Abstract
There has been a steady rise in awareness of and interest in risk, particularly environmental risk, on the part of the general public and the professional community over the past few decades (see for instance, Regens, Dietz, and Rycroft, 1983; Wildavsky, 1979; Wilson, 1979; Marsh & McLennan, 1980). A recent analysis of citations in scientific journals showed a dramatic increase in the use of the word risk in that literature since 1960 (Inhaber and Norman, 1982). Bills have been introduced into Congress to promote the use of risk assessments in the management of environmental risk (H.R. 6159, the “Ritter” bill) by a wide range of agencies. These legislative actions have emphasized the lack of a systematic use of risk analyses in agency decision making in establishing just how susceptible the public is to environmental risks (H.R. 6159, Section 2 (g)). A recent National Academy of Sciences study of several federal agencies came to the same conclusions (NAS, 1983). These attempts at quantifying risk in environmental health contexts are similar to attempts to value a life, first popular during World War II in a military context, then in the context of nuclear power, and now as a basis for evaluating the costs and benefits of governmental regulatory programs and funding decisions for consumer safety and environmental protection (see for instance, Acton, 1976; Zeckhauser, 1975). What distinguishes the recent interest in risk from earlier concerns is the emphasis upon risks whose consequences are delayed rather than immediate, and whose causes are primarily man-induced rather than the result of natural phenomena.
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Zimmerman, R. (1986). The Management of Risk. In: Covello, V.T., Menkes, J., Mumpower, J. (eds) Risk Evaluation and Management. Contemporary Issues in Risk Analysis, vol 1. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2103-3_18
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