hazard
American Heritage Dictionary:
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haz·ard
(hăz'ərd) 
n.
n.
- A chance; an accident.
- A chance of being injured or harmed; danger: Space travel is full of hazards.
- A possible source of danger: a fire hazard.
- Games. A dice game similar to craps.
- Sports. An obstacle, such as a sand trap, found on a golf course.
- To expose to danger or harm. See synonyms at endanger.
- To venture (something); dare: hazard a guess.
[Middle English hasard, dice game, from Old French, possibly from Old Spanish azar, possibly from Arabic az-zahr, the gaming die : al-, the + zahr, gaming die.]
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hazard
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Circumstance that increases the likelihood or probable severity of a loss. For example, the storing of explosives in a home basement is a hazard that increases the probability of an explosion.
| Hardship, Hangarkeepers Legal Liability Insurance, Hail Insurance | |
| Hazard Increase Resulting in Suspension or Exclusion of Coverage, Health Care Power of Attorney, Health Care Village |
Roget's Thesaurus:
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hazard
noun
- An unexpected random event: accident, chance, fluke, fortuity, hap, happenchance, happenstance. See certain/uncertain, surprise/expect.
- The quality shared by random, unintended, or unpredictable events or this quality regarded as the cause of such events: chance, fortuitousness, fortuity, fortune, hap, luck. See certain/uncertain.
- Exposure to possible harm, loss, or injury: danger, endangerment, imperilment, jeopardy, peril, risk. See safety/danger.
- A possibility of danger or harm: chance, gamble, risk. See safety/danger.
verb
- To expose to possible loss or damage: adventure, compromise, risk, venture. See safety/danger.
- To run the risk of: adventure, chance, risk, venture. See safety/danger.
- To have the courage to put forward, as an idea, especially when rebuff or criticism is likely: dare, presume, pretend, venture. See try.
Antonyms by Answers.com:
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hazard
adj
Definition: risk
Antonyms: keep safe
n
Definition: danger
Antonyms: protection, safeguard, safety
n
Definition: luck, chance
Antonyms: assurance, certainty, determination, fact, proof, reality, surety
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An unexpected threat to humans and/or their property. By this definition, the Indian monsoon is not a hazard, but its failure is. The most frequently occurring hazards are climatic: drought, hurricanes, floods, ice, snow, and fog; tectonic: earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunami; or due to mass movement: landslides and avalanches.
Traditionally, hazards have been classified as anthropogenic and ‘natural’; for example, respectively, radioactive pollution, and a volcanic eruption. This division is no longer current, since humans are now understood always to have been part of nature, and it is not always possible to distinguish between ‘natural’ and anthropogenic causation. Furthermore, a natural event becomes a hazard through:
▪ the social processes which cause some people to be much more at risk from the effects of a hazard, notably uneven development;
▪ a lack of options to minimize, or escape from, the effects of the hazard. Tarash province, Bangladesh, has a population density of 510 km2, and half of its territory is submerged by the annual monsoon (UNDP);
▪ the location of human settlement on potentially dangerous physical sites, such as Plymouth, Monserrat, engulfed by volcanic ash in 1997;
▪ the location of human settlement near potentially dangerous economic activity. The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration rates fishing as the most dangerous occupation in the USA;
▪ activities that aggravate events with natural causes. In the Maghreb countries, forests and wooded vegetation in uplands and on slopes play an important role in land stabilization, erosion control, and regulation of hydrological flow. However, deforestation in these areas has resulted in increased flooding, erosion, desertification, and siltation of dams (FAO 1997).
Human beings continue to inhabit hazard-prone areas, either because the benefits of doing so outweigh the risk—volcanic areas, for example, have rich soils—or because they are too poor to move, or because they do not take the risks seriously. It has been noted that human beings consistently underrate natural hazards; the growth of San Francisco did not halt after the earthquake of 1906, nor, for that matter, after the shocks of 1989. Some geographers see this response—or lack of response—as an example of cognitive dissonance.
Many modern hazards may be seen as a result of industrial overproduction, entailing the emission of toxic substances, and the use of biotechnology, and, as with global warming, these hazards can have world-wide repercussions.
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A risk.
- h. analysis critical control points — a systematic procedure used to identify specific hazards (for example in food production) and establish control systems that focus on preventive measures rather than rely on end-product testing.
- chemical h. — a chemical capable of causing poisoning is on the premises and represents a potential threat.
- radiation h. — radioactive material is on the premises and represents a potential threat to animals in that environment.
Random House Word Menu:
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categories related to 'hazard'
- Insurance - hazard: situation that increases possibility of loss
- Golf
- Indoor Games
- Thinking, Judgment, and Consideration - hazard: guess, estimate
See crossword solutions for the clue Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Hazard
For other uses, see Hazard (disambiguation).
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This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Discussion about the problems with the sole source used may be found on the talk page. (March 2010) |
A hazard is a situation that poses a level of threat to life, health, property, or environment. Most hazards are dormant or potential, with only a theoretical risk of harm; however, once a hazard becomes "active", it can create an emergency situation. A hazard does not exist when it is not happening. A hazardous situation that has come to pass is called an incident. Hazard and vulnerability interact together to create risk. For hazards in the context of risk assessment, see Hazard (risk)
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Contents
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Modes of a hazard
Hazards are sometimes classified into three modes:[1]
- Dormant - The situation has the potential to be hazardous, but no people, property, or environment is currently affected by this. For instance, a hillside may be unstable, with the potential for a landslide, but there is nothing below or on the hillside that could be affected.
- Armed - People, property, or environment are in potential harm's way.
- Active - A harmful incident involving the hazard has actually occurred. Often this is referred to not as an "active hazard" but as an accident, emergency, incident, or disaster.
