Vulnerability

Vulnerability is a state of being at risk. According to Republic Act 10121 also known as ‘Philippine
Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010’, vulnerability is defined as the characteristics and
circumstances of a community, system or resource that make it susceptible to the damaging effects of a
hazard. With all the identified hazard at home, there is a possibility that some family members might be
susceptible or prone to the accident due to the presence of hazard.
Vulnerability is also situation specific. This means that if a specific province is prone to earthquake, it
does not mean that all localities on that province is vulnerable to it. The vulnerability of different towns or
cities or even provinces differ in the way they prepare for the hazard and the amount and type of
resources they have in order prevent and manage it. To lessen vulnerability means to make the
community prepared and ready for the possible damaging effect of the hazard.
This further means that to make the community less vulnerable, it must be resilient. So, to develop
resiliency at home, you should first identify the hazards and be prepared all the time for the possible
outcome and respond immediately.
Moreover, it is also hazard specific. A community that is vulnerable to earthquake hazard does not
necessarily mean that it is also vulnerable to typhoons. Hazards have different traits that can influence the
disasters possible to happen.

Factors affecting vulnerability of one’s community:

1. Population density near a hazard event.
• Population differs from population density.
• Population refers to the number of individuals inhabiting in a particular space at the same time. If
people are well distributed, there is lesser effect of disaster.
• Population density refers to the number of individuals living in an area in relation to the size of an area.
If population density is high, it means that the number of individuals is high but the space is very small. In
that case, if fire broke in that area, there is little space for the population to escape quickly and easily. So,
crowded communities have higher vulnerability to hazards.
• The primary consideration is not the population size but the population density.

2. Capacity and efficiency to reduce Disaster Risk.

• Community that is less vulnerable has the capacity to reduce disaster risk because;
1. It can provide accessibility and availability of services and facilities during and after disaster.
2. It has the ability to anticipate, adapt, and respond to possible disaster.
• Is it appropriate to say that The Philippines is less vulnerable to typhoon? Nowadays, our country has
advanced technology to predict super typhoon and several municipalities already provided evacuation
centers to provide temporary housing for victims when disaster occur.

Vulnerabilities of different elements are determined due to its exposure to particular and specific hazard.

Physical vulnerability includes population density levels, place of a settlement, the site design, and
materials used for infrastructure and housing. When hazardous events occur, normally physical elements
are severely damaged. For example, UP Visayas buildings were totally destroyed during the super
typhoon Yolanda in 2008 leaving the structure totally damaged. Another example is the decreased in
population density like what happened in Baguio during the 1990 earthquake in North Luzon when a lot of
people were injured and died.

Social vulnerability happens due to inability of people, organization, and societies to prevent severe
effects from hazards because of the expected behavior in social interactions, institutions, and system of
cultural values communications were cut off when cell sites shutdown or disruption of transport system
due to inability of small vehicles to pass through the flooded areas or unpassable roads and bridges. With
some difficulties in the delivery of services such as relief goods and medicines, a lot of problems occurred
like shortage of food and spread of infectious diseases. Therefore, when social elements were exposed to
hazard, these may lead to disruption of normal processes and activities in the community.

Level of economic vulnerability is based on the economic status of individuals, communities, and
nations. The poorer the country, the more vulnerable to disasters because they lack the funds or budgets
to build sturdy structures and put other engineering measures in place which protect them from being
affected by disasters. So, we can say that Philippines is more vulnerable to an event such as earthquake
compared to Japan. Though both countries are exposed to earthquake hazard because both are located
in the Pacific ring of fire, but due to differences in economic status, Japan is more resilient because of its
ability to afford changes in architectural and engineering designs of building and infrastructures to make
them less vulnerable to earthquake. Another example is the Covid-19 pandemic wherein the most
affected are those who belong to low income and informal workers.
Social and economic vulnerability can be combined also known as socioeconomic vulnerability.

