Factors that People Associate with Amount of Risk
| Less Risky | More Risky |
| Voluntary | Involuntary |
| Familiar | Unfamiliar |
| Controllable | Uncontrollable |
| Controlled by self | Controlled by others |
| Fair | Unfair |
| Not memorable | Memorable |
| Not dreaded | Dreaded |
| Chronic | Acute |
| Diffuse in time and space | Focused in time and space |
| Not fatal | Fatal |
| Immediate | Delayed |
| Natural | Artificial |
| Individual mitigation possible | Individual mitigation impossible |
| Detectable | Undetectable |
You can see that there is substantial risk associated with the unknown, the undetected, and the unfamiliar. Therefore, it is best to define rather than obfuscate: educate rather than ignore. The chart also shows that people generally perceive situations as riskier if they have no control. Therefore, it is best to provide the public a feeling of control, influence, and participation.
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Pay Attention to Your Audience
Public perception of risk is different from town to town and from region to region because risk depends on myriad factors. The type of community, its people, and the past management at the facility may all affect public perception of risk. Therefore, knowing your audience (e.g., the local community) and their concerns is the first big step. You will discover that oftentimes the “real” issue in the mind of the public differs from the chemical risk issue that you are prepared to address.
How You Say It
How you express risk is also critical to the audience’s response. Peter Sandman, who wrote, Explaining Environmental Risk, prepared for EPA’s Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) Assistance Office, says “Risk judgments are responsive to verbal cues. A pollutant or an accident that will eventually give cancer to 1 in 10,000 people sounds serious, but one that will add less than one-tenth of one percent to the national cancer rate sounds almost negligible.”
Recognize You Are on the Wrong Side of the Fence
Many facility spokespeople simply make the wrong arguments. When speaking or writing to the public, do not drag on about the number of jobs the facility provides in the community, the tax revenue, and the great history of the company. This data is relatively meaningless if you have failed to report a leak or it is disclosed that you release significant quantities of hazardous chemicals to the community.
Releases spell pollution in the eyes of the public, and the public tends to view any pollution as wrong. Technical, chemical, and economic arguments will not sufficiently persuade a public that pollution is acceptable.
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Education can help minimize the public outrage and the fears. Facilities should:
- Personalize the issues by educating the public on home chemical issues such as indoor air pollution and household hazardous wastes—and offer to provide chemical and technical expertise on these topics to the public
- Demonstrate the company’s commitment to reduce releases to the environment
- Provide data on the risk of facility releases into the air and water relative to other risks that the public is exposed to every day
Public forums and open houses where the public’s concerns can be put on the table, considered, and addressed are absolutely necessary to communicate risk effectively and address the public’s fears. Facilities are not able to hide.
See tomorrow’s Advisor to find out how you can keep the doors of communication open to your public and keep them trusting you.