Abstract
It has long been recognized that, nothing is wholly safe or dangerous per se, but that the object involved, and the manner and conditions of use determine the degree of hazard or safety. Consequently, it may rightly be concluded that there is no escape from all risk, no matter how remote, but that there only are choices among risks (Daniels 1978). In that spirit, risk assessment is usually designed to offer an opportunity to help understand a system better—usually by adding an orderliness and completeness to a problem evaluation. It must be acknowledged, however, that risk assessment has usefulness only if it is properly applied. Also, the risk analyst must be cognizant of the fact that hazard perception and risk thresholds—all of which can have significant impact on the ultimate risk decision—tend to be quite distinct in different regions or locations. Indeed, a good understanding of several important attributes of the risk assessment mechanisms would generally help both the risk assessor and the risk manager in practice. This chapter discusses key attributes that will facilitate the application and interpretation of risk assessment information—and thus make it more useful in public health risk management decisions.
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Asante-Duah, K. (2017). Attributes of a Public Health Risk Assessment. In: Public Health Risk Assessment for Human Exposure to Chemicals. Environmental Pollution, vol 27. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1039-6_5
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