For many years, risk assessments have been carried out on Chemical, Nuclear and Pipeline installations under existing legislation. However the importance of risk assessment was stressed in the Civil Contingencies Act in 2004, which defined who should respond to an emergency and placed a duty on those responders to carry out risk assessments on locally and nationally defined hazards. This was reinforced with the publication in 2008 of the National Risk Register by the UK Government.
The purpose of the Risk Register is to inform the preparation and response to an emergency. It helps local and national responders check what they have in place what needs to change, and what they need to do. It also demonstrates this process to the public.
Cumbriahas its own Risk Register which is formally updated annually but which is kept constantly under review throughout the year. The Cumbrian Risk register can be seen on the attached link, with the top three risks being Floods, Storms and Pandemic Flu.
In 2008 we asked the people of Cumbria what are the three biggest concerns that you have in the context of a wide scale emergency. You told us that flooding, storms, and the loss of utilities (electricity, gas, water, telephone) were of most concern. Loss of utility is an invariable consequence of flooding and storms, as well as many other potential hazards, and is recognised and prepared for by Cumbrian responders.
Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (external link)
