CEM Hazard Identification & Risk Analysis 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which analysis technique is used to identify all the ways a system component can fail and the effects those failures have on the overall system?
- Vulnerability assessment
- Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) (Correct answer)
- Criticality analysis
- Preliminary hazard analysis
Correct answer: Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)
FMEA systematically examines each component of a system to identify potential failure modes, their causes, and the effects on system performance.
Question 2: In the context of dam safety risk assessment, the 'probable maximum flood' (PMF) represents:
- The flood level that has a 1% annual chance of being equaled or exceeded
- The most severe flood considered reasonably possible based on meteorological and hydrological conditions (Correct answer)
- The average of all recorded flood events at a dam site
- The flood level used for normal spillway design only
Correct answer: The most severe flood considered reasonably possible based on meteorological and hydrological conditions
The PMF is the largest flood considered physically possible at a site based on extreme meteorological and hydrological conditions, used as the standard for high-hazard dam design.
Question 3: When conducting a community wildfire risk assessment, the term 'fire environment' encompasses which three components?
- Wind, humidity, and temperature
- Fuel, weather, and topography (Correct answer)
- Ignition sources, suppression resources, and defensible space
- Slope, aspect, and elevation
Correct answer: Fuel, weather, and topography
The fire environment triangle consists of fuel (type, amount, moisture), weather (wind, temperature, humidity), and topography (slope, aspect), which together determine fire behavior.
Question 4: A local emergency manager uses a Geographic Information System (GIS) to overlay flood inundation zones with census block population data. This process is an example of:
- Threat assessment
- Spatial exposure analysis (Correct answer)
- Probabilistic risk modeling
- Consequence-only analysis
Correct answer: Spatial exposure analysis
Overlaying hazard zones with population or asset data in GIS constitutes spatial exposure analysis, identifying what and who is located within the hazard's impact area.
Question 5: Which federal program requires facilities handling extremely hazardous substances to submit risk management plans that include hazard assessments with worst-case release scenarios?
- SARA Title III / EPCRA
- Clean Air Act Risk Management Program (RMP) (Correct answer)
- OSHA Process Safety Management (PSM)
- RCRA Hazardous Waste Regulations
Correct answer: Clean Air Act Risk Management Program (RMP)
The Clean Air Act's Risk Management Program (40 CFR Part 68) requires covered facilities to develop RMPs that include worst-case and alternative release scenario analyses.
Question 6: The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 established a global target to reduce disaster losses. Which of the following is one of the seven global targets?
- Eliminate all fatalities from natural hazards by 2030
- Substantially reduce global disaster mortality over 2005-2015 averages by 2030 (Correct answer)
- Achieve zero economic losses from disasters in developed nations
- Mandate hazard insurance for all critical infrastructure globally
Correct answer: Substantially reduce global disaster mortality over 2005-2015 averages by 2030
Sendai Target A calls for substantially reducing global disaster mortality by 2030 relative to the 2005-2015 baseline, guiding national and local risk reduction investments.
Question 7: In risk analysis, 'residual risk' is defined as:
- The risk that exists before any mitigation measures are applied
- The risk remaining after mitigation controls have been implemented (Correct answer)
- The risk transferred to an insurance company through a policy
- The risk accepted by a neighboring jurisdiction
Correct answer: The risk remaining after mitigation controls have been implemented
Residual risk is the level of risk that persists after all feasible mitigation controls have been implemented, representing what a community must accept, transfer, or monitor.
CEM Hazard Identification & Risk Analysis 5
Which analysis technique is used to identify all the ways a system component can fail and the effects those failures have on the overall system?