DRMAPS

Activity Guide 10

Development of the Risk Assessment Methodology

for the Case Study Proposal

Learning Objectives:
1) Integrate various risk factors and diverse contexts;
2) Critique and reframe different risk management strategies within specific contexts;
3) Design objective and/or subjective risk assessment methods using collaborative strategies
4) Demonstrate leadership, group organization, and interpersonal skills for working together
in group discussions, research, case studies and presentations.

Output: A Proposed Risk Assessment Methodology that will provide data to achieve the objectives
of your case study proposal. The type of risk assessment that you will choose is the core of your
proposal to your selected target audience.

Deadline: 6 pm Friday, December 4, 2023.

Submit via UVLE Submission Board for AG 10, a manuscript of your Proposed
Risk Assessment Methodology in WORD format, with Filename: Section and
Team_Activity10 (ex THU3A_Activity10)

Learning Activities:
1. Read through Activity Guide 10.
2. Accomplish the activity "Exploring HazardHunterPH" and submit your output no later than 6
pm Monday, 04 December 2023, in the UVLE submission box set-up for this purpose.
3. Accomplish the Flood Risk Survey on UVLE no later than 6 pm Monday, 04 December 2023.
This survey comprises 60 questions and assesses the objective and subjective risks associated
with flood hazards.
4. Meet with your group and develop a draft of the risk assessment methodology for your case
study proposal. You can do this F2F or remotely (synchronously or asynchronously).
5. The teaching team has provided a folder in the UVLE tile for module 10 containing example
instruments for assessing risk factors. You can choose to pattern your risk assessment
methodology based on these tools. Please consult the following members of the teaching
team if you have further questions regarding the instruments:
a. RCAST: Aquino, Zarco, and Pacheco
b. Fire: Del Castillo, Pacheco, Valdez
c. PCIERD Landslide Tool: Zarco
d. How Safe is Your House: Pacheco, Del Castillo, and Valdez.
6. Attend the Plenary F2F session: 10-11:30 (30 November 2023, Thursday for THU Classes; 01
December 2023, Friday for WFU Classes).
7. Presented your draft during the breakout session of the F2F session from 11:30 – 1:00.
8. Submit the draft of your group no later than 6 pm, Monday, 04 December 2023, in
the submission box set-up in UVLE.
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Previous Activities: Learning about the case study as a research design
A case study is a research design in which a particular case of interest is examined in detail. In the
context of DRMAPS the case is an event involving a specific location where a hazard (or hazards) had
adverse impacts on people and on their social, natural and/or built environments.
• The research problem and the specific objectives provide the focus for what purpose the case
will be examined – e.g. to identify what risk factors were most likely responsible for the
adverse impacts in the case.
• The situationer is a description of the case as it happened, as well as its relevant history, that
is derived from a thorough search of valid and reliable documents from a variety of sources.
The situationer thus provides evidence of the extent of damage and losses as well as clues as
to what may have been the reasons for such adverse impacts that occurred (e.g., what
disaster risk factors played major roles in the case and how were these managed).

Current Activity: Developing appropriate risk assessment methods

• The risk assessment methodology is the next component of the case study proposal. This
involves how each group proposes to collect information for creating better risk
management by risk reduction using mitigation, adaptation and preparedness strategies.
● Unlike the situationer, which describes a past event, the proposed risk assessment
analyzes current risk factors further for the end purpose of providing scenarios predicting
a better, improved case when a similar hazard arises in the same place.
● Well-crafted risk assessments should provide new information for the target audience
because it integrates different perspectives that may allow a better understanding of the risk
factors for a specific type of hazard in that particular location.

Guide to Developing the Risk Assessment Methodology

Risk assessment is a dynamic process of measuring and evaluating risks from hazards.

● Such assessment involves a systematic analysis of the possible causes of injury, damage or
loss to people and/or the natural and/or built environments (hazard, exposure, vulnerability
risks, and capacities).

