Risk Mitigation Efforts Research Articles

Combining carbon mitigation and climate adaptation goals for buildings exposed to hurricane risks

As climate risks increase, there is a challenge of combining the goals of carbon mitigation and climate adaptation into building designs. These two goals are often misaligned because adaptation measures use additional materials and equipment, which can increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This phenomenon means that building design involves tradeoffs between enhanced structural resilience and reduced GHG emissions. This paper seeks to identify the optimal investment allocation mechanisms between carbon mitigation and climate adaptation measures for the design of buildings in hurricane-prone regions. A dynamic decision-making model is developed to maximize individual investors’ expected payoffs over a building's lifetime. The model is based on the damage evaluation of non-stationary hurricane occurrence and building emission performance under different mitigation scenarios. The results reveal a transition from long-advocated low-carbon investments to risk-oriented portfolios for building retrofits. A case study on Anne Arundel County, MD, for which a “60-40” resilience/abatement portfolio is recommended, shows the value of enhancing structural resilience. Discretion on the accuracy of insurance premium discounts is needed to support risk mitigation efforts. Meanwhile, subsidies for emission abatements are recommended to accommodate existing emission trading schemes and building property values.

Physician Engagement in Malpractice Risk Reduction: A UPHS Case Study

The University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) implemented a risk reduction strategy in response to high malpractice costs and the broader implications these trends had for patient safety and quality. A key component of this strategy was the Risk Reduction Initiative (RRI), which uses a bottom-up approach to actively engage physicians in risk mitigation and malpractice reduction within their respective departments. The value of clinical communities in achieving common goals has been previously recognized in quality improvement efforts. Using a physician-directed approach, the RRI program requires each clinical department to propose and execute an intervention in response to prior malpractice claims data or recognition of an area of high risk. Based on the success of the intervention, clinical departments were eligible to receive a financial rebate for use in future quality improvement projects. Clinical departments have led the development and implementation of interventions that have shown demonstrable improvements in quality and safety and thereby received full financial rebates. On a system level, the inclusion of physicians in risk mitigation efforts has resulted in significant benefits from both quality improvement and financial standpoints. The number of malpractice claims and malpractice cost have decreased since the inception of the program. Since the program inception, 250 proposals have been submitted and $14 million in rebates have been awarded. Although it is difficult to directly measure the combined impact of these bottom-up, physician-directed interventions, empowering frontline physicians to become actively involved in risk mitigation is a promising method for reducing malpractice claims and costs.

Risk Management Limbo: How Low Can You Go?

Risk management standards and regulations are evolving and becoming increasingly stringent. This paper describes a methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of risk control measures that draws from existing work on system resilience. System resilience principles are reduced to a set of questions that can be easily understood to ensure adequate application of the principles. This paper describes a method for determining when appropriate risk reduction has been achieved and a method that can be applied consistently across projects, companies, and industries to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of risk mitigation efforts.

Performance of Retarding Basin in Flood Disaster Risk Mitigation in Welang River, East Java Province, Indonesia

Flood phenomenon caused by high rainfall and sea tides on a watershed seat the tidal area, including the Welang River, commonly occur and the number of events is increasing. Construction of retarding basin is one of flood risk mitigation efforts by reducing the flood peak discharge. Assessment of flood management in Welang River was conducted with hydrology and hydraulic approaches, by using the Hydrologic Engineering Centre-Hydrologic Modelling System (HEC-HMS) 4.0 and Hydrologic Engineering Center–River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) 5.0.3 software. The hydraulic simulation consists of 4 scenarios. Scenario 1 was the current condition, while scenario 2, 3, and 4 were the retarding basin construction with one side spillway, one on the upstream (River Station (RS) 7400), on the middle (RS 6970), and on the downstream (RS 6590), respectively. The height variation of side spillways are 3 m and 4 m. Flood routing simulation result showed that the existing river channel condition could not accommodate of 2-year flood and 10-year flood, which caused peak discharge of 497.7 m3/s and 794.9 m3/s. At the RS 6590, the maximum runoff height of 2-year and 10-year flood were 0.66 and 1.02 m, respectively. Under the 2-year return period of flood, the discharge reduction caused by the retarding basin at control point RS 5341.4 (Karangketug Village), were 39.63 m3/s, 31.83 m3/s, and 41.93 m3/s, respectively for scenario 2, 3 and 4 with the 3 m side spillway height and 14.71 m3/s, 16.76 m3/s, and 13.74 m3/s, respectively for scenario 2, 3 and 4 with the 4 m side spillway height.

