Hazard analysis
A hazard analysis was completed by the St. John’s campus that involved rating 53 potential threats. This analysis included the probability of occurrence, the university’s vulnerability and the potential impact utilizing the following criteria.
Probability
Probability that the hazard would occur at the St. John’s campus was considered from the following eight perspectives:
• Historic (e.g. number of occurrences in the past)
• Demographic (e.g. the university profile)
• Geographic (e.g. proximity to nuclear power plants, flood plains, etc.)
• Technological (e.g. what was unlikely in the past may be probable due to technology)
• Transportation (e.g. movement of dangerous goods)
• Human error (e.g. poor training and/or maintenance)
• Physical (e.g. hazardous material storage, ongoing construction)
• Legal/regulatory (e.g. non compliance)
Vulnerability
The St. John’s campus’ vulnerability to these hazards was assessed based on
• The potential severity of the hazard;
• Its current mitigation strategies; and
• How well it is prepared to handle the hazard.
Impact
The impact was evaluated according to six key areas. These are:
• Human (e.g. minor/major injuries and/or death(s))
• Infrastructure (e.g. cost to replace/repair/temporary set-up, how much damage (little or none, mild-severe, or extensive)
• Operations (e.g. unable to work from site, interruptions in teaching/research)
• Financial (e.g. the monetary cost of the hazard, what is considered an acceptable loss)
• Reputation (e.g. loss of stakeholder trust, public endorsement)
• Legal/liability implications
After each hazard was analyzed and the score calculated, potential hazards were arranged in descending order from the highest score to the lowest to give an indication of priority planning requirements for the St. John’s campus.
Based on the results, the St. John’s campus has identified the following hazards as the top ten potential threats. Results of the full hazard analysis can be found in the emergency management plan.
Top ten potential threats
1. Behavioral threat to safety
2. Hazardous materials
3. Communicable disease (non-pandemic) (e.g. Norwalk virus)
4. Severe weather (e.g. blizzards, rain/wind storms)
5. Explosions/fire
6. Information management/information technology equipment systems
7. Pandemic (as declared by the world health organization)
8. Labour disruption
9. Computer security
10. Major power outage
Functional sub-plans and procedures were developed to aid in the prevention and mitigation of the top threats and to ensure the campus is prepared for these threats.