Health Risk Assessment
See also Health Impact Assessment and Centre for HIA
Health Risk Assessment (HRA) is the quantitative and objective assessment of the adverse direct physical health impacts of individuals and groups exposed to single or multiple hazards. These hazards are generally environmental and occupational exposure to chemical pollutants released or transferred into the air, water and soil. Often the focus is on the extent to which current and possible future exposures are responsible for negative physical health impacts, and the term ‘burden of disease’ is used to describe the accumulation of associated impacts from the specified pollutants.
HRA is applicable to policies, plans, programmes and projects, insofar as their effects are mediated through exposure to pollutants or other hazardous substances.
HRA is made up of the following steps:
- Hazard Identification
- Exposure Measurement
- Quantifying Dose-Response Relationships
- Risk Characterisation
HRA is therefore one important aspect of HIA. HIA tends to be a broader and more holistic form of assessment that analyses the potential direct and indirect health impacts of a proposal and examines the influences not only of chemical emissions but also the impacts on the wider determinants of health e.g. employment and economy; housing and shelter; transport and connectivity; learning and education; crime and safety; health and social care; shops and retail amenities; social capital and community cohesion; culture, spirituality and faith; arts and leisure; lifestyle and daily routines; governance and institutional structures; energy and waste; and land and spatial factors.
See ICMM Good Practice Guidance on Occupational Health Risk Assessment