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Societal Risk Assessment

How Safe is Safe Enough?

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Table of contents (18 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-ix
  2. The Risks We Run and the Risks We “Accept”

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-4
    2. The Nature of Risk

      • William W. Lowrance
      Pages 5-17
    3. The Uncertain Risks We Run: Hazardous Materials

      • Marvin A. Schneiderman
      Pages 19-41
    4. The Known Risks We Run: The Highway

      • Barbara E. Sabey, Harold Taylor
      Pages 43-70
  3. “Acceptability” with Fixed Resources

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 85-87
    2. On Making Life and Death Decisions

      • Ronald A. Howard
      Pages 89-113
    3. Economic Tools for Risk Reduction

      • Lester B. Lave
      Pages 115-128
    4. Trade-Offs

      • Richard C. Schwing
      Pages 129-145
  4. “Acceptability” in a Democracy — Who Shall Decide?

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 179-180
    2. Facts and Fears: Understanding Perceived Risk

      • Paul Slovic, Baruch Fischhoff, Sarah Lichtenstein
      Pages 181-216
    3. Ethics, Economics and the Value of Safety

      • William D. Schulze
      Pages 217-231
    4. Problems and Procedures in the Regulation of Technological Risk

      • Dorothy Nelkin, Michael Pollak
      Pages 233-253
  5. Directions and Perspectives of Societal Risk Assessment

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 271-271
    2. Aesthetics of Risk: Culture or Context

      • Michael Thompson
      Pages 273-285
    3. Prospects for Change

      • Melvin Kranzberg
      Pages 319-332

About this book

This volume constitutes the papers and discussions from a symposium on "Societal Risk Assessment: How Safe is Safe Enough?" held at the General Motors Research Laboratories on October 8-9, 1979. This symposium was the twenty-fourth in an annual series sponsored by the Research Laboratories. Initi­ ated in 1957, these symposia have as their objective the promotion of the interchange ofknowledge among specialists from many allied disciplines in rapidly developing or changing areas ofscience or technology. Attendees characteristically represent the academic, government, and industrial institutions that are noted for their ongoing activities in the particular area of interest. The objective of this symposium was to develop a balanced view of the current status of societal risk assessment's role in the public policy process and then to establish, if possible, future directions of research. Accordingly, the symposium was structured in two dimensions; certainty versus uncertainty and the subjective versus the objective. Furthermore, people representing extremely diverse discip­ lines concerned with the perception, quantification, and abatement of risks were brought together to provide an environment that stimulated the exchange of ideas and experiences. The keys to this exchange were the invited papers, arranged into four symposium sessions. These papers appear in this volume in the order of their presentation. The discussions that in turn followed from the papers are also included.

Editors and Affiliations

  • General Motors Research Laboratories, Warren, USA

    Richard C. Schwing, Walter A. Albers

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Societal Risk Assessment

  • Book Subtitle: How Safe is Safe Enough?

  • Editors: Richard C. Schwing, Walter A. Albers

  • Series Title: General Motors Research Laboratories Symposia Series

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0445-4

  • Publisher: Springer New York, NY

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media New York 1980

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-306-40554-9Published: 30 September 1980

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-1-4899-0447-8Published: 27 November 2013

  • eBook ISBN: 978-1-4899-0445-4Published: 19 December 2013

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: X, 364

  • Topics: Environmental Management

Buy it now

Buying options

Softcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access