By Kizzy Alfred

Trinidad and Tobago are the two most southerly islands in the Caribbean. The republic lies just northeast and 19 kilometres from the South American country – Venezuela (TT Connect, 2013). Trinidad was once part of the South American mainland (Central Statistical Office, 2013) and it is situated on that continental shelf (TT Connect, 2013). Consequently, Trinidad and Tobago has similar climate, flora and fauna to that of Venezuela (Central Statistical Office, 2013), and has a high species diversity to surface area ratio for its size, which makes it unique to the Caribbean (Convention of Biological Diversity, 2002). Coupled with the fact that Trinidad and Tobago is a signatory to the Rio Convention in 1992 and Rio +20 in 2012, serious emphasis should be placed on protecting our environment.

One logical approach to protecting the environment is through legislation – by passing, implementing and enforcing laws that safeguard this precious commodity. Environmental laws have been implemented in many countries with great effect (European Environmental Agency, 1998). Health and Safety Executive (2013) states that “risk assessment is simply a careful examination of what, in your work, could cause harm to people, so that you can weigh up whether you have taken enough precautions or should do more to prevent harm.” Risk assessment and management has been used for many years in other disciplines such as health but have more recently been introduced to the environmental field (European Environmental Agency, 1998). The United Kingdom’s Environmental Protection Act 1990 describes the environment as consisting of “all, or any, of the following media, namely the air, water and land” (Legislation.gov.uk 2013). According to the Royal Society of Chemistry (2008), environmental risk assessment “covers the risk to all ecosystems, including humans, exposed via, or impacted via, these media. The term environmental risk assessment does not normally cover the risks to individuals or the general public from consumer products or from exposure in the work place, where other specific legislation applies.” This research paper thus, would highlight and critically assess the provisions for environmental risk assessment to deal with hazards in Trinidad and Tobago.