Fire Spread Risk Assessment Process for Radiant Heat Flux of Flame Ejected from Opening in Fire

When a flashover occurs from a fire in a building compartment, the fire intensifies explosively and changes from a fuel-controlled fire to a ventilation-controlled fire. As a result, flames and unburnt gas are ejected from openings. The ejected unburned gas reacts violently with external oxygen to form a large-scale ejected flame, which causes the fire to expand to the upper layer. Moreover, the radiation of extreme heat to neighboring buildings contributes to fire spreading between buildings. In this study, a quantitative evaluation process was established to evaluate the thermal effect of radiant heat generated from an open fire on the exterior materials of facilities, assuming a fully developed fire.

An Adaptive, Situation-Based Risk Assessment and Security Enforcement Framework for the Maritime Sector

Maritime processes involve actors and systems that continuously change their underlying environment, location and threat exposure. Thus, risk mitigation requires a dynamic risk assessment process, coupled with an adaptive, event driven security enforcement mechanism, to efficiently deal with dynamically evolving risks in a cost efficient manner. In this paper, we propose an adaptive security framework that covers both situational risk assessment and situational driven security policy deployment. We extend MITIGATE, a maritime-specific risk assessment methodology, to capture situations in the risk assessment process and thus produce fine-grained and situation-specific, dynamic risk estimations. Then, we integrate DynSMAUG, a situation-driven security management system, to enforce adaptive security policies that dynamically implement security controls specific to each situation. To validate the proposed framework, we test it based on maritime cargo transfer service. We utilize various maritime specific and generic systems employed during cargo transfer, to produce dynamic risks for various situations. Our results show that the proposed framework can effectively assess dynamic risks per situation and automate the enforcement of adaptive security controls per situation. This is an important improvement in contrast to static and situation-agnostic risk assessment frameworks, where security controls always default to worst-case risks, with a consequent impact on the cost and the applicability of proper security controls.

Climate change risk assessment for the Republic of Korea: developing a systematic assessment methodology

Climate change risks have become a major concern of climate change adaptation, and a systematic risk assessment is required as the first step as well as a key principle of national adaptation policy processes. Although many countries conducted risk assessments, a debate over a systematic assessment process continues, and results of the risk assessment provide limited information to making adaptation policies. Based on a case study of South Korea, this research aims to establish a national-level risk assessment process which includes systematic methodologies given the current limited time/resource and insufficient climate change information. A four-step risk assessment process is proposed: (1) collecting scientific evidence, (2) making list of preliminary risks, (3) making lists of risks and prioritising the risks, (4) categorising the risks. Enough scientific evidence and data about climate change risks of Korea were retained through first two steps, and three components of risk (hazard, exposure, vulnerability) are systematically involved by assessing the magnitude and adaptive capacity of risks. As results of the risks assessment, 93 national-level climate change risks of Korea are identified, and most high priorities in risks have high risk magnitude but low adaptive capacity. This research provided insights for direction of national adaptation policy of each sector by categorising the risks into four categories.

Methodology of estimating the number of inhabitants to assess the population exposure to environmental noise in Japan

Population exposure has been used in the risk assessment process for environmental noise. The number of inhabitants is essential data for the evaluation of population exposure. However, such data is not opened to the public to prevent privacy violation. There are several existing methods for the estimation of the number of habitants, but only with limited accuracy. The purpose of this study is to propose a more accurate method for estimating the number of inhabitants using web scraping techniques and numerical maps issued by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan. The number of inhabitants is estimated from the number of households and the census. The number of households is calculated based on the total number of housing that is extracted from using web scraping techniques. The proposed method is found to present a better accuracy of the number of inhabitants for the detached houses while the estimation for apartment houses should be still improved.

New Tools to Support the Risk Assessment Process of Nanomaterials in the Insurance Sector

During the last decade, the use of nanomaterials, due to their multiple utilities, has exponentially increased. Nanomaterials have unique properties such as a larger specific surface area and surface activity, which may result in health and environmental hazards different from those demonstrated by the same materials in bulk form. Besides, due to their small size, they can easily penetrate through the environmental and biological barriers. In terms of exposure potential, the vast majority of studies are focused on workplace areas, where inhalation is the most common route of exposure. The main route of entry into the environment is due to indirect emissions of nanomaterials from industrial settings, as well as uncontrollable releases into the environment during the use, recycling and disposal of nano-enabled products. Accidental spills during production or later transport of nanomaterials and release from wear and tear of materials containing nanomaterials may lead to potential exposure. In this sense, a proper understanding of all significant risks due to the exposure to nanomaterials that might result in a liability claim has been proved to be necessary. In this paper, the utility of an application for smartphones developed for the insurance sector has been validated as a solution for the analysis and evaluation of the emerging risk of the application of nanotechnology in the market. Different exposure scenarios for nanomaterials have been simulated with this application. The results obtained have been compared with real scenarios, corroborating that the use of novel tools can be used by companies that offer risk management in the form of insurance contracts.

