Hazard Identification Tool (HIT)

Hazard Identification Tool (HIT)

Natural disasters often have secondary impacts, including damage to infrastructure and industrial installations. These so-called environmental emergencies may pose a threat to the health, security and welfare of the affected population and the emergency responders. Too often, these risks are neglected, resulting in preventable deaths and injuries.  It is therefore essential that information on the location of the hazardous facilities and the potential impacts is made available to relevant authorities and emergency responders at a very early stage of the disaster response or even prior to the onset of a disaster. 

The Hazard Identification Tool (HIT) has been developed to assist in the desk research based identification of potentially hazardous facilities. The HIT User Guide gives information on the HIT objective and methodology and provides the user with step-by-step guidance on how to apply the HIT, including a list of valuable sources.

Objective

The objective of the HIT is to limit the consequences of natural disasters and technological accidents on the human population, hence to reduce the number of victims. To this end, the HIT is applied to identify potential secondary risks of a natural disaster and provides information that can subsequently feed into the decision making process on requests for further specialized assistance and targeted mitigation measures.

Methodology

The methodology of the HIT is based on the Flash Environmental Assessment Tool (FEAT), a rapid assessment methodology used to identify the most acute hazards to human health and the environment after natural disasters.  The HIT does not replace the FEAT; on the contrary, both tools are complementary: The HIT is compiled based on a desk top research, and sent to first responders and/or national authorities for in-country verification. It is important to emphasize that the HIT is only a first step to reach the goal of limiting the consequences of secondary risks.

The HIT consists of a list of "big and obvious" facilities and objects that may pose a risk to human health and life, as well as the natural environment. The list includes indications of the hazardous substances that are expected to be present in these facilities, as well as the hazard types associated with these substances and related estimated impact types. The hazard types and estimated impact types in the HIT are based on the above mentioned FEAT to facilitate ease of complementary use.

Impact types

• Direct impact on human health - Immediate adverse health effects, possibly leading to immediate death (e.g. explosion, immediate toxic effects)
• Direct impact on life-support functions and nature - Immediate impact on crops, fish resources, agricultural land, water supply and iImmediate threats to biodiversity and certain species or ecosystems
• Long-term impact on life-support functions, nature and humans - 
  Toxic persistent substances entering the food chain and natural ecosystems and effects of carcinogenic substances.

More recently, HITs have also been provided in support of disaster response preparedness activities and simulation exercises.

All HITs can be accessed via the country/disaster specific links at the right column of this page. HITs are also published at the GDACS website.

Disclaimer/Limitations of the HIT

The HIT is only an identification tool and does not provide the user with reliable recommendations for response, preparedness or mitigation activities. For this, specialized expertise from qualified and experienced actors is mandatory and on-site assessments will be needed for verification. The HIT is based on the FEAT, but a simplification thereof in the sense that it only provides an overall estimate of the hazard and impact types of the substances that can be expected to be found in the facility. While these calculations are scientifically based, hazardous substances used at a certain facility may be different from the ones listed in the HIT and impact also highly depends on the quantities of substances present. Based on the list of information sources, the HIT may not provide a conclusive list. Other hazards may not be readily identifiable and it is therefore strongly en-couraged to use additional information sources.