Sustainable supply chains for supply chain sustainability: impact of sustainability efforts on supply chain risk

Supply chain managers across the globe are finding it difficult to manage the increasingly complex supply chains despite adopting a variety of risk mitigation strategies. Firms on the other hand have also been adopting various kinds of environmental and social sustainability practices in recent times to reduce carbon footprint and improve their image on the social front. However, very few studies in the extant literature have examined the impact of sustainability practices on supply chain risk. We address this important gap in literature by empirically testing this relationship, using primary data from six manufacturing sectors and 21 different countries including developed as well as emerging markets across the globe. Our findings indicate that risk mitigation strategies do not always reduce the actual supply chain risk experienced by firms, whereas sustainability efforts help reduce supply chain risk, especially in emerging market contexts. In addition, we find that, while reactive risk mitigation strategies on their own fail to reduce supply chain risk, they are effective when used in conjunction with sustainability efforts. We also find that preventive risk mitigation efforts are only effective in mature supply chains such as the OECD countries.

Assessing Residential Exposure Risk from Spills of Flowback Water from Marcellus Shale Hydraulic Fracturing Activity.

Identifying sources of concern and risk from shale gas development, particularly from the hydraulic fracturing process, is an important step in better understanding sources of uncertainty within the industry. In this study, a risk assessment of residential exposure pathways to contaminated drinking water is carried out. In this model, it is assumed that a drinking water source is contaminated by a spill of flowback water; probability distributions of spill size and constituent concentrations are fit to historical datasets and Monte Carlo simulation was used to calculate a distribution of risk values for two scenarios: (1) use of a contaminated reservoir for residential drinking water supply and (2) swimming in a contaminated pond. The swimming scenario did not produce risks of concern from a single exposure of 1 h duration, but 11 such 1-h exposures did produce risks of 10−6 due to radionuclide exposure. The drinking water scenario over a 30-year exposure duration produced cancer risk values exceeding 10−6 for arsenic, benzene, benzo(a)pyrene, heptachlor, heptachlor epoxide, pentachlorophenol, and vinyl chloride. However, this extended exposure duration is probably not realistic for exposure by a spill event. Radionuclides produced risks in the residential drinking water scenario of 10−6 in just 8 h, a much more realistic timeline for continual exposure due to a spill event. In general, for contaminants for which inhalation exposure was applicable, this pathway produced the highest risks with exposure from ingestion posing the next greatest risk to human health followed by dermal absorption (or body emersion for radionuclides). Considering non-carcinogenic effects, only barium and thallium exceed target limits, where the ingestion pathway seems to be of greater concern than dermal exposure. Exposure to radionuclides in flowback water, particularly through the inhalation route, poses a greater threat to human health than other contaminants examined in this assessment and should be the focus of risk assessment and risk mitigation efforts.

Effects of neonicotinoid imidacloprid exposure on bumble bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) queen survival and nest initiation.

Neonicotinoids are highly toxic to insects and may systemically translocate to nectar and pollen of plants where foraging bees may become exposed. Exposure to neonicotinoids can induce detrimental sublethal effects on individual and colonies of bees and may have long-term impacts, such as impaired foraging, reduced longevity, and reduced brood care or production. Less well-studied are the potential effects on queen bumble bees that may become exposed while foraging in the spring during colony initiation. This study assessed queen survival and nest founding in caged bumble bees [Bombus impatiens (Cresson) (Hymenoptera: Apidae)] after chronic (18-d) dietary exposure of imidacloprid in syrup (1, 5, 10, and 25 ppb) and pollen (0.3, 1.7, 3.3, and 8.3 ppb), paired respectively. Here we show some mortality in queens exposed at all doses even as low as 1 ppb, and, compared with untreated queens, significantly reduced survival of treated queens at the two highest doses. Queens that survived initial imidacloprid exposure commenced nest initiation; however, they exhibited dose-dependent delay in egg-laying and emergence of worker brood. Furthermore, imidacloprid treatment affected other parameters such as nest and queen weight. This study is the first to show direct impacts of imidacloprid at field-relevant levels on individual B. impatiens queen survival and nest founding, indicating that bumble bee queens are particularly sensitive to neonicotinoids when directly exposed. This study also helps focus pesticide risk mitigation efforts and highlights the importance of reducing exposure rates in the early spring when bumble bee queens, and other wild bees are foraging and initiating nests.

