IRM Guide for Local Jurisdictions
Step 2 – Threat and Hazard Identification
Read Ahead: Threat and Hazard Identification
A hazard event is a natural or man-made source or cause of harm or difficulty. A hazard is
often measured and described by its nature (type of hazard), location and extent, scope and
intensity (potential negative consequences) as well as frequency of occurrence.
A threat event is associated with an individual, entity or action that has harmed or indicates the
potential to harm life, information, operations, the environment and/or property. A threat is
often measured by or described by the adversary, method of attack, intended target and
probability of occurrence. For the purpose of calculating risk, the threat of a terrorist act is
generally estimated as the likelihood of an attack being both attempted and successfully carried
out.
The difference between a hazard and a threat is that a threat is directed at an entity, asset,
system, network, or geographical areas, while a hazard is not directed.
Communities face a variety of threats and hazards that can generally be categorized as one of
three types:

Natural Hazards: Natural hazards are those resulting from acts of nature
such as hurricanes, earthquakes or tornadoes as well as disease outbreaks
or epidemics.

Technological Hazards: Technological hazards are those resulting from
accidents or the failure of systems and structures such as hazardous
material spills or dam failures. In technological hazards, the source of harm
or difficulty is created by negligence, error or unintentional structural or
system failure.

Threats or Human Caused Hazard: Threats or human-caused hazards
include those resulting from the intentional actions of an adversary such as
a threatened or actual chemical, biological or cyber-attack.
Threat and hazard identification is the process of finding, recognizing and describing actual or
potential threats and hazards confronting a community. For example, tornados, floods and
power outages due to technological failures as well as various acts of terrorism can be
identified as potential hazards of concern because of their potentially high consequences or
because of some particular vulnerability.
The purpose of threat and hazard identification is to ascertain what threats and hazards could
potential impact your jurisdiction and warrant further assessment of the associated risks.
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