Hazard Identification and Categorization for Waste Disposal Sites: Part 2 – A Computer-Aided Procedure

Abstract

Risk assessment is increasingly becoming an effective environmental management tool. It is used widely, in a range of sectors and settings, such as the siting and operation of waste disposal sites; the identification and minimization of natural hazards; the management of chemicals in a workplace and the identification and control of diseases. The authors find that there are some generic factors in risk assessment that are independent of the subjects mentioned above. An important example of these generic elements is hazard identification and categorization (H Iden), which is also required in a landfill risk analysis process as it would in any other environmental risk assessment. Furthermore, computer models are also being developed to assist risk assessment process in different fields. But in the review of current computer models and the literature particularly regarding landfills, the authors have not found a strategic H Iden procedure underpinned with a computational method. From the perspective of landfill leachate, this study focuses on the development of an integrated system or method of H Iden in the shape of a corresponding computer model.