● This analysis may also include: a) an examination of the efficiency of safety protocols in
relation to the identified hazard risks and b) an examination of attitudes, values and behaviors
of individuals and/or communities in relation to what preventive or protective steps people
make to reduce or control the risks for specific hazard scenarios.

Your selected methodology may involve objective risk assessment and/or subjective risk
assessment. Keep your target audience in mind when developing your risk assessment methods
so that you can communicate more clearly the usefulness of the data such methods can provide.

Your proposed assessment must specify respondents and include a description and samples of
your instruments for assessment, e.g. survey questionnaires, interviews, standard tools such as
hazard maps.

Objective risk assessment emphasizes the physical risk factors in the case study (e.g. the presence
of particular hazards) that can cause harm, and the level of hazard risks (e.g. low, moderate or high
potential of the hazard to cause physical injuries and damages to the physical and natural
environments as well as psychosocial and economic losses).

● This type of assessment requires special expertise on specific hazards to provide facts instead
of opinions (e.g., typhoon maps and forecasts that require equipment and expertise to
develop with some acceptable level of accuracy and reliability).

● Objective risk assessment can serve as the basis for management/control measures such as:
a) engineering redesign of some components of the physical environment,
b) the institution of rules/policies to reduce hazard risks,
c) developing warning systems, and/or
d) other information systems to manage risky behavior of people.

⮚ For a better understanding of Hazards vs Hazard Risks, please watch:

Seismic Hazard vs Seismic Risk at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=MQNKpS0xrwM&feature=youtu.be

● If you are proposing objective risk assessment methods, make sure to include sources that are
reliable and/or can be validated by triangulation (e.g. providing assessment reports from
multiple sources, assessment from credible experts in the discipline and science-based tools
such as HazardHunter).

Subjective risk assessment recognizes that perceived risks and acceptable risks are not the same
for everyone because people have diverse personalities, experiences, values, beliefs and attitudes
that affect how they assess the level of hazard risks and whether such risks are considered
acceptable or not.

Perceived risks are now considered as important influences on how people understand and behave
with respect to different types of hazards, how they respond to hazard warning systems, and comply
with, ignore or resist safety protocols.
● Perceived risks for hazards have been studied to reflect 2 dimensions: dreadful risks and
unknown risks, which can both be reliably measured based on psychometric techniques using
survey questionnaires or interviews. In these questionnaires, people are asked to rate
whether a hazard has consequences that are insignificant, minor, moderate, major or
catastrophic, or that are not likely to occur at all, likely to occur only sometimes, or highly likely
to occur everytime, or unpredictable.

Acceptable risks have been recognized as significant determinants of how people make cautious or
risky decisions in hazardous situations. Measuring acceptable risks for different individuals or
communities can be useful in creating preparedness and evacuation plans that consider the values
of those concerned.
● Measuring acceptable risks can also aid in developing training programs that aim to enhance
individual and/or community awareness and compliance with safety rules and procedures
during hazardous situations. Such programs are helpful in producing a culture of safety that
makes preparedness part of our way of life.

Fig. 1 below shows an example of a preliminary hazard, exposure, vulnerability map created by various
stakeholders, including residents, tour operators, barangay officers, municipality officials in
Maribojoc, Bohol, as part of a workshop conducted in 2016 by a U.P. EIDR (Emerging Inter-Disciplinary
Research) project team on Learning Tourism Destinations. These destinations are new tourist
locations that are still learning to adapt more efficiently to the challenges of changing environments.

Maribojoc was one of the municipalities hard hit by the 2013 Bohol earthquake. Due to the adverse
effects of the earthquake on fishing and agriculture, the different communities turned to tourism as
an alternative source of livelihood. Many volunteers came from various countries to help and were
fascinated by the many beautiful spots in Bohol. They invited other friends to volunteer and see these
places too.
● This map was a result of subjective risk assessments using combined psychosocial
(community residents), ecocritical (various environment-interest groups), and socio-political
(LGU officials) perspectives.

● The map was used by local tourist operators to create safety protocols for tourists as well as
training programs for their tourist guides that emphasize safety for everyone and sensitivity
to both social and natural environments.

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