Saving Lives from a Silent Killer: Using Mental Modeling to Address Homeowners’ Decision Making About Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Abstract

Every year, hundreds of people in North America die from accidental carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning in their homes. In 2001, the Technical Standards and Safety Authority of Ontario (TSSA) identified illness and death from carbon monoxide poisoning in the home as their top risk management priority. This chapter describes how Mental Modeling was used to assist the TSSA and the Carbon Monoxide Safety Council in developing insight-based risk communications focused on raising homeowner awareness of the risk of CO in the home and the need to take appropriate action. The research followed the six-step Strategic Risk Communications Process™, an integral part of a risk management process. After defining the scope of the project and articulating the Opportunity Statement, an Expert Model of Reducing the Risk of Carbon Monoxide in the Home was created which provided an integrated expert understanding of the important influences on reducing the risk of CO in the home. This Model served as the analytical framework for 60 one-on-one interviews that assessed Ontario homeowners’ perceptions of the risk and the decisions that they make as a consequence of their perceptions. Two cohorts were interviewed based on TSSA’s risk assessment and with input from the expert group: seniors living in their original homes, and new homeowners. An analysis was done to determine gaps and alignments between experts’ and homeowners’ perspectives on all aspects of CO causes, effects, and interventions available to homeowners. Based on this gap analysis, specifically targeted risk communications strategies were designed to improve homeowners’ ability to make well-informed decisions and minimize risks associated with CO exposure. The desired outcomes of these interventions were to significantly improve TSSA and Carbon Monoxide Safety Council member organizations’ ability to design and conduct effective risk communications materials for homeowners about the risks of CO in the home. The research also led to recommendations for risk management interventions that were undertaken by TSSA and members of the Council.