State of the Art in Risk Analysis of Workforce Criticality Influencing Disaster Preparedness for Interdependent Systems

The objective of this article is to discuss a needed paradigm shift in disaster risk analysis to emphasize the role of the workforce in managing the recovery of interdependent infrastructure and economic systems. Much of the work that has been done on disaster risk analysis has focused primarily on preparedness and recovery strategies for disrupted infrastructure systems. The reliability of systems such as transportation, electric power, and telecommunications is crucial in sustaining business processes, supply chains, and regional livelihoods, as well as ensuring the availability of vital services in the aftermath of disasters. There has been a growing momentum in recognizing workforce criticality in the aftermath of disasters; nevertheless, significant gaps still remain in modeling, assessing, and managing workforce disruptions and their associated ripple effects to other interdependent systems. The workforce plays a pivotal role in ensuring that a disrupted region continues to function and subsequently recover from the adverse effects of disasters. With this in mind, this article presents a review of recent studies that have underscored the criticality of workforce sectors in formulating synergistic preparedness and recovery policies for interdependent infrastructure and regional economic systems.     

Environmental disasters as risk regulation catalysts? The role of Bhopal,Chernobyl, Exxon Valdez,Love Canal,and Three Mile Island in shaping U.S. environmental law

Unexpected events such as environmental catastrophes capture wide public attention. Soon after five major shocks—Three Mile Island, Love Canal, Bhopal, Chernobyl, and the Exxon Valdez oil spill—Congress voted on new risk regulation. This paper conducts an event study to test whether individual congressional representatives were “shocked” by these environmental disasters into increasing their probability of voting in favor of risk legislation. On average, representatives were less likely to vote in favor of bills tied to these five events. Significant heterogeneity in representatives’ responses to these shocks is documented. Liberal Northeast representatives were most likely to increase their pro-environment voting in the aftermath of these shocks.

Confronting Uncertainty: Lessons from Rural Social Work

Abstract

Communities in Australia and internationally are experiencing massive change. Climate variability is an aspect of change that social workers in Australia, particularly in rural areas, are grappling with. Vulnerable populations will be at increased risk as extreme weather events increase in frequency. Communities will be facing social challenges hitherto unknown. The experience of uncertainty and fragmentation as characteristics of postmodernism has exposed the ambiguous and contested nature of much of social work practice and contributed to a crisis of confidence for the social work profession. The move towards rationality and linear approaches in the postwelfare state is often at odds with the complexity and uncertainty of human situations that has always been social work terrain. It can be argued that social work, with its ethical base, person-in-environment approach, expertise in ambiguity and complexity, and recognition of context, is well-placed to manage postmodern uncertainty. Using the 2009 Victorian bushfire example, I argue that an uncertain future is an opportunity for social workers, those working in rural areas in particular, to reassert social work's moral purpose in working with communities facing change. Implications for social work policy, practice, and education are briefly explored.     

Environmental Social Work: Accounting for Gender in Climate Disasters

Abstract

The person-in-the-environment concept has largely been interpreted by social workers to indicate social networks and relationships, ignoring the physical environment and its complex impact on human health and wellbeing. This article examines the environmental domain, noting the critical role social workers can have in this field as a consequence of climate events and global warming. The article notes the significance of gender as a key factor in vulnerability to disasters and outlines the need for social workers to consider gender as a critical indicator in their work in this emerging area. Embodiment, connection to place, poverty, and cultural awareness are also significant, but often overlooked, factors in a social work response to environmental disasters. Ecological and ecofeminist theories give a direction for social work theory and practice in the postdisaster space. The article challenges social workers to reconsider the person-in-the-environment as a complex and critical emerging domain of social work theories and practice, a domain where gender awareness is fundamental.     

从《空间与重大灾害国际宪章》看空间技术与国际减灾合作

<空间与重大灾害国际宪章>旨在促进各空间机构与空间系统运营商之间在利用空间设施进行灾害危机管理方面的合作,在危机期间向遭受自然或技术灾害影响的国家或群体提供数据、信息及服务,支持受灾国家的灾害管理决策,减轻灾害对人类造成的损失.我国在2008年汶川地震后启动合作机制,取得了灾区情况的重要资料,有力地支持了救灾工作.天基信息保障对于救灾具有重大意义,而国际合作机制加强了这种保障.空间减灾宪章实践了外空法之国际合作原则,空间减灾需要进一步加强国际合作.     

