He doesn’t know
could have some the proper handling
scars or injuries of hardware tools.
Nails and Screws They could have Little brother He doesn’t know
some scars or the proper usage of
injuries nails and screws.

Guide Questions:

1. I would define Vulnerability as the inability to resist a hazard or to respond when a

disaster has occurred. For instance, people who live on plains are more vulnerable to
floods than people who live higher up. In actual fact, vulnerability depends on several
factors, such as people's age and state of health, local environmental and sanitary
conditions, as well as on the quality and state of local buildings and their location with
respect to any hazards.

2. Be extra careful when you walk on unfinished floors. Don’t let the little one go near
the circuit breakers and power outlets better yet to install them in a place where he can’t
reach it. The hardware tools, nails and screws are to be placed in a drawer or storage
bin where it will be safe, cannot be contracted by rust and unreachable to the child.
What’s More

1. Nick, because he didn’t take into account about the possible events that could
happen in a typhoon. He is more vulnerable especially with the situation of not having a
signal and he doesn’t have any means or equipment in going home to his family. He
doesn’t have any of the stuff that Gary brought such as flashlight, whistle and food and
water.

2. The actions taken by Gary that made him less vulnerable was because he thought
ahead about the possible scenarios that could happen in typhoon. He has a disaster
plan. He thought, prepared ahead, and took an action and was ready to face the
typhoon.

The reason why Nick was more vulnerable was because he didn’t have a disaster plan.
(same explanation with the previous number). He is more vulnerable especially with the
situation of not having a signal and he doesn’t have any means or equipment in going
home to his family. He doesn’t have any of the stuff that Gary brought such as flashlight,
whistle and food and water.

What I Have Learned

1. Vulnerability in my own words can be defined as the diminished capacity of

an individual or group to anticipate, cope with, resist and recover from the impact of a
natural or man-made hazard.

2. The possible scenarios that could happen to them are they could not leave their
school and be with their parents, they would be there for a long time and wait for help to
come, they might starve, have some injuries and worse they could have dies. I have
realized that it is really important to be prepared in a disaster. Being prepared can
reduce fear, anxiety, and losses that accompany disasters. Communities, families, and
individuals should know what to do in the event of a fire and where to seek shelter
during a tornado. They should be ready to evacuate their homes and take refuge in
public shelters and know how to care for their basic medical needs.

3. Yes, disaster risk not only depends on the severity of hazard or the number of
people or assets exposed, but that it is also a reflection of the susceptibility of people
and economic assets to suffer loss and damage. They can have different levels of
vulnerability even if they are exposed to the same hazards because of how well-
prepared is someone or in simple terms disaster preparedness.

4. Hazard Specific. While vulnerability is in general hazard-specific, certain factors, such

as poverty, and the lack of social networks and social support mechanisms, will
aggravate or affect vulnerability levels irrespective of the type of hazard.

5. Unprecedented future disaster events will require emergency managers to be

creative in their thinking. The backbone of creativity is divergent thinking; cognitive
thoughts that do not converge on one correct answer but diverge to a range of possible
options. Consequently, future challenges for decision-makers in emergency and crisis
management is identifying when creativity is required and how to use constraints to
enhance creativity when organizational cultures demand compliance. One of the most
significant changes in capability has been for emergency services organizations to
embrace opportunities to ‘build agility’. This is particularly important when facing non-
routine and novel events. The future will demand that leaders think outside the box and
use higher cognitive skills such as creativity and divergent thinking to address failures of
imagination. These will be required to ride the wave of change. However, it is not
enough to explore creativity solely from the perspective of a single sector. Emergency
and crisis management necessitates a joint capability that transcends the public, private
and not-for-profit sectors. Importantly, it is the managerial function charged with creating
the frameworks within which communities can reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope
with disasters (FEMA 2007).

The goal of hazard identification is to find and record possible hazards that may be

present in your workplace. It may help to work as a team and include both people
familiar with the work area, as well as people who are not – this way you have both the
experienced and fresh eye to conduct the inspection.

What I Can Do

1. No. Taking steps to prepare for a disaster can help get back to normal faster. If
unprepared, the devastation and financial loss caused by natural disasters can be
magnified. Families can take simple steps to be prepared for an emergency, like having
a battery-powered radio, flashlights, bottled water, and extra food on hand. Knowing
that my family has a plan can help me feel more safe and secure. Grownups are in
charge of these plans, but ask the parents if they have a plan and an emergency kit.

Steps that could be done to make our place less vulnerable are planning for our risk,
making a plan and the others are shown below:

 Know the hazards in your area.

 Review your insurance policies and confirm you have adequate cover against
each type of disaster you are vulnerable to.
 Take a household inventory and store copies in a safe location or online. Ca
 Prepare a disaster plan. 
 Have a communications plan. 
 Have an evacuation plan. 
 Practice the steps that are needed to disconnect your home’s gas, water and
electricity and make sure you understand these.
 Before any disaster, you should inspect your home and eliminate any potential
hazards. In an emergency, ordinary items in your home can cause injury and
damage. Anything that can move, fall, break or cause a fire is a potential hazard
 Community connections are important. Make sure you know your neighbours. 
 Make sure to regularly check safety devices in the home, such as smoke alarms
and fire extinguishers
 Speak to local authorities and emergency services and learn about your
community's emergency plans, warning signals, evacuation routes, and locations
of emergency shelters.

2. The little one and the women in the family. He is the one most affected because he
doesn’t have any knowledge about disaster preparedness. Children are the worst
affected during disasters due to physical, psychological and social vulnerabilities.
Secondly, post disaster due to separation or loss of their families and their homes. They
are psychologically vulnerable due to their tender age and little experience
of disaster situation.

3. No
4. The factors that can affect the vulnerability of our family and in our residence are:

 Poverty
 Social and Economic factors
 Physical factors

Assessment

1. A 6. B 11. B

2. C 7. C 12. C

3. D 8. D 13. B

4. D 9. D 14. D

5. D 10. B 15. A

Additional Activities

TITLE: BE A HERO WHEN IT COMES TO SAFETY (EXACTLY 300 WORDS BELOW)

The earth has been affected by the natural hazards over a long time as man emerged
into picture the picture that the natural occurrences were becoming disaster, together
with being documented in various ways providing a warning for the future generation.

Disaster is any occurrence that causes ecological disruption, damage, human life loss,
health services and health deterioration on sufficient scale to warrant response
extraordinary from the outside area or community affected (De Boer, 2000).

It is hard for a day to pass without news about complex or major emergency happening
in different parts of the world, as disasters continue to strike causing destruction to both
developed and undeveloped countries. This raises vulnerability concern to occurrences
that may affect gravely to our daily lives and the future. In vulnerable populations, some
emergency in particular those occurring in nature can become catastrophic events.

Disaster prevention is activities that are designed for provision of permanent disasters
protection. Not every disaster can be prevented and particularly natural disasters; the
loss risk of injury and life can be only mitigated with plans of good evacuation, design
standards and environmental planning.

Disaster preparedness is the activities for life loss and damage minimization.
Preparedness is the best way of reducing disasters impact. Disaster relief is a multi-
agency coordinated response of reducing disaster impact and its results of long-term.
These activities may include relocation, rescue, water and food provision, preventing
disability and disease, repair of vital services like transport, provision of temporary
shelter and health care emergency.

Once the needs of emergency has been accomplished and the crisis is initially over,
those affected together with the community supporting them remain vulnerable.
Management of disaster is linked with the development sustainably, in particular with
vulnerable people relation like the ones with disability, children, elderly people and
groups marginalized.