Hazards and the Communication of Risk

Risks and hazards are inevitable by-products of technological change and human interaction with the natural environment.

In recent years, however, the increase in hazardous incidents worldwide has caused governments, commercial and voluntary organizations and the general public to become increasingly concerned about the risks that they face.

In response to this the United Nations has designated the 1990s as the "International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction".

This book is the result of an international workshop held at the Flood Hazard Research Centre, Middlesex Polytechnic to consider the communication of risk.

Identifying new risks, deciding what is acceptable and minimizing the impact of "unacceptable" risks, requires the communication of risk information between those responsible for risk management, the risk bearers and the wider community.

The authors of this volume consider the communication of different types of risks from the natural hazards of floods and earthquakes to the more technological and "lifestyle" risks from smoking, road traffic accidents and chemical spills.

It also deals with raising awareness of risk and eliciting appropriate response to warnings. This book should be of interest to government agencies, academics and all individuals and organizations concerned with policy decisions in the field or risk communication.