Large Mammal Use of Seminatural Grasslands and Implications for Aviation Strike Risk

Abstract Large mammals pose a significant risk to U.S. aircraft safety within airport operation areas and cost airlines millions of dollars in repairs annually. Native warm-season grass polycultures and switchgrass monocultures offer alternative land covers for airports that could benefit current risk-mitigation efforts in addition to offering economic and environmental benefits. We compared use of a native warm-season grass polyculture and switchgrass Panicum virgatum monoculture by white-tailed deer (deer; Odocoileus virginianus) and coyote Canis latrans, using remote cameras in Mississippi, during 2011–2012. Coyotes and deer were observed 27% and 51% less in switchgrass monoculture than in native warm-season grass polyculture, respectively. However, November detections and cumulative hazard score demonstrated the greatest differences between treatments, especially for deer. Considering deer and coyotes are among the most hazardous mammal species to aircraft, switchgrass monocultures could be a better alternative land cover than native warm-season grass polycultures for some airport turf areas. Increased land coverage of switchgrass monocultures could benefit airport wildlife-hazard mitigation but needs validation by comparing alternative land covers to more traditional airport land covers.

DEVELOPMENT OF A FLOOD RISK ASSESSMENT MODEL FOR A BRAIDED RIVER SYSTEM

The aim of this study is to construct a modeling system that will assist flood risk management strategies in a coastal plain braided river system. The model configuration consists of a hydrodynamic model (ADCIRC) of the river basin that receives tidal forcing at the open boundary and river discharge forcing at upstream flux boundary. An unstructured mesh model resolving the Pearl River channels at higher resolution from the coastline to approximately 75km inland to upstream reaches of the river has been constructed. The modeling system produces water levels and currents throughout the Lower Pearl River Basin. Initial sensitivity analysis efforts on the channel model include consideration of low-flow, average-flow, and high-flow scenarios. Model results were found to be slightly sensitive to slope of river channels and bottom friction to control stability in predictions. The model results were shown to be highly sensitive to the bathymetry of the model that controls the discharge capacity of the narrow river channels and the channel model resulted in elevated currents and water levels under high flow conditions. A channel discharge capacity analysis was conducted and the results showed the need to construct a floodplain mesh around the channel model with more realistic bathymetry and topography so that the flooding scenarios could be modeled with wetting and drying capability of ADCIRC. An initial attempt to develop such a floodplain mesh has been made with preliminary results and more comprehensive validation of the developed floodplain modeling system will extend to reproducing events associated with the historical Hurricane Isaac that impacted the region in 2012. This modeling system will provide an important tool to decision makers that could be used in future flood risk management and mitigation efforts.

A water risk index for portfolio exposure to climatic extremes: conceptualization and an application to the mining industry

Abstract. Corporations, industries and non-governmental organizations have become increasingly concerned with growing water risks in many parts of the world. Most of the focus has been on water scarcity and competition for the resource between agriculture, urban users, ecology and industry. However, water risks are multi-dimensional. Water-related hazards include flooding due to extreme rainfall, persistent drought and pollution, either due to industrial operations themselves, or to the failure of infrastructure. Most companies have risk management plans at each operational location to address these risks to a certain design level. The residual risk may or may not be managed, and is typically not quantified at a portfolio scale, i.e. across many sites. Given that climate is the driver of many of these extreme events, and there is evidence of quasi-periodic climate regimes at inter-annual and decadal timescales, it is possible that a portfolio is subject to persistent, multi-year exceedances of the design level. In other words, for a multi-national corporation, it is possible that there is correlation in the climate-induced portfolio water risk across its operational sites as multiple sites may experience a hazard beyond the design level in a given year. Therefore, from an investor's perspective, a need exists for a water risk index that allows for an exploration of the possible space and/or time clustering in exposure across many sites contained in a portfolio. This paper represents a first attempt to develop an index for financial exposure of a geographically diversified, global portfolio to the time-varying risk of climatic extremes using long daily global rainfall datasets derived from climate re-analysis models. Focusing on extreme daily rainfall amounts and using examples from major mining companies, we illustrate how the index can be developed. We discuss how companies can use it to explore their corporate exposure, and what they may need to disclose to investors and regulators to promote transparency as to risk exposure and mitigation efforts. For the examples of mining companies provided, we note that the actual exposure is substantially higher than would be expected in the absence of space and time correlation of risk as is usually tacitly assumed. We also find evidence for the increasing exposure to climate-induced risk, and for decadal variability in exposure. The relative vulnerability of different portfolios to multiple extreme events in a given year is also demonstrated.

