Defining the components of accidental risk The evaluation of accidental risk draws upon a technical vocabulary, the principal terms of which are "hazard" and "severity". Hazard: probability that an accidental phenomenon will produce effects of a given intensity at a given location during a determined period. Hazard is spatialized and can be mapped. Danger: property intrinsic to a substance, technical system or living organism which can lead to the damage of a vulnerable constituent. Stakes: vulnerable elements such as people, material goods or the natural world (flora, fauna, natural resources, etc.) which are likely to suffer damage due to exposure to danger. Severity: measurement of the consequences of exposure of vulnerable "elements" to a dangerous phenomenon. Intensity: physical measurement of the intensity of a dangerous phenomenon. Intensity is most often measured by determining the reach of a phenomenon’s effects. It does not consider the targets exposed. Probability: degree of likelihood that a dangerous event will occur; frequency of a phenomenon. Vulnerability: assessment of the relationship between the effects of danger and the damage an exposed target suffers. In the case of a region, vulnerability is the assessment of the average sensitivity of all targets in the region to a given type of effect.
Defining the components of accidental risk The evaluation of accidental risk draws upon a technical vocabulary, the principal terms of which are "hazard" and "severity". Hazard: probability that an accidental phenomenon will produce effects of a given intensity at a given location during a determined period. Hazard is spatialized and can be mapped. Danger: property intrinsic to a substance, technical system or living organism which can lead to the damage of a vulnerable constituent. Stakes: vulnerable elements such as people, material goods or the natural world (flora, fauna, natural resources, etc.) which are likely to suffer damage due to exposure to danger. Severity: measurement of the consequences of exposure of vulnerable "elements" to a dangerous phenomenon. Intensity: physical measurement of the intensity of a dangerous phenomenon. Intensity is most often measured by determining the reach of a phenomenon’s effects. It does not consider the targets exposed. Probability: degree of likelihood that a dangerous event will occur; frequency of a phenomenon. Vulnerability: assessment of the relationship between the effects of danger and the damage an exposed target suffers. In the case of a region, vulnerability is the assessment of the average sensitivity of all targets in the region to a given type of effect.
