Accident prevention and risk communication in environmental protection: a sociopsychological perspective

Abstract

The prevention and management of environmentally damaging accidents has become an important responsibility of industry and government. One of the ways to help prevent and cope with industrial accidents is to encourage risk communication. Risk communication should take place not only between the firm and the public with which it deals, but also among the firm's employees. This discussion examines the technical and subjective aspects of various risk analysis and communication approaches, emphasizing the need to pay much greater attention to the sociopsychological dimension of risk behavior in in­dustrial workplaces. It offers a number of practical guidelines for successful accident prevention and risk management. (author's abstract)