RISK ASSESSMENT AND SURVEY
Risk assessment services relate to the following:
Assessment of client explosive hazards specifically relating to Unexploded Ordnance (UXO), Explosive Remnants of War (ERW), Mines (anti-personnel and anti-vehicle), Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) and Explosive Remnants of Training (ERT), both onshore and underwater, done in accordance with IMAS and IABTI standards. Such assessments are bespoke to the client requirements and include both non-technical and technical surveys. Please see below and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (HIRA). On completion fo the surveys, DETECH is able to offer a resolution to munitions or explosive hazards discovered. Please see Resolution for further information.
Underwater survey of high seas, coastal waters, inland waterways, rivers or dams done to agreed survey standards. Such survey operations are conducted to detect, locate and (where possible) identify hazards to safety and navigation. Such surveys are done in accordance with the clients bespoke requirement and can include UXO surveys, bathymetric surveys and debris, feature or object mapping. Please see Surface and Underwater Operations.
Assessment of weapon systems and munitions currently in service in the clients arsenal. Such assessment is bespoke to the clients situation and would highlight the problems being experienced suggesting the best possible resolution to the said problem. Please see Defence Systems Management and Engineering.
Environmental impact assessments of marine and terrestrial areas of interest, both to meet clients bespoke requirements and to support DETECH during project resolution activities (such as demolitions or UXO clearance at an underwater location).
Non-Technical/Non-Intrusive: Non-technical survey is typically the starting point for the assessment of land, its categorisation as a suspected or confirmed hazardous area (SHA/CHA), and the associated processes of cancelling, reducing or clearing land for productive use. It involves a thorough investigation of new information about possible mine/ERW contamination, or a previously recorded hazardous area, generally without the use of mine action assets inside the suspected area. Non-technical survey is usually considerably less costly than technical survey and clearance, yet it can have the greatest impact, in terms of square metres, of all the activities associated with the definition and management of contaminated land. The term non-technical survey encompasses all non-technical means, including desk assessments, analysis of historical records and a wide range of other information gathering and analysis functions, as well as physical visits to field locations. All elements of the nontechnical process revolve around identifying, accessing, collecting, reporting and using information to help define where mines/ERW are to be found, as well as where they are not, and to support land cancellation, reduction and clearance decision making processes.
Technical/Intrusive: Technical survey is an important means of identifying, confirming and improving definitions of the boundaries of hazardous areas and the nature and distribution of their contents. Well planned and justified technical survey methodologies help ensure that any further interventions are necessary and efficient and may allow the confident release of land without the need for further technical interventions. Technical survey may be carried out as an independent activity or it may be integrated with clearance operations. The purpose of technical survey is to provide evidence for analysis to support the land release decision-making process. It is an intrusive process, using survey and clearance assets, typically into a suspected or confirmed hazardous area, although it may also be used as a method for the initial investigation of areas under some circumstances. Although technical survey may be a separate activity, it is often integrated with clearance and can be undertaken before, during and after clearance, depending upon the local circumstances and information needs of decision-makers. Any technical survey methodology should be planned such that it provides a very high level of confidence that if hazard items are present they will be indicated. The performance of survey assets against different hazard types should be monitored, through the collection and analysis of appropriate performance data, to develop evidence-based assessments of confidence levels for the indication of targets. Technical survey does not happen in isolation. It should be planned, implemented and adjusted in light of information obtained through non-technical means, including non-technical survey, and as a result of new information discovered during the technical survey. It should be appropriate to the specific circumstances and conditions associated with the operational site and will often be closely integrated with full clearance. Technical survey is the primary method for defining accurately and with confidence the extent of areas that require clearance, and may be used to support decisions about when and where it is appropriate to stop clearance.
Underwater UXO/ERW Survey: Construction and other activities in inland waterways, near-shore and offshore environments could encounter munitions hazards in the form of unexploded ordnance (UXO), explosive remnants of war (ERW) or dumped munitions. Non-Technical and/or Technical Survey can be conducted to quantify this risk and a resolution methodology proposed in mitigation of the risk.
Product Assessment (Munitions, Weapon Systems): Client product assessment is the assessment of a clients product ranging from ammunition to weapons and weapon systems to explosives to verify the state of the product in accordance with its functional and operational specification.
Environmental Impact Assessment: Operations done in the underwater environment and/or on land, regardless of the party performing them (DETECH, another contractor or the client), can potentially impact negatively on the environment. An environmental impact assessment and monitoring of operations can assist to both quantify and reduce the environmental impact of such operations and assist the company performing the work to comply with relevant standards and legislation.
Non-Technical Survey by DETECH North Angola 2015