The Hazard Identification Tool (HIT) is a desk-research based tool developed by the UN Environment/OCHA Joint Unit which identifies potential acute life-threatening environmental hazards.

The HIT is adapted to the science-based FEAT methodology. It is usually applied to a region affected by a major natural disaster upon receiving the UNDAC stand-by alert message. It provides a list with potential secondary risks in the affected area, such as large infrastructure, nuclear facilities, hazardous waste storage sites and industrial facilities. The HIT lists the hazards these facilities may contain. Th is technical information is then translated into “humanitarian language” by indicating estimated potential impacts: (1) direct impact on humans; (2) direct impact on the natural environment or (3) longer-term impacts on humans and the environment. Efforts are made to locate the sites as precisely as possible. The HIT was field-tested in Kenya in December 2008 with the objective to validate the tool and explore its potential for being used in preparedness for natural disasters.

Consult the HIT tool here.