Assignment

3.  A sick woman was being transferred from a cruise ship to another vessel for emergency medical treatment when she fell into the sea. This was in the very cold North Sea. The woman later died in hospital, apparently largely as a result of the exposure to the cold water.

4 .  A suspension bridge collapses, apparently when a suspension cable breaks. A number of people and vehicles fall from the bridge into the river, where some 11 people die due to drowning.

5.    A couple were walking along a beach beneath a cliff, part of which collapsed and buried them.

6.    A building (the Rana Plaza, in Bangladesh) housing a clothing factory collapsed killing some 1100 people.

7.   A Japanese factory worker allegedly poisoned frozen fish food with pesticides. At least 2483 people complained of illness after eating foods.

8.  A large fire burns at an open cut coal mine near Melbourne, apparently ignited by a nearby grass and forest fire lit by arsonists. Smoke envelops the nearby town of Morwell and results in significant deterioration of the air quality, such that evacuation was considered at one stage. The owners of the old mine and the nearby power station had apparently removed water pipes placed there for possible future fire fighting.

9.   A wild life park keeper was killed by a tiger when she was working in the cage. The tiger was supposed to be contained within a cage itself within the cage being worked on. Systems were said to be in place to ensure that keepers and animals were kept apart at all times. A bolt on top of one of the internal doors was found to be defective, in that it was unable to secure the door.

10.  A mine tailings dam in Brazil, owned by BHP Billiton and VVale, fails, leading to widespread destruction and loss of life.

[Total 30 marks]

 Part B Applying the time sequence model

In a fish farm in the South Australian Spencer Gulf, dosing of the water with a chemical designed to kill parasites on the fish was in error and a very large proportion of the fish in the farm is killed, a total of 80 tonnes of fish worth $700,000. More than $4M of market value was lost when investors sold off their shares. The company secretary told the paper that “an investigation and a review of (fish) bathing procedures is in progress”. Source, Australian Financial Review, 8/9/2010.

 This is a test of understanding, logic and precision. There are correct and incorrect answers.

a. Describe the various types of Consequences that would have arisen from the case. [3 marks]

b. Describe in simple terms the Severity (size or significance) of each of these Consequence types. [3 marks]

c.  Provide a formal definition of the Event (this means look at the formal definition and relate it to this energy source and this situation) and a more simple and colloquial statement of it. [4 each - 8 marks]

d.  What possible Mechanisms are there for the Event. You don’t need to be a specialist to answer this, common knowledge will suffice. [6 marks]

e.  What do you think the pre-conditions of the Mechanism are? You need to have a proper understanding of what is meant by this term. [6 marks]

f.   What is the Outcome of the Event? Describe other possible Outcomes you can imagine. [4 marks]

[Total 30 marks]

Part C Time Zone 1

In the context of this case and using any information you may be able to find on the WWW, consider the various possible categories by which Time Zone 1 of the Time Sequence Model can be usefully described. The notes indicate a number of different approaches to this as well as the importance of considering both conditions and circumstances.

i) Select one of those approaches and provide a cogent (look up the dictionary definition of this) argument for its use over the others. [15 marks]

ii) Use the categories you have chosen to describe the actual Time Zone 1 situation as best you can from the information available to you. You’ll note that Time Zone 1 is the here and now of operations and you need to consider it in the context of the grounding not yet having happened. [15 marks]