INDIVIDUAL COURSEWORK ASSIGNMENT 2

Individual Coursework Assignment 2

Individual Coursework Assignment 2

Introduction

Chesapeake Energy believes that Risk assessment is the core activity which states that it must be done initially and when certain changes are made in order to identify risks that may exist in each and every one of the jobs of the company, which may affect safety and health of workers (Simkins & Simkins, 2013). In fact, the risk assessment is the responsibility of company's management, but the company should also consult employees or their representatives about the method used to make this move considering that it shall comply with the risks involved and the level of investigation required. When performing risk assessment, it is essential to examine accidents, diseases and other work-related injuries that have happened in recent time and it is not shown.

Similarly, the fundamental objective of the risk evaluation during the project was to minimize and control the risks that could not be eliminated by establishing preventive measures and the priorities for action in terms of the consequences to materialize and the likelihood of the occurrence (Brito & de Almeida, 2009). Risk assessment is an activity that should be performed by qualified personnel and procedures are to be consulted with stakeholders.

Discussion

Risk Assessment at Chesapeake Energy

Chesapeake Energy adopted a traditional strategy for risk assessment and evaluation. In fact, risk assessment is the process to evaluate various policy alternatives and select the most appropriate regulatory action taking into account the results of the risk and the social, economic and political elements required for decision-making (Lai et al., 2010). The risk assessment process has four stages including hazard identification, exposure assessment, dose-response assessment and risk characterization as shown in Figure-1:

Figure-1: Risk Assessment Process

Step 1 - Hazard Identification

Chesapeake Energy understands that Hazard identification is the process of determining whether a chemical is linked to certain health effects such as the development of cancer or birth defect. Hazard identification does not provide a quantification of this, but is based on a review of the epidemiological (human population) and/ or toxicological data to determine whether exposure to a chemical can cause negative health consequences (Simkins & Simkins, 2013). As human data is not always readily available, this step usually focuses on determining whether a substance is toxic to animals and other organisms that may be in the testing laboratory. In order to identify the hazard at site, animals can be used to know the toxic impacts of all wastes.

Step 2 - Exposure Assessment

An important concept is that the risk assessment has two components: the toxicity of the substance involved and the degree of exposure to the substance (Payne, 2000). In fact, the exposure assessment at Chesapeake Energy is the process of measuring or estimating the intensity, frequency and duration of exposure, or the estimation of potential exposure that could occur for the environmental release of new toxic substances. The exposure assessment methods may be by direct or indirect, where direct measurement methods involves measurements obtained on the basis of personnel ...