Beecher Ned, Harrison Ellen, Goldstein Nora, McDaniel Mary, Field Patrick, Susskind Lawrence
New England Biosolids and Residuals Association, P.O. Box 422, Tamworth, NH 03886, USA.
J Environ Qual. 2005 Jan-Feb;34(1):122-8.
An individual's perception of risk develops from his or her values, beliefs, and experiences. Social scientists have identified factors that affect perceptions of risk, such as whether the risk is knowable (uncertainty), voluntary (can the individual control exposure?), and equitable (how fairly is the risk distributed?). There are measurable differences in how technical experts and citizen stakeholders define and assess risk. Citizen knowledge and technical expertise are both relevant to assessing risk; thus, the 2002 National Research Council panel on biosolids recommended stakeholder involvement in biosolids risk assessments. A survey in 2002 identified some of the factors that influence an individual's perception of the risks involved in a neighbor's use of biosolids. Risk communication was developed to address the gap between experts and the public in knowledge of technical topics. Biosolids management and research may benefit from applications of current risk communication theory that emphasizes (i) two-way communications (dialogue); (ii) that the public has useful knowledge and concerns that need to be acknowledged; and (iii) that what may matter most is the credibility of the purveyor of information and the levels of trustworthiness, fairness, and respect that he or she (or the organization) demonstrates, which can require cultural change. Initial experiences in applying the dialogue and cultural change stages of risk communication theory--as well as consensus-building and joint fact-finding--to biosolids research suggest that future research outcomes can be made more useful to decision-makers and more credible to the broader public. Sharing control of the research process with diverse stakeholders can make research more focused, relevant, and widely understood.
个人对风险的认知源于其价值观、信念和经历。社会科学家已确定了影响风险认知的因素,例如风险是否可知(不确定性)、是否自愿(个人能否控制接触风险?)以及是否公平(风险的分配有多公平?)。技术专家和公民利益相关者在定义和评估风险的方式上存在可衡量的差异。公民知识和技术专长都与风险评估相关;因此,2002年国家研究委员会关于生物固体的小组建议利益相关者参与生物固体风险评估。2002年的一项调查确定了一些影响个人对邻居使用生物固体所涉风险认知的因素。风险沟通的发展旨在弥合专家与公众在技术主题知识方面的差距。生物固体管理和研究可能会受益于当前风险沟通理论的应用,该理论强调:(i)双向沟通(对话);(ii)公众拥有需要得到认可的有用知识和关切;(iii)最重要的可能是信息传播者的可信度以及他或她(或该组织)所展现的可信度、公平性和尊重程度,这可能需要文化变革。将风险沟通理论的对话和文化变革阶段——以及建立共识和联合事实调查——应用于生物固体研究的初步经验表明,未来的研究成果可以对决策者更有用,对更广泛的公众更可信。与不同的利益相关者共享研究过程的控制权可以使研究更具针对性、相关性且更易于理解。