| 1. |
- Abrahamsson, Marcus, et al.
(författare)
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Towards a systems-oriented framework for analysing and evaluating emergency response
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management. - : Wiley. - 1468-5973 .- 0966-0879. ; 18:1, s. 14-25
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Information can be provided by studying and evaluating past emergencies and the response in connection to them. This information would then be useful in efforts directed at preventing, mitigating and/or preparing for future emergencies. However, the analysis and evaluation of emergency response operations is not an easy task, especially when the operation involves several cooperating actors (e.g. the fire and rescue services, the police, the emergency medical services, etc.). Here, we identify and discuss four aspects of this challenge: (1) issues related to the values governing the evaluation, (2) issues related to the complexity of the systems involved, (3) issues related to the validity of the information on which the analysis and evaluation is based and (4) issues related to the limiting conditions under which the emergency response system operated. An outline of a framework for such an analysis and evaluation, influenced by systems theory, accident investigation theories and programme evaluation theories dealing with the above aspects, is introduced, discussed and exemplified using empirical results from a case study.We conclude that the proposed framework may provide a better understanding of how an emergency response system functioned during a specific operation, and help to identify the potential events and/or circumstances that could significantly affect the performance of the emergency response system, either negatively or positively. The insights gained from using the framework may allow the actors involved in the response operation to gain a better understanding of how the emergency response system functioned as a whole, as well as how the actors performed as individual components of the system. Furthermore, the information can also be useful for actors preparing for future emergencies
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Hassel, Henrik, et al.
(författare)
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Exploring the Conceptual Foundation of Continuity Management in the Context of Societal Safety
- 2019
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Ingår i: Risk Analysis. - : Wiley. - 0272-4332. ; 39:7, s. 1503-1519
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Public and private actors with critical roles for ensuring societal safety need to work proactively to reduce risks and vulnerabilities. Traditionally, risk management activities have often been performed in order to ensure continuous functioning of key societal services. Recently, however, business continuity management (BCM), and its analytical subcomponent business impact assessment (BIA), has been introduced and used more extensively by both the private and public sector in order to increase the robustness and resilience of critical infrastructures and societal functions and services. BCM was originally developed in the business sector but has received a broader use during the last decade. Yet, BCM/BIA has gained limited attention in the scientific literature—especially when it comes to clarifying and developing its conceptual basis. First, this article examines and discusses the conceptual foundation of BCM concepts, including practical challenges of applying the concepts. Based on recent conceptual developments from the field of risk management, a developed conceptualization is suggested. Second, the article discusses challenges that arise when applying BCM in the societal safety area and provides some recommendations aiming to improve the clarity and quality of applications. Third, the article provides suggestions of how to integrate the overlapping approaches of BIA and risk assessment in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness of proactive, analytic processes. We hope that the article can stimulate a critical discussion about the key concepts of BCM, their wider use in societal safety, and their connection to other concepts and activities such as risk assessment.
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| 4. |
- Hassel, Henrik
(författare)
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Risk and vulnerability analysis in practice: evaluation of analyses conducted in Swedish municipalities
- 2012
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Ingår i: Natural Hazards. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0921-030X .- 1573-0840. ; 63:2, s. 605-628
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- isk and vulnerability analysis (RVA) can benefit the process of preventing and preparing for disasters, both by generating a basis for making decisions and by enhancing risk awareness, safety culture and response capacity through the RVA process itself. In studying and understanding the practices related to RVA, insights can be gained regarding ways in which the RVA can be improved in society, as well as into how methods for RVA can be designed to suit the particular context. However, studies of this sort are rare. This paper presents an evaluation of RVA performed by Swedish municipalities, which are important actors in the Swedish emergency management system. This is done by employing a systematic, design science approach outlined in the paper. Document studies and interviews were used to collect data on the analyses performed by the municipalities, and the evaluation shows that there is room for improvement. The results can be especially relevant for municipalities developing their RVA practices, as well as for other actors performing similar types of analyses.
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| 5. |
- Hassel, Henrik
(författare)
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Risk and vulnerability analysis in society’s proactive emergency management: Developing methods and improving practices
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Risk and vulnerability analyses can play important roles in the society’s proactive emergency management. This thesis addresses two ways of improving the analysis of risk and vulnerability analysis in this context. First, by developing methods for risk and vulnerability analysis of technical infrastructure networks and emergency response systems. Secondly, by aiming to improve practises related to RVA through an evaluation of Swedish municipal RVAs and an empirical study of how various disaster characteristics affect people judgments of disaster seriousness. The research has to a large extent been carried out by using a design research approach developed in the thesis.
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| 6. |
- Johansson, Jonas, et al.
