Uncertainty in risk assessment, risk management, and decision making

Meer over het boek

This volume addresses uncertainties in risk assessment and management, a crucial theme in health, safety, and environmental decision-making. Technological hazards often involve significant uncertainty, as seen in issues like nuclear waste disposal, acid rain, and hazardous substances in food and schools. Managing this uncertainty poses a formidable challenge for risk assessors and managers. Four main sources of uncertainty are identified: (1) uncertainties about definitions, stemming from differing interpretations of key concepts like probability; (2) uncertainties about scientific facts, arising from disagreements on failure modes, the likelihood and impact of adverse health or environmental effects, and cause-and-effect relationships; (3) uncertainties about risk perceptions and attitudes, which reflect varying opinions on what constitutes an acceptable level of risk; and (4) uncertainties about values, related to differing views on the desirability of various risk management actions. The papers in this volume explore these uncertainties from diverse perspectives, contributing to the broad field of risk assessment and management research. Contributors include safety engineers, epidemiologists, toxicologists, chemists, biostatisticians, biologists, decision analysts, economists, psychologists, political scientists, sociologists, ethicists, and lawyers.