Development of a Digital Video-Based Occupational Risk Assessment Method

The development and implementation of an observational video-based risk assessment is described. Occupational risk assessment is one of the most important yet also challenging tasks for employers. Most assessment tools to date use questionnaires, expert interviews, and similar tools. Video analysis is a promising tool for risk assessment, but it needs an objective basis. A video of a plastering worker was recorded using a 360° camera. The recording was then analyzed using the developed observational matrix concerning Work Characteristics, Work Activities as well as potential risks. Risk factors present during the video of the work included lifting, fall from ladder, hazardous substances as well as occasionally bad posture. The worker had no or just one risk factor present during most of the time of the video recording, while only 16 s with more than one risk factor present according to the observational matrix. The paper presents a promising practical method to assess occupational risks on a case-by-case basis. It can help with the risk assessment process in companies which is required by law in some industrialized countries. The matrix in combination with video analysis is a first step toward digital observational risk assessment. It can also be the basis of an automated risk assessment process.

Risk assessment for rail freight transport operations

The aim of this article is to assess the risk of performance of rail freight transport on the basis of an analysis of identified risk areas based on statistical data on the causes of accidents that occurred on the lines of railway transport in Poland. A critical review of selected scientific studies relating to the risk assessment process for identified areas of the railway system has been undertaken. Based on statistical data, the authors analysed the causes of accidents on railway lines in 2019 in Poland and determined the probability of occurrence of a given cause. In addition, the article calculates the probability of vehicle delays for different emergency situations occurring in the performance of rail freight transport operations. This enabled the authors of the article to carry out a risk assessment of freight train delays on railway lines.

A methodology for e-banking risk assessment using fuzzy logic and Bayesian network

Risk assessment methodology in general has been around for quite a while, its prominence in the E-banking field is a fairly recent phenomenon. We are at the point where risk assessments are critical to the overall function of banks. Banks are required to assess the processes underlying their operations against potential threats, vulnerabilities, and their potential impact, which helps in revealing the risk exposure level, and the residual risks. Identifying clearly a risk assessment methodology is often the first step of assessing and evaluating risk associated with an organization operation. This paper presents a risk assessment methodology for Ebanking Operational Risk. The proposed risk assessment methodology consists of four major steps: a risk model, assessment approach, analysis approach and a risk assessment process. The main tool of the proposed risk assessment methodology is the risk assessment process. The assessment process gives detailed explanation with respect to which models or techniques may be applied and how they are expressed. In this paper the risk assessment technique is built upon fuzzy logic (FL) concept and Bayesian network (BN). In fuzzy logic, an element is included with a degree of membership. Bayesian network is an inference classifier that is capable of representing conditional independencies. The Bayesian and fuzzy logic–based risk assessment process gives good predictions for risk learning and inference in the E-banking systems. Keywords: Fuzzy logic, Bayesian network, risk assessment methodology, operational risk, Ebanking

Piecemeal Transparency: An Appraisal of Regulation (EU) No. 2019/1381 on the Transparency and Sustainability of the EU Risk Assessment in the Food Chain

For some time, pressure was placed on the European Food Safety Authority concerning the manner in which it conducted risk assessments in relation to food safety. This pressure culminated in the introduction of Regulation (EU) No. 2019/1381 as the upshot to the European Citizens’ Initiative on glyphosate. Concerns were expressed in the initiative regarding the transparency of the scientific studies used to evaluate pesticides, and following a Fitness Check conducted by the European Commission. Effectively, the new Regulation seeks to impose an obligation on EFSA to publish industry studies at the beginning of the risk assessment process. However, the mandatory nature of this obligation raises a number of concerns as to whether the urge to increase the transparency of the work of the EU authorities is more important than keeping the research confidential, two converse ideals in the realm of European law and effective processes. The present article submits that this codified focus on the risk assessment process and its accessibility for European citizens is a new frontier for transparency within the EU risk assessment processes. Yet while the changes pioneered by this framework are laudable, the Regulation is not without its qualifications.