Conducting a risk assessment is an integral part of developing an emergency response plan. Before you begin to formulate a plan you must first know what hazards may threaten your school district. This information is gathered and assessed through a risk assessment.

Risk assessments are conducted on the basis of identifying and evaluating hazards according to:

• Frequency
• Warning
• Severity
• Magnitude

Risks are assigned scores according to relative likelihood and impact, and are prioritized according to overall severity.

Hour-Zero™ uses a multi-hazard approach to develop emergency response programs. In utilizing this approach Hour-Zero™ ensures the school district is thoroughly examined for risks associated with:

• Natural hazards
• Man-made hazards
• Technological hazards

The Hour-Zero™ systematic risk assessment procedure also includes scrutiny of:

• District policies related to emergency response, school emergency closures, threat assessments, bullying programs, etc.
• Existing emergency response procedures
• Data collection, retention and updating procedures
• Communications processes and systems
• Level of community collaboration, including external response agencies, the community and parents
• ICS applications
• Job assignments
• Staff Skill Inventory
• Staff training opportunities, schedules and tracking
• Societal trends
• Crime patterns
• Compliance reporting
• Emergency Response Plan testing procedures and schedules
• Resource requirements, availability and tracking
• Back-up systems