(författare)
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An Approach for Modelling Interdependent Infrastructures in the Context of Vulnerability Analysis
- 2010
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Ingår i: Reliability Engineering & System Safety. - : Elsevier BV. - 0951-8320. ; 95:12, s. 1335-1344
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Technical infrastructures of the society are becoming more and more interconnected and interdependent, i.e. the function of an infrastructure influences the function of other infrastructures. Disturbances in one infrastructure therefore often traverse to other dependent infrastructures and possibly even back to the infrastructure where the failure originated. It is becoming increasingly important to take these interdependencies into account when assessing the vulnerability of technical infrastructures. In the present paper, an approach for modelling interdependent technical infrastructures is proposed. The modelling approach considers structural properties, as employed in graph theory, as well as functional properties to increase its fidelity and usefulness. By modelling a fictional electrified railway network that consists of five systems and interdependencies between the systems, it is shown how the model can be employed in a vulnerability analysis. The model aims to capture both functional and geographic interdependencies. It is concluded that the proposed modelling approach is promising and suitable in the context of vulnerability analyses of interdependent systems.
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| 7. |
- Johansson, Jonas, et al.
(författare)
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Comparing Topological Performance Measures and Physical Flow Models for Vulnerability Analysis of Power Systems
- 2012
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Ingår i: 11th International Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management Conference and the Annual European Safety and Reliability Conference 2012, PSAM11 ESREL 2012. - 9781622764365 ; 8, s. 6863-6872
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Critical infrastructures must be both robust and resilient in order to ensure the functioning of society. A key activity in ensuring their proper function is finding and addressing system weaknesses by the means of risk and vulnerability analysis. A critical factor of such analysis is the ability to determine the negative consequences of various types of contingencies. Numerous mathematical and simulation models exist which can be used to this end. We suggest a classification of these models, which span from very simple topologically oriented models to very advanced dynamical models. There arc rather few studies comparing the implications of using different modeling approaches in the context of comprehensive vulnerability analysis of critical infrastructures. In this paper such a study is presented for the analysis of electric power systems with the aim of improving understanding of the tradeoffs between simplicity and fidelity in this context. More specifically, the purpose of the paper is to compare different models for vulnerability analysis of electric power systems and explore the consequence measures achieved with these models. To this end the IEEE RTS96 system is used. The results give guidance for appropriate models to use when analyzing large-scale interdependent infrastructure systems, where simulation times quickly become insurmountable when using more advanced models. It is concluded that some performance measures may give reasonable estimates on average of the consequences that arise when the system is perturbed, but may have limited value when estimating the consequences of specific failure scenarios.
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| 8. |
- Johansson, Jonas, et al.
(författare)
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Comparison of vulnerability and reliability analysis of technical infrastructures
- 2012
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Ingår i: Advances in Safety, Reliability and Risk Management. - : CRC Press. - 9780415683791 ; , s. 2465-2473
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The society depends on reliable and robust services provided by technical infrastructures for its function. The impact of large-scale outages due to the inherent vulnerabilities of technical infrastructures has been demonstrated, for example, by the power outage in the U.S. in 2003 and the power outages in Sweden due to the storms Gudrun in January 2005 and Per in January 2007. Two of the main approaches for gaining knowledge required for understanding and improving technical infrastructures are reliability analysis and vulnerability analysis. Reliability refers to the ability of a system to perform its intended function. Vulnerability, on the other hand, refers to the ability of a system to withstand strains. These two approaches have similarities but also some differences with respect to what type of information they generate about the system. In the present paper these two approaches are compared in the context of technical infrastructures, and analyses are carried out for an electric power system. A version of the IEEE RTS96 reliability test system is studied with the purpose of highlighting the similarities and differences between the two approaches. The conclusion is that both vulnerability and reliability based approaches are very useful for both prevention and emergency preparedness planning, however providing different input to such decision-making.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Johansson, Jonas, et al.
(författare)
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Impact of Functional Models in a Decision Context of Critical Infrastructure Vulnerability Reduction
- 2014
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Critical infrastructures provide essential services for the functioning of the society, and vulnerability analysis is an important basis for decisions concerning increasing their robustness against strains. Since critical infrastructures can be regarded as complex systems, such analyses can prove challenging. To analyze the system response to strains, several different functional models have been suggested in the scientific literature, ranging from simple topological to more advanced engineering models. The simple models are computationally less burdensome which enables more comprehensive vulnerability analyses. The downside, however, is that they may not accurately describe system performance. The advanced engineering models, on the other hand, capture the system performance more accurately, but are computationally burdensome which leads to less comprehensive analyses.In the present paper, nine different functional models are used to assess the vulnerability of the IEEE RTS96 transmission power test system The results from these analyses are then used in two decision contexts, 1) identification of critical components and 2) ranking of structural improvements, to study to what extent the models provide a good decision support. Preliminary results suggest that the use of functional model impacts the decision, and hence care should be taken when choosing which functional model to use as a basis for decisions of critical infrastructure improvements.
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