Disaster Risk Management Plan

Disaster Risk Management Plan

Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Course Work 1.............................................................................................................................................2
Part 1.......................................................................................................................................................2
The process of formulation and emergency plan................................................................................2
Policy domain and the relevant principles operating procedures.......................................................5
Disaster management plans................................................................................................................9
Part 2.....................................................................................................................................................13
Critical evaluation of the weaknesses and threats............................................................................13
Coursework 2............................................................................................................................................15
Opportunity and challenges for the development of national risk reduction strategies.......................15
Opportunity for development of risk reduction strategies....................................................................15
Challenges in the development of the ownership.................................................................................16
Possibilities for the enhancement in future...........................................................................................16
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................16
References.................................................................................................................................................18
Table of Figures
Figure 1: National Disaster Management...................................................................................................6
Figure 2: State-level disaster management process...................................................................................7
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Introduction
Disaster Risk Management plan is a documented process that is used to address disaster risk.
These risks are potential losses of life, damaged assets and injuries. In other word, this plan
uses administrative decision, operational skills, and capacities to implement strategies and
policies in order to lessen impact of natural as well as manmade hazards. Disaster Risk
Management plan is essential, as it is vital for building sustainable and equitable future. It can
be considered as necessary part of some systematic efforts to increase resilience towards
disasters. The assignment will focus on the key issues relating to formulating, implementing and
writing an emergency plan. Potential and real implications for the wider uses of disaster
management training are covered in this assignment. The process of formulating and writing a
relevant national risk reduction plan is incorporated here. In addition to this, two plans will be
compared based on their strengths and weaknesses. Opportunities and challenges faced by
policy makers with respect to development of national risk reduction strategies are illustrated
in this assignment.
Course Work 1
Part 1
The process of formulation of emergency plan
An emergency plan is prepared to react to a risk or threat efficiently and effectively. This plan
includes planned procedures, disaster staffs and informed staffs. It maps out the process of
resuming normal business process, recording various data, reconstructing. The goal of this plan
is to create a culture of preparedness and awareness as well as to develop resilience for people.
The plan can be considered as a guide for employees and managers during and after a disaster.
Disaster management plan is prepared by a recovery committee, which includes
representatives from different critical departments. It must include representatives from risk
management, security, record management, building maintenance and computing department
(Paton and Johnston, 2017). The plan needs to spell out function and titles of each team
member associated with disaster recovery process. In addition to this, the emergency plan
must include certain methods for communicating vendors, supplies, support agencies
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alternates, consultants and departments with whom disaster agreements and contracts are in
effect.
The disaster management plan is provided for both minor and major disasters. It must address
community wide and individual natural disasters. The disaster plan must include initial and
ongoing training provision for members involved in recovery process (Fekete et al., 2014). Skills
are highly needed in salvage and reconstruction phase of the recovery process. The objectives
of disaster risk management plan are as follows.
 Execute efficient and rapid response during an emergency situation
 Provide continuous and uninterrupted education
 Reduce disaster risk in different areas
Key elements involved in emergency plan are preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation.
Preparedness includes preparing some protective measures before disaster events. Response
includes implementing emergency procedures, which can lessen the impact of disasters.
Recovery means repairing any damage occurred due to disasters. The fourth element is
mitigation, which involves identifying the causes of disasters.
The steps involved in process of formulation of emergency plan are as follows.
To establish a planning team: There must be a group in charge of formulating emergency
plans, in order to be ready when required. Participation of each member in the planning team is
mandatory for making improvements in the emergency plan. A mission statement needs to be
issued to demonstrate organization’s commitment towards emergency management. The
planning team should develop an initial budget to meet the expenses required during
development process.
Analyze hazards and capabilities: This step is about collecting and gathering information
regarding current capabilities and possible hazards. A vulnerability analysis must be conducted
in order to determine facility’s capabilities for handling risks and hazards. Certain documents
are required to initiate this step such as risk management plan, security procedures, and
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process safety assessment. The planning team needs to identify local, state and federal
regulations for smooth operation of emergency planning.
Develop the plan: This step includes facility’s approach to core elements of emergency
management such as communication, life safety, recovery and restoration and property
protection. The team has to coordinate with other organizations to assist in development of
emergency plan. It is essential to determine local and state requirements as well as
incorporating those into procedures. Another duty of the planning team is to share certain
sections with Government agencies for approval.
Implement the plan: Implementation of plan is more than just exercising plans during
emergencies. It means acting on certain recommendations made during vulnerability analysis
and integrating a particular plan into organization’s operation and evaluating that plan.
Review the plan periodically: The final step is all about reviewing the plan from time to time.
This needs to be done after each emergency. The planning team should carefully analyze when
procedures and changes should be made and how much change is required to handle the next
emergency effectively.
Key issues associated with formulation of emergency plan
 It is hard to determine amount of resources available for recovery
 Differences in views of team members
 Lack of financial resources to implement a plan
 It is hard to organize everything during implementation of plan
 Commitment is considered to be an issue with respect to exercising plans
 Lack of proper communication among team members can lead to formulation of a poor
emergency plan
Stakeholders
Stakeholders are organizations and individuals having a stake in the outcome of a particular
risk. They are directly responsible for reducing specific community risk. They have important
information for assessing and mapping risks. During development of a disaster plan, Disaster
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managers and specialists set a priority and focus on partnership building in order to coordinate
multiple agencies, Government and society.
Key stakeholders involved in disaster management plan are emergency managers, ESF lead,
transportation officials, first responders, decision makers, private sector partners, volunteer
organizations and others. These stakeholders cooperate with each other for making decisions
and designing operational, contingency and strategic plans. They execute emergency orders
and response operations. ESF leads and emergency managers gather important players,
recommend specific actions and provide resources for facilitating emergency operations.
Transportation officials provide and order traffic operation resources for recovery process.
Decision makers collect information and provide appropriate recommendations for rescue
process. First responders are major stakeholders and considered as first line of response. These
stakeholders include fire, police, and emergency medical officers (Djalante, 2012). They
coordinate with volunteers and provide knowledge on local area. Volunteer organizations serve
as local assets after or during disasters. They provide relief services as well as support services.
They open staff shelters during disasters. Private sectors partners provide technical and
personnel assistance along with supplies and equipments. Another important stakeholder is
civil society. These stakeholders play important role during disasters. They involve in activities
like food, supplies, equipments and transportation. They engage in contingency planning for
providing best services to victims during and after disasters.
Agreeing Hazards
Disasters occurring due to certain natural forces are called as natural hazards. Individuals and
community have no control over such hazards. Such hazards cause numerous losses to property
and life. Common natural hazards are droughts, cyclones, floods and cyclones such as volcanic
eruptions, wildfires and Tsunamis. Disasters causing due to mishandling of dangerous
equipments and carelessness of human is called as manmade hazards. Some examples of
manmade hazards are plane crashes, train accidents, collapse of bridges, buildings, tunnels and
others. Both natural and manmade hazards have significant impact on environmental, social
and economic condition of a country (McCall, 2012).
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