Risk Analysis

()Map PRINCIPLES & SKILLS FOR PROTECTING PUBLIC HEALTH (Map)

Introduction

Risk analysis is a formal & structured way of looking at risks and hazards. In veterinary public health it is mainly used by bodies that play a role in imposing regulations designed to protect animals or human health(e.g. governments or government bodies). If an issue is looked at using risk analysis, it is understood that it will be assessed in a fairly standardised way.

Risk analysis has been used for looking at nuclear reactors, chemical emissions, space exploration & in many other areas. However, its use in veterinary public health has only occurred in the last 10 years or so. Today it is a widely used and accepted way of looking at food safety issues & zoonoses.

Components & Terminology

Due to being used in a variaty of disciplines the exact chain of events that make up risk analysis can take more than one format.

In the most widely used format in Veterinary Public Health Risk Analysis consists of:

1. Hazard Identification.
2. Risk Assessment.
3. Risk Management.
4. Risk Communication.

1. Hazard Identification.
   A Hazard can be defined as something that is potentially harmful- to humans, animals, plants or the environment. This could be the presence of a pathogenic organism in an item of food, faulty brakes in a car or an uncovered manhole. Hazard identification is thus the process of identyfying all possible hazards in a given situation. In reality it may not be possible to identify every hazard in existance for a given situation. However, in order to estimate the risk associated with a given hazard the hazard has to be identified in the first place.
   
   
2. Risk Assesment.
   This refers to the evaluation of the risk(s) associated with a hazard. This often requires risk assessors skilled in a number of diiferent fields. Risk can be defined in this setting as the probability of an undesirable outcome occurring as a consequence of the hazard. This implies that there is more than one possible outcome that could occur and at least one of them is undesiable. In risk analysis the probable consequences of the undesirable outcome occurring are also estimated. For example, if the presence of a pathogenic organism in an item of food is the hazard, then the risk assessment would try to estimate the probability of that organism in the food item causing disease and if it did cause disease , how severe would the disease be & how many people would be affected. Some undesirable outcomes may only affect a few people but have severe consequences or affect many people but have an insignificant effect. Also different people may view a paricular outcome as more undesirable than other people. This is of importance in risk managemant & communication.
3. Risk Management.
   Here the risk manager looks at the risk assessors results & using their own judgement balances potential benefits against assessed risks to reach a desision on the acceptable level of risk. It is based on this judgement that policy is made. Cost-benefit analysis or risk-benefit analysis may be used.
   
   Risk management also includes a structured process consisting of the following:
   1. Becoming aware that a risk issue exists (i.e. a situation with one or more unwanted potential outcomes).
   2. "Scoping the problem"-This includes deciding what further action is required, this depends on if the risk manager sees the risk issue as being of importance. He may decide that a formal risk assessment is not required. He may decide to use the Precautionary Principle & put in place measures to deal with the percieved risk even before the formal risk assessment is undertaken.
   3. Obtaining relevant information - e.g. in the form of Hazard Identification or a Risk Assessment, potential costs & benfits (which could take the form of a Cost-Benefit or Risk-Benefit analsysis).
   4. Identifying the management options.
   5. Deciding which measures should be put in place to deal with the risk (called Risk-Reduction Measures).
   6. Making sure that these decisions are carried out & monitoring the consequences of actions taken.
   7. Evaluating the outcomes of these decisions & actions taken.
   8. Re-evaluating the problem in light of these outcomes.