Environmental vulnerability is caused by natural resources depletion and destruction. Organisms like
humans, animals, and plants are all dependent on the environment for survival. Human activities like
deforestation, burning of fossil fuels, and kaingin affect the natural abilities of the environment to protect
itself from any natural hazard due to absence of trees which may cause landslide and flashfloods.
Sometimes the effects are irreversible.
Quantifying vulnerability is used in estimating how much mitigation and preparedness measures will be
applied. Computation is based on the previous hazard events and severity of their effects.

The Philippines has high vulnerability due to the following reasons:

• It lies in the Pacific typhoon belt and we are visited by an average of 20 typhoons every year.
• Rugged nature of the landscape makes it vulnerable to landslide, mudflows, and other disasters.
• It is an archipelagic country with many small islands where some areas are at below sea level.
• It has the longest shoreline in the world at 32,400 km making it vulnerable to storm surges.
• It is still a primary agricultural and fishing economy.
• With poor institutional and social capacity to manage, respond, and recover from natural hazard events.
• With high level of poverty
• Aside from typhoon, it is also at risk to volcanic eruptions, quakes, and floods.

Hazard is a harmful condition, substance, human behavior or condition that can cause loss of life, injury
or other health effects, harm to property, loss of livelihood and services, social and economic disruption or
damage to the environment. Any risk which is imminent is threat.
Exposure is the presence of elements at risk or chance of being harmed from a natural or man-made
hazard event. Elements include the individuals, households or communities, properties, buildings and
structures, agricultural commodities, livelihoods, and public facilities, infrastructures and environmental
assets present in an area that are subject to potential damage or even losses. The more a community is
exposed to hazard factors, the higher is the disaster risk or higher chance disaster occurrence.
Vulnerability means the characteristics and circumstances of a community, system, or asset, that make
it susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard and inability of a community to prevent, mitigate,
prepare for and respond to hazardous events.
Risk implies the probability of possible adverse effects. This results from the interaction of social and
environmental systems, from the combination of physical danger, and exposed item vulnerabilities.
Disaster is a serious disruption to the functioning of a community or society which causes widespread
human, material, economic or environmental losses that exceed the capacity of the community or society
concerned to cope with the use of their own resources. It results from the mix of hazards, risk conditions
and inadequate capability or measures.
Exposure and vulnerability, on the other hand, are distinct. A certain community can be exposed but it
does not mean that it is vulnerable. Buildings and structures in Japan are exposed to earthquake, but they
are not vulnerable since their architectural and engineering designs are earthquake proof or resistant.
However, to become vulnerable, it must be exposed to hazard first.
Exposure to hazard can make a community vulnerable. But not all communities that are exposed to
hazard can be considered vulnerable. Vulnerability depends on the preparedness and readiness to a
hazard of the community. It depends mostly on how they mitigate, respond, and recovery
Disaster mitigation measures are those that eliminate or reduce the impacts and risks of hazards by
means of proactive measures taken before an emergency or disaster takes place. Mitigation is the action
of reducing something's severity, seriousness, or painfulness.

Hazards can be categorized in different types:

1. Natural hazards - arise from natural processes in the environment.
e.g. earthquakes, tsunami, landslides, volcanic eruptions and floods
2. Quasi-natural hazards- arise through the interaction of natural processes and
human activities
e.g. pollution or desertification, smog and fog
3. Technological (or man-made) hazards- These arise directly as a result of human activities.
e.g. accidental release of chemicals, toxic and pesticides to floral and fauna

A hazard is defined is simply a condition or a set of circumstances that present a potential for harm. So
far, you also have learned that hazards are divided into two broad categories: health hazard (can cause
occupational illnesses) and safety hazard (can cause physical harm or injuries). A hazard can also be
classified into six types which are biological, chemical, physical, safety, ergonomic and psychosocial.
On the other hand, risk refers to the potential for loss, damage or destruction a hazard can cause while
vulnerability refers to the characteristics of a community or system that make it susceptible to the
possible damaging effects of a hazard. For example, a doctor who is handling a patient infected with a
virus (hazard) has a high chance of getting infected (risk) if she has poor immune system and does not
wear personal protective equipment (vulnerability).

What are the Different Impacts of Hazards?