An Assessment Of Flood Risk Factors In Riverine Cities Of Turkey: Lessons For Resilience And Urban Planning

Turkey’s river flood protection system is based on surveys and assessments of a central authority as well as its limited powers of intervention. The local governments, which are the closest units of public administration to flood risk areas, are under various pressures for development. However, it is crucial to integrate flood risk mitigation efforts with local planning system and involve local governments in all stages of risk management starting from estimations of risks and determination of risk areas, as the contemporary international approaches point out. This paper was based on a sample survey of four case cities; namely Bartin, Batman, Aydin and Hatay. It aims to evaluate the main factors that contribute to the risk of flooding in riverine cities in Turkey, as well as to take some lessons for improving existing system. Research findings indicate that river floods usually turn into destructive disasters in Turkish cities mainly due to improper land-use planning and management. Ad hoc and discrete land use development within and through the river basins results in serious and chronic flood losses. At the same time, the loose relationship between urban planning and flood risk management is another factor observed. Currently, urban development plans are not equipped with necessary measures to mitigate flood risks. More to the point, the illusory feeling of safety that originates from independent and discrete efforts of mitigation adds to flood vulnerabilities of city residents.

Sub-lethal effects of dietary neonicotinoid insecticide exposure on honey bee queen fecundity and colony development.

Many factors can negatively affect honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) health including the pervasive use of systemic neonicotinoid insecticides. Through direct consumption of contaminated nectar and pollen from treated plants, neonicotinoids can affect foraging, learning, and memory in worker bees. Less well studied are the potential effects of neonicotinoids on queen bees, which may be exposed indirectly through trophallaxis, or food-sharing. To assess effects on queen productivity, small colonies of different sizes (1500, 3000, and 7000 bees) were fed imidacloprid (0, 10, 20, 50, and 100 ppb) in syrup for three weeks. We found adverse effects of imidacloprid on queens (egg-laying and locomotor activity), worker bees (foraging and hygienic activities), and colony development (brood production and pollen stores) in all treated colonies. Some effects were less evident as colony size increased, suggesting that larger colony populations may act as a buffer to pesticide exposure. This study is the first to show adverse effects of imidacloprid on queen bee fecundity and behavior and improves our understanding of how neonicotinoids may impair short-term colony functioning. These data indicate that risk-mitigation efforts should focus on reducing neonicotinoid exposure in the early spring when colonies are smallest and queens are most vulnerable to exposure.

The World Health Organization Measles Programmatic Risk Assessment Tool-Pilot Testing in India, 2014.

Measles is a leading cause of child mortality, and reduction of child mortality is a key Millennium Development Goal. In 2014, the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed a measles programmatic risk assessment tool to support country measles elimination efforts. The tool was pilot tested in the State of Uttarakhand in August 2014 to assess its utility in India. The tool assessed measles risk for the 13 districts of Uttarakhand as a function of indicator scores in four categories: population immunity, surveillance quality, program delivery performance, and threat. The highest potential overall score was 100. Scores from each category were totaled to assign an overall risk score for each district. From this risk score, districts were categorized as low, medium, high, or very high risk. Of the 13 districts in Uttarakhand in 2014, the tool classified one district (Haridwar) as very high risk and three districts (Almora, Champawat, and Pauri Garhwal) as high risk. The measles risk in these four districts was largely due to low population immunity from high MCV1-MCV2 drop-out rates, low MCV1 and MCV2 coverage, and the lack of a supplementary immunization activity (SIA) within the past three years. This tool can be used to support measles elimination in India by identifying districts that might be at risk for measles outbreaks, and to guide risk mitigation efforts, including strengthening routine immunization services and implementing SIAs.

