Mitigation is the reduction of something harmful or the reduction of its harmful effects.
It may refer to measures taken to reduce the harmful effects of
hazard
A hazard is a potential source of harm. Substances, events, or circumstances can constitute hazards when their nature would allow them, even just theoretically, to cause damage to health, life, property, or any other interest of value. The probabi ...
s that remain ''in potentia'',
or to manage harmful incidents that have already occurred.
It is a stage or component of
emergency management
Emergency management or disaster management is the managerial function charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actual ...
and of
risk management.
The theory of mitigation is a frequently used element in criminal law and is often used by a judge to try cases such as murder, where a perpetrator is subject to varying degrees of responsibility as a result of one's actions.
Disaster mitigation
An all-hazards approach to disaster management considers all known hazards and their natural and anthropogenic potential risks and impacts, with the intention of ensuring that measures taken to mitigate one type of risk do not increase vulnerability to other types of risks. Proactive disaster mitigation measures are generally more effective than reactive measures in eliminating or reducing the impacts,
but not all disasters are reasonably foreseeable, and when an unforeseen disaster occurs, mitigation is necessarily after the fact. Proactive disaster mitigation measures may be structural or non-structural, and will generally be based on measurement and assessment of the risk and the cost of setting up the measures, and possibly the cost of maintenance.
Mitigation planning identifies policies and actions that can be taken over the long term to reduce risk, and in the event of a disaster occurring, minimize loss. Such policies and actions are based on a
risk assessment
Broadly speaking, a risk assessment is the combined effort of:
# identifying and analyzing potential (future) events that may negatively impact individuals, assets, and/or the environment (i.e. hazard analysis); and
# making judgments "on the t ...
, using the
identified hazards,
vulnerabilities and probabilities of occurrence and estimates of impact to calculate risks, and are generally planned in cooperation with the stakeholder groups.
The principles are applicable to mitigation of risk in general.
Planning processes may include:
*Stakeholder agreement on actions for risk reduction
*Assessment of relative risk and vulnerability
*Building partnerships among stakeholders
*Increasing awareness of hazards, vulnerabilities and risk
*Establishing priorities
*Aligning risk reduction and mitigation strategies with other objectives
Risk assessment and mitigation measures may include:
*Hazard mapping
*Flood plain mapping
*Land use and zoning practices
*Implementing and enforcing appropriate building codes
**Reinforced tornado safe rooms
**Burying of electrical cables to prevent ice build-up
**Raising of buildings in flood-prone areas
*Public awareness programs
*Insurance programs
Index to Wikipedia articles on mitigation
Wikipedia has a range of articles on Mitigation in various contexts, including:
Environment
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* in public administration; also, in particular:
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* in emergency management; also, in particular:
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Information technology
* Mitigation, a kind of defense against security issues in computing, as part of
vulnerability management
Vulnerability management is the "cyclical practice of identifying, classifying, prioritizing, remediating, and mitigating" software vulnerabilities. Vulnerability management is integral to computer security and network security, and must not be ...
Law
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Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, a U.S. federal legislation passed in 2000 that amended provisions of the United States Code related to disaster relief
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Mitigation (law), the principle that a party who has suffered loss has to take reasonable action to minimize the amount of the loss suffered
* Also in law, mitigating factors may cause a crime to be considered less serious, or provide a reason to make a punishment less severe.
Occupational safety and health
Mitigation of the effects of incidents and health hazards is one of the central precepts of
occupational safety and health
Occupational safety and health (OSH), also commonly referred to as occupational health and safety (OHS), occupational health, or occupational safety, is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at wor ...
, as workers may be exposed to hazards, and that it is not always possible to eliminate the associated risk, making it necessary to deal with the consequences on those occasions when harmful incidents occur.
Politics
* Mitigation of
political risk
See also
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Harm reduction
Harm reduction, or harm minimization, refers to a range of public health policies designed to lessen the negative social and/or physical consequences associated with various human behaviors, both legal and illegal. Harm reduction is used to de ...
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*
*
*
*
*
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Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) is a program of the US Food and Drug Administration for the monitoring of medications with a high potential for serious adverse effects. REMS applies only to specific prescription drugs, but can apply ...
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Disaster risk reduction
Disaster risk reduction (DRR) sometimes called disaster risk management (DRM) is a systematic approach to identifying, assessing and reducing the risks of disaster. It aims to reduce socio-economic vulnerabilities to disaster as well as dealing w ...
References
{{Reflist, refs=
[{{cite web, url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mitigation , title=Mitigation , website=www.merriam-webster.com , accessdate=5 April 2020 ]
[{{cite web, url=http://mitigationguide.org/introduction/ , title=Beyond the Basics: Best Practices in Local Mitigation Planning: Introduction , website=mitigationguide.org ]
[{{cite web, url=https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/mrgnc-mngmnt/dsstr-prvntn-mtgtn/bt-dsstr-mtgtn-en.aspx , title=About Disaster Mitigation , website=www.publicsafety.gc.ca , date=21 December 2018 , accessdate=6 April 2020 ]
Risk management
Emergency management
Occupational safety and health