Chapter 12 Estimation and management of health and safety risks

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the estimation and management of health and safety risks. To achieve public desires for lower health and safety risks and to lower needless costs, a more systematic approach is needed to estimate and manage risks. The approach must sort out factors because of individual preferences, social preferences, externalities, and inept management. The chapter identifies the most important disputes and shows their consequences. The acute versus chronic nature of the risks leads to quite different methods for identifying the qualitative and quantitative risks. The chapter discusses the methods used to estimate risks qualitatively and quantitatively and then manage them. The estimation and management of risks is illustrated with several controversial examples. Lowering all risks in a setting can only be done at the cost of eliminating the activity or spending inordinate amounts of resources. The chapter includes the case studies for managing health and safety risks. The formal analysis of risks to health and safety has contributed to decreasing risks. An array of analytic tools is available to address a wide variety of concerns. The further development of these tools and their application to improving the management of death and safety risks has much to offer.