A hazard can bring about many impacts which can come in different types. Facilities and infrastructures
are commonly the target of natural hazards. Specifically, these impacts can trigger accidents and the
release of toxic substances, fires and explosions, potentially resulting in health effects, environmental
pollution and economic losses.
One way to classify hazard impacts is by means of general impact themes namely:
• • Danger to life which includes physical and psychological harm
and diseases
• • Denial of access like energy, water, communication and transport access
• • Damage to the physical environment like buildings and land
For the purpose of this module, we will focus on six (6) more specific types of hazard impacts.
1. Physical impact
- Physical injuries (bone fracture, wounds, bruises)
- Destruction and loss of vital infrastructure like transportation system, roads, bridges, power lines and
communication lines.
- Wide spread destruction of housing and buildings

2. Psychological impact
- Grief and psychological illness
- Marital conflict
- Depression due to loss of loved ones and properties
- Chronic anxiety

3. Socio- cultural impact

- Displacement of population
- Loss of cultural identity
- Forced of adoption of new sets of culture
- Ethnic conflicts
4. Economic impact
- Loss of job due to displacement
- Loss of harvest and livestock
- Loss of farms, fish cages and other source of food
- Loss of money and other valuables

5. Environmental impact
- Loss of forest due to forest fires
- Loss of fresh water due to salination
- Disturbance of biodiversity
- Loss of natural rivers

6. Biological impact
- Epidemic to people, flora and fauna
- Chronic and permanent illness caused by biological agents
- Proliferation of different viral diseases

Identification of Hazards and Risk Assessment

Hazard identification is the process of determining all physical and nonphysical agents in the workplace
or specific environment. Most occupational health and safety problems are caused by hazards which are
not eliminated or managed. In order to prevent untoward incidents in a workplace or community,
elimination or controlling of hazards is crucial. In some workplaces where hazards cannot be eliminated,
they must be monitored and properly managed at the least.
Risk assessment is a way to determine which hazards and risks should prioritized by taking into
consideration the probability and severity of impact.
Below are the steps in hazard identification and risk assessment.
1. Identify the hazards. Use the following methods:
a. Observation - use your senses of sight, hearing, smell and touch - combined with knowledge and
experience.
b. Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) - obtain them from manufacturers and suppliers. It gives
information on possible harm from hazardous substances and precautions that need to be taken.
c. Hazard and risk surveys - interview other people about their safety concerns as far as the workplace is
concerned. Utmost consideration should be given to children or visitors who could be at risk.
d. Discussion groups - are useful for identifying hazards and recommending solutions.
e. Safety audits – a committee must be assigned to periodically check safety in the area.
2. Assess the Risk. Once a hazard has been identified, the likelihood and possible severity of injury or
harm will need to be assessed before determining how best to minimize the risk. High-risk hazards need
to be addressed more urgently than low- risk ones.

3. Make the changes. Once risks are assessed, the next step is to make decision for some necessary
changes. These changes include removing the hazard and replacing it with something less hazardous,
engineering modifications like installation of exhausts, safety barriers and safety exits, modification of
procedures, etc. Combination of the risk control measures mentioned above to effectively reduce
exposure to hazards can also be done.
4. Checking the changes made. To make sure risk has been minimized, and a further hazard has not
been created, the new safety measures may need to be carefully tested before work begins again. Risk
assessment doesn’t end with making changes. It is essential that these changes made are monitored and
checked. It must be monitored if the changes done are being followed consistently and if these changes
contribute to the improvement of safety management in the workplace. This last step has to be done
periodically to accurately assess the effectiveness of the entire process.

Map interpretation is the process looking at the map in order for us to be guided to a direction or place
where we wanted to go using the different symbols or elements of the map.
There are seven important components of a map. These components will help you interpret a map.
1. Compass rose. This will give you the proper direction. This is also called it “orientation.”

2. Title. It tells what the map is about.

3. Symbols. These are pictures instead of symbols.

4. Legend or Key. It explains the meaning of symbols and colour.

5. Colour. It highlights the important information to help interpret maps.

6. Scale. It shows the proportion of map to real life.

7. Grid Reference. These are intersecting lines to help locate specific places on the map. In some maps,
it is also called “border.