The Environment Agency's work to underpin its environmental risk assessment and management activity.
The Environment Agency manages the risks associated with a range of hazards to and from the environment. These include issues as diverse as flooding, chemical pollution and radioactivity. We have:
- Expertise in risk-based decision-making, and we work to ensure that common principles underpin our risk-based decision making. Examples span strategic, policy and operational decisions.
- Environmental risk analysis expertise. We have expertise in assessing the risks associated with hazards such as chemicals, pathogen, radioactivity and in relation to flooding. We provide guidance and support to colleagues, in addition to undertaking certain assessments ourselves, in areas such as:
a) Risk screening and prioritisation
b) Generic risk analysis
c) Quantitative (tailored) risk analysis
Risk screening and prioritisation
We develop methods for screening risk to allow the most important ones to be identified and placing each risk in its true context. When all risk are known, they can be prioritised to determine which to address first.
Generic risk analysis
We use a range of techniques including simple risk-rating schemes, decision trees and software such as Crystal Ball(TM) and @Risk(TM). This enables us to qualify risks very rapidly without the need for specific models to be developed.
Tailored risk analysis
We work with colleagues right across the Environment Agency to develop frameworks and methods for undertaking detailed analysis of specific risks.