(Invited) Hardware Security to Mitigate Threats to Networked More-Than-Moore Sensors

More-than-Moore devices (MTM) devices and application platforms have their origin in the convergence of wireless technologies, advancements of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and digital electronics. Such application platforms comprise many small, inexpensive single-function devices and sensors, with varying operating systems, CPU types, memory, etc. How these devices connect to other devices, and the device-human interfaces, are changing how we work and live. Hardware security for these interconnected devices is a critical design consideration, just like performance, power, and reliability. However, due to increased globalization, the whole IC design flow and application phases are distributed world-wide, and the resultant reduced control over the IC life cycle make hardware security a serious concern. For example, hardware security threats in the integrated circuit (IC) supply chain, including hardware counterfeiting and intellectual property piracy cost the US economy more than $200 billion annually. This paper examines the current issues pertaining to the hardware security and how they could affect the overall security of MTM applications, such as the internet of things. Specifically, we review the ongoing industry-led activities aimed at mitigating the hardware threats through supply chain assurance. The paper is illustrated with the ongoing work of the ITRS hardware security working group, the counterfeit risk mitigation efforts from iNEMI, and the High-Density Package User Group (HDPUG), as well as published standards from SEMI and the Open Group. All these efforts are aimed at mitigating counterfeits in the electronics supply chain through product traceability and authentication. Finally, we will discuss how existing and emerging technologies can be used for product authentication throughout the supply chain.

Implementation of a sustainable enterprise risk management framework: The Administrator on Duty model

Background: Today’s health care landscape requires a new standard of service delivery aimed at quality outcomes, cost-effective provisions of coordinated treatment, and access to equitable care. This standard has brought emerging risks that pose threats to the operational and financial well-being of health care organizations, especially safety net hospitals. The establishment of enterprise risk management (ERM) programs guided by the efforts of efficacious health care managers will promote deeper risk analysis, engagement of the entire health care organization, and structured, coordinated and cohesive mitigation responses to risk exposures.Objective: To establish and implement an ERM program using the Administrator on Duty (AOD) model that will promote a patient-centric paradigm of care while optimizing organizational performance and mitigating risk and exposure.Results: The AOD model significantly contributes to all phases of ERM, particularly risk identification, risk assessment, risk response and monitoring. The model, as perceived by both AODs and hospital senior leadership, provides tremendous benefits to a health care organization. These include, among many others, a substantial leadership presence, dynamic risk mitigation efforts, continuous education to staff and facilitation of problem solving and conflict resolution.Conclusions: The AOD program is a vital constituent of an ERM endeavor. AODs are pivotal to managing the global risk terrain of a health care organization and play a substantial role in promoting patient, staff and visitor safety while working to ensure potential and actual risk issues are addressed timely and appropriately.

Risk Prediction Tools for Hip and Knee Arthroplasty.

The current healthcare environment in America is driven by the concepts of quality, cost containment, and value. In this environment, primary hip and knee arthroplasty procedures have been targeted for cost containment through quality improvement initiatives intended to reduce the incidence of costly complications and readmissions. Accordingly, risk prediction tools have been developed in an attempt to quantify the patient-specific assessment of risk. Risk prediction tools may be useful for the informed consent process, for enhancing risk mitigation efforts, and for risk-adjusting data used for reimbursement and the public reporting of outcomes. The evaluation of risk prediction tools involves statistical measures such as discrimination and calibration to assess accuracy and utility. Furthermore, prediction tools are tuned to the source dataset from which they are derived, require validation with external datasets, and should be recalibrated over time. However, a high-quality, externally validated risk prediction tool for adverse outcomes after primary total joint arthroplasty remains an elusive goal.

A Spatial Framework to Map Heat Health Risks at Multiple Scales.

In the last few decades extreme heat events have led to substantial excess mortality, most dramatically in Central Europe in 2003, in Russia in 2010, and even in typically cool locations such as Vancouver, Canada, in 2009. Heat-related morbidity and mortality is expected to increase over the coming centuries as the result of climate-driven global increases in the severity and frequency of extreme heat events. Spatial information on heat exposure and population vulnerability may be combined to map the areas of highest risk and focus mitigation efforts there. However, a mismatch in spatial resolution between heat exposure and vulnerability data can cause spatial scale issues such as the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP). We used a raster-based model to integrate heat exposure and vulnerability data in a multi-criteria decision analysis, and compared it to the traditional vector-based model. We then used the Getis-Ord Gi index to generate spatially smoothed heat risk hotspot maps from fine to coarse spatial scales. The raster-based model allowed production of maps at spatial resolution, more description of local-scale heat risk variability, and identification of heat-risk areas not identified with the vector-based approach. Spatial smoothing with the Getis-Ord Gi index produced heat risk hotspots from local to regional spatial scale. The approach is a framework for reducing spatial scale issues in future heat risk mapping, and for identifying heat risk hotspots at spatial scales ranging from the block-level to the municipality level.