Access to Disaster Services

ABSTRACT

This study uses geographic and network analysis, and regression techniques, to examine access to services for vulnerable populations in disaster, and offer potential interventions to improve access. The population for this study is 67 organizations providing disaster social services in a U.S. metropolitan area, and an additional 25 organizations which are willing to provide these services but do not have a formal disaster relief function. The findings from this study indicate a lack of relief services for vulnerable populations, including African-Americans, people over 75 years old, and female-headed households with young children. During a disaster, a type of social injustice results from (a) the vulnerability of these populations to disaster, (b) the higher vulnerability to disaster of the areas in which these populations reside, (c) the smaller number of organizations serving these areas, (d) the lower capacities and network interaction of these local organizations, and (e) the formidable geographic barriers slowing redistribution of resources in a disaster. If connectedness of smaller, informal organizations to the disaster network were improved, otherwise isolated organizations could be a source of substantial resources for the metropolitan area. Suggestions are offered for interventions, based on services coordination (Provan & Milward, 1995) and community organization models (Soliman, 1996), for correcting the lack of access to services documented by this study.     

Toward Disaster‐Resilient Cities: Characterizing Resilience of Infrastructure Systems with Expert Judgments

Resilient infrastructure systems are essential for cities to withstand and rapidly recover from natural and human‐induced disasters, yet electric power, transportation, and other infrastructures are highly vulnerable and interdependent. New approaches for characterizing the resilience of sets of infrastructure systems are urgently needed, at community and regional scales. This article develops a practical approach for analysts to characterize a community's infrastructure vulnerability and resilience in disasters. It addresses key challenges of incomplete incentives, partial information, and few opportunities for learning. The approach is demonstrated for Metro Vancouver, Canada, in the context of earthquake and flood risk. The methodological approach is practical and focuses on potential disruptions to infrastructure services. In spirit, it resembles probability elicitation with multiple experts; however, it elicits disruption and recovery over time, rather than uncertainties regarding system function at a given point in time. It develops information on regional infrastructure risk and engages infrastructure organizations in the process. Information sharing, iteration, and learning among the participants provide the basis for more informed estimates of infrastructure system robustness and recovery that incorporate the potential for interdependent failures after an extreme event. Results demonstrate the vital importance of cross‐sectoral communication to develop shared understanding of regional infrastructure disruption in disasters. For Vancouver, specific results indicate that in a hypothetical M7.3 earthquake, virtually all infrastructures would suffer severe disruption of service in the immediate aftermath, with many experiencing moderate disruption two weeks afterward. Electric power, land transportation, and telecommunications are identified as core infrastructure sectors.     

东汉自然灾害史研究综述

学界对东汉自然灾害的研究主要集中在灾害史料的搜求整理、灾害灾次统计、灾害时空分布、灾害形成的社会以及自然原因、灾害对社会政治经济文化甚或人们的心态和价值取向的影响等方面。多灾种综合研究者少,各灾种研究不平衡。     

Secondary Traumatic Stress in Social Workers Responding to Disasters: Reports from the Field

Social workers are called to respond to disasters to provide assessment, crisis counseling and trauma treatment as part of the recovery effort. While research has identified the types of interventions appropriate in assisting trauma survivors, little empirical research exists to help address the distress responses that social workers experience when exposed to the trauma material of disaster survivors and their families. Case examples can inform social work practice using evidence informed interventions and recording the outcomes. This article presents three case histories of social workers responding to disasters, the course of their secondary traumatic stress responses and their struggle to overcome the psychological adversity they faced.     

Community change: Water management through the use of social media,the case of Australia's Murray-Darling Basin

Social media can influence behavior, disseminate knowledge and impact on social change during times of conflict. Communication literature is important when considering community members’ perception of priority areas of the media, however, limited attention has focused on communication theory in depth, through the use of Social Media. This qualitative study explores the Australian Government Department, The Murray-Darling Basin Authority, and their effective use of social media to engage with a community previously in conflict with the Government.