Vladimir Ninkovic

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RISK COMMUNICATION

• Vladimir Ninkovic
• Transconflict

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Communication

• Continuous flow of information between partners
  in social interaction
• Code or system of signals enables the transfer of
  the meaning
• Successful communication is the one in which
  receiver interprets the information in the way
  the sender intended.

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ISOs Definition

• Risk management vocabulary guidelines for
  use in standards, Guide 73, Geneva, 2002
• Risk communication is the exchange or sharing of
  information about risk between the decision-maker
  and other stakeholders.
• The information can relate to the existence,
  nature, form, probability, severity,
  acceptability, treatment or other aspects of
  risk.

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ISOs Definition

• Silent on two important issues
• Actors involved in the communication process (who
  communicates with whom?)
• Risk communication as a participative process
  (stakeholder involvement) could also serve as an
  instrument to inform risk decision-makers and
  could hence improve risk management.

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Outline of RC history

• young discipline Risk Communication was
  mentioned for the first time in the
• scientific literature in 1984, in the context of
  risks concerning environment, technology and
  outer security
• (Leiss, 1996)
• Covello and Sandman defined 4 evolutionary stages
  in the process, each with its own general
  philosophy and
• approach
• The first stage was simply to ignore the public
  Pre risk communication stage. The approach is
  built on
• the notion that most people are irredeemably
  irrational.
• Learning how to explain risk data better. This is
  where many organizations still are today. Risk
• communicators learn how to deal with the media,
  how to reduce or eliminate jargon etc.
• Dialogue with the community, especially with
  interested and concerned stakeholders. If you
  want people
• to listen to you, you have to listen to them
  first.
• 4. Treating the public as a full partner. Only
  limited progress has been made toward achieving
  this.

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WHY?

• Practical reasons informed citizens feel safer
  and better react during crises
• Legal obligation e.g. Disasters and major
  incidents law (Holland) or the European
  legislative which prescribes the informing of the
  public about risks and hazards
• Serbia Law of environmental protection 5th
  part Public information and participation
• Moral duty the concept of the Social
  responsibility

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Risk Communication in Risk Management

• ISO Risk management coordinated activities to
  direct and control an organisation with regard to
  risk.
• Risk communication in Risk management serves four
  main functions
• Education and enlightenment
• Risk training and inducement of behavioral
  changes
• Creation of confidence in institutions of risk
  assessment and risk management
• Involvement in risk-related assessments,
  decisions and conflict resolutions

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Who are the actors involved in RC?

1. The risk managers could be from industry,
   politicians, policy-makers, regulators
2. Experts risk assessors who assess and evaluate
   the potential risk
3. Stakeholders NGOs, religious groups, consumer
   associations, professional bodies, industry In
   case they are drawn into the risk management and
   assessment they could be too regarded as experts.
   
4. The media decide whether a risk or hazard is
   worth drawing to the attention of the public
5. The public Should be referred to in plural.
   Those interested in or affected by a hazard, can
   be segmented in many different ways, according to
   different age groups, ethnic groups, urban/rural,
   by income and educational levels

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• The risk communicator must identify
• Those involved in crisis response (the local
  authority, the emergency services)
• Anybody who may need to be informed quickly in
  order to protect themselves
• Those to whom people will turn for advice on what
  to do if they are worried about an issue (e.g.
  medical professionals following a health scare)
• People who need to be informed of issues in
  advance of wider publicity (relatives of accident
  victims)
• Those not directly involved but who might be
  deeply affected (tourist organisations)
• Staff in all organisations affected
• The media, who may be vital allies in
  disseminating information quickly

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Characteristics of information (OBrien, 2000)
Time Content Form
Timeliness Information should be given when it is necessary Correction Information must not contain errors Understandability The language of information must be understandable
Up-to-date Inf. must be updated at the moment of sending Importance Must be relevant for the situation of interest Level of detail Inf. can be detailed or summarized
Frequency Inf. must be sent as frequently as it is necessary Completeness Inf. must not be incomplete Sequence Inf. should be structured after previously agreed order
Period Information on given period must be provided in the past, present and future. Conciseness Only information needed in the given moment should be provided Presentation Inf. Can be presented verbally, by picture or statistically
Width Information can refer to wide or narrow area of interest Medium Presentation or handouts
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• RISK COMMUNICATION EDUCATION INFORMATION

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EDUCATION

• Precondition of the successful communication-infor
  mation in the accidental situations
• Seminaries
• Fliers
• TV reportages
• Radio program
• Newspaper texts
• Information on internet

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Consequences of an inadequate informing of the
public in accidental situations

• Panic
• Abandonment of the danger zone
• Fear
• Outrage
• Anxiety
• Large material and other losses
• Long-term loss of credibility of all the
  institutions and actors concerned

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Risk Communication Strategy

• Should be negotiated between risk managers and
  risk assessors at their earliest convenience.
• Risk communication strategies comprise
  furthermore questions of what should be
  communicated to whom and in which form.

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Creating a useful risk communication strategy

• Establish a team/network
• Decide what you want to achieve
• Get to know who the stakeholders are
• Decide what form of consultation to use
• Engage and involve your stakeholders
• Monitor and evaluate your strategy
• Maintain the policy communication strategy
• (UK Resilience Communicating Risk)

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• How uncertainty is immanent to risk, the success
  of risk communication can never be guaranteed.
• The situation does never develops in the
  completely predicted way.