 | Public Safety and Risk Assessment: Improving Decision Making Subjects: Built Environment; Economics Finance Business & Industry; Environment and Sustainability; Health and Safety; Environmental Studies; Environmental Policy; Environmental Management; Environment & Business; Environment & Society; Environment & Health; Business Management and Accounting; Corporate Health & Safety; Environmental Health & Safety; Risk Assessment; Risk Management; This book aims to encourage a more reflective, multidisciplinary approach to public safety, and the 'reenfranchisement' of those affected by this new phenomenon. Over the past decade health and safety has become a major issue of public interest. There are countless stories of health and safety activities interfering with public life, preventing some beneficial activity from taking placenbsp;- even creating absurd or dangerous situations. On the one hand, risk assessment, properly conducted, is highly beneficialnbsp;- it saves lives and prevents injuries. But on the other, it can damage public life. Why has this come about, and does it have to be like that? The authors examine the origins of the problem, look critically at the tools used by safety assessors and their underlying assumptions, and consider important differences between public life and industry (where the approaches largely originated). They illuminate the whole with an analysis of legal requirements, attitudes of stakeholders, and recent research on risk perception and decision making. The result is a profound and important analysis of risk and safety culture and a framework for managing public safety more effectively. David Ball is Professor of Risk Management and Director of the Centre for Decision Analysis & Risk Management at Middlesex University, UK. Previously he was Director of the Centre for Environmental and Risk Management at the University of East Anglia, and before that worked as a scientist in local and central government and the private sector in Britain and the USA. He is a regular consultant to government departments and regulators as well as international agencies. Laurence Ball-King has a Masters degree in risk management and a BA in economics and politics. He has worked in credit risk management within financial services and on a variety of non-financial risks including adventure activities and public safety more generally. |