Trends in rates of acetaminophen-related adverse events in the United States.

The goal of this study is to summarize trends in rates of adverse events attributable to acetaminophen use, including hepatotoxicity and mortality. A comprehensive analysis of data from three national surveillance systems estimated rates of acetaminophen-related events identified in different settings, including calls to poison centers (2008-2012), emergency department visits (2004-2012), and inpatient hospitalizations (1998-2011). Rates of acetaminophen-related events were calculated per setting, census population, and distributed drug units. Rates of poison center calls with acetaminophen-related exposures decreased from 49.5/1000 calls in 2009 to 43.5/1000 calls in 2012. Rates of emergency department visits for unintentional acetaminophen-related adverse events decreased from 58.0/1000 emergency department visits for adverse drug events in 2009 to 50.2/1000 emergency department visits in 2012. Rates of hospital inpatient discharges with acetaminophen-related poisoning decreased from 119.8/100 000 hospitalizations in 2009 to 108.6/100 000 hospitalizations in 2011. After 2009, population rates of acetaminophen-related events per 1 million census population decreased for poison center calls and hospitalizations, while emergency department visit rates remained stable. However, when accounting for drug sales, the rate of acetaminophen-related events (per 1 million distributed drug units) increased after 2009. Prior to 2009, the rates of acetaminophen-related hospitalizations had been slowly increasing (p-trend = 0.001). Acetaminophen-related adverse events continue to be a public health burden. Future studies with additional time points are necessary to confirm trends and determine whether recent risk mitigation efforts had a beneficial impact on acetaminophen-related adverse events. Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Assessing determinants of maternal blood concentrations for persistent organic pollutants and metals in the eastern and western Canadian Arctic

Aboriginal peoples in the Canadian Arctic are exposed to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and metals mainly through their consumption of a traditional diet of wildlife items. Recent studies indicate that many human chemical levels have decreased in the north, likely due to a combination of reduced global chemical emissions, dietary shifts, and risk mitigation efforts by local health authorities. Body burdens for chemicals in mothers can be further offset by breastfeeding, parity, and other maternal characteristics.We have assessed the impact of several dietary and maternal covariates following a decade of awareness of the contaminant issue in northern Canada, by performing multiple stepwise linear regression analyses from blood concentrations and demographic variables for 176 mothers recruited from Nunavut and the Northwest Territories during the period 2005–2007. A significant aboriginal group effect was observed for the modeled chemicals, except for lead and cadmium, after adjusting for covariates. Further, blood concentrations for POPs and metals were significantly associated with at least one covariate of older age, fewer months spent breastfeeding, more frequent eating of traditional foods, or smoking during pregnancy. Cadmium had the highest explained variance (72.5%) from just two significant covariates (current smoking status and parity).Although Inuit participants from the Northwest Territories consumed more traditional foods in general, Inuit participants from coastal communities in Nunavut continued to demonstrate higher adjusted blood concentrations for POPs and metals examined here. While this is due in part to a higher prevalence of marine mammals in the eastern Arctic diet, it is possible that other aboriginal group effects unrelated to diet may also contribute to elevated chemical body burdens in Canadian Arctic populations.

URM bearing wall building seismic risk mitigation on the west coast of the United States

Unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings are the most common target for seismic risk mitigation programmes, due to their long history of poor seismic performance. While seismic risk mitigation must make use of sound engineering methodologies, good public policy is at the heart of successful programmes. Past URM seismic risk mitigation efforts on the west coast of the United States are summarized herein, as valuable insights have been gained from both successful and unsuccessful programmes. Programme details such as compliance deadlines, retrofit design techniques, and retrofit/demolition rates are provided for cities throughout California, Oregon and Washington states, and the overall observed effectiveness of mandatory versus non-mandatory seismic strengthening programmes is discussed.