Classifying hazards
By its nature, a hazard involves something that could potentially be harmful to a person's life, health, property, or the environment. One key concept in identifying a hazard is the presence of stored energy that, when released, can cause damage. Stored energy can occur in many forms: chemical, mechanical, thermal, radioactive, electrical, etc. Another class of hazard does not involve release of stored energy, rather it involves the presence of hazardous situations. Examples include confined or limited egress spaces, oxygen-depleted atmospheres, awkward positions, repetitive motions, low-hanging or protruding objects, etc
There are several methods of classifying a hazard, but most systems use some variation on the factors of "likelihood" of the hazard turning into an incident and the "seriousness" of the incident if it were to occur. (This discussion moved away from hazard to a discussion of risk.)
A common method is to score both likelihood and seriousness on a numerical scale (with the most likely and most serious scoring highest) and multiplying one by the other in order to reach a comparative score.
Risk = Hazard x Vulnerability(-)Capacity
This score can then be used to identify which hazards may need to be mitigated. A low score on likelihood of occurrence may mean that the hazard is dormant, whereas a high score would indicate that it may be an "active" hazard.
An important component of "seriousness if incident occurred" is "serious to whom?" Different populations may be affected differently by accidents. For example, an explosion will have widely differing effects on different populations depending on the distance from the explosion. These effects can range from death from overpressure or shrapnel to inhalation of noxious gases (for people downwind) to being exposed to a loud noise.
Causes of hazards
There are many causes, but they can broadly be classified as below. See the linked articles for comprehensive lists of each type of hazard.
- Natural hazards include anything that is caused by a natural process, and can include obvious hazards such as volcanoes to smaller scale hazards such as loose rocks on a hillside.
- Man-made hazards are created by humans, whether long-term (such as global warming) or immediate (like the hazards present at a construction site). These include activity related hazards (such as flying) where cessation of the activity will negate the risk.
- Deadly force or retribution is that hazard involving any protective and responsive-ready threat of harm or punishment that becomes active in the event of a breach of security, or violation of a boundary or barrier (physical, legal, moral) intended to prevent unauthorized or unsafe access or entry or exposure to a situation, to something, or to someone. This includes the consequences that follow trespass, breach of covenant, outrage or moral panic. (See deterrence and deterrence theory.)
See also
References
- ^ David MacCollum (December 18, 2006). Construction Safety Engineering Principles: Designing and Managing Safer Job Sites. McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 978-0-07-148244-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=IbLrmejZ2UMC&lpg=PA10&ots=yg21-Hs3XK&dq=hazard%20mode%20active%20dormant&pg=PA8#v=onepage&q=hazard%20mode%20active%20dormant&f=false. Retrieved 2010-07-10.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Translations:
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Hazard
Dansk (Danish)
n. - fare, risiko, tilfælde, træf, hasard, terningspil
v. tr. - vove, sætte på spil
idioms:
- hazard a guess driste sig til at fremsætte
Nederlands (Dutch)
gevaar, kans, toeval, in de zak gestoten bal (biljard), opening (tennis), speelhelft van ontvanger (tennis), hindernissen bij golfspel, taxistandplaats (Ierland), kansspel(en), dobbelspel, wagen, riskeren, in gevaar brengen
Français (French)
n. - risque, hasard, obstacle (golf)
v. tr. - oser, hasarder, se hasarder à dire que, risquer (sa vie, sa santé)
idioms:
- hazard a guess risquer/hasarder une idée
Deutsch (German)
n. - Gefahr, Hindernis, Risiko
v. - wagen, riskieren
idioms:
- hazard a guess es mit Raten versuchen
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - κίνδυνος (κν. ρίσκο), τύχη
v. - διακινδυνεύω, ριψοκινδυνεύω, ρισκάρω, αποτολμώ
idioms:
- hazard a guess διακινδυνεύω μια πρόβλεψη
Italiano (Italian)
osare, arrischiare, pericolo, gioco d'azzardo
idioms:
- hazard a guess azzardare un'ipotesi
Português (Portuguese)
n. - risco (m), casualidade (f), probabilidade (f), obstáculo (m) no jogo de golfe (Desp.)
v. - arriscar
idioms:
- hazard a guess arriscar um palpite
Русский (Russian)
риск, случай, шанс, вид игры в кости, рисковать, осмеливаться
idioms:
- hazard a guess осмелиться что-л. предположить
Español (Spanish)
n. - peligro, riesgo, azar, servicio ganador
v. tr. - atreverse a, osar, arriesgar, poner en peligro
idioms:
- hazard a guess tirarse un lance, aventurar una respuesta
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - risk, hinder (golf), slump, (slags) tärningsspel
v. - riskera, våga framkasta
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
危险, 危险之源, 危害物, 机会, 冒...的危险, 使遭危险, 赌运气
idioms:
- hazard a guess 随便猜测
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 危險, 危險之源, 危害物, 機會
v. tr. - 冒...的危險, 使遭危險, 賭運氣
idioms:
- hazard a guess 隨便猜測
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 위험, 우연, 주사위 놀이의 일종
v. tr. - 위태롭게 하다, ~를 과감히 말해보다, 모험하다
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 危険, 障害地域, 偶然, 運
v. - 危険にさらす, 賭ける, 思い切って言う
idioms:
- hazard a guess 運まかせで推量する
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) الهزرد ضرب من لعب النرد, مصدر خطر, مخاطرة, مجازفه, تصادف, مصادفه (فعل) يخاطر, يجازف
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - סכנה, סיכון, משחק-מזל
v. tr. - הסתכן ב-, העז, סיכן
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Hazard.
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