When health, safety, or environmental risks take center stage, communicating risk information can be a daunting challenge. The increased visibility of global terrorism and other catastrophic emergencies underscores the potential for human tragedy - along with economic, social, and political consequences. Communication must be targeted, understandable, and effective without inadvertently provoking hostility and mistrust. For over 10 years, "Risk Communication", a handbook of strategies and guidance for conveying risk information effectively, has proven a valuable resource on areas such as current laws, stakeholder participation methods, and working with the news media. Managers, scientists, engineers, students, communication specialists, health care professionals, agency representatives, and consultants will benefit from contemporary, practical advice on what to do and what to avoid for successful risk communication.The book is divided into five self-contained parts. Part I provides background information to understand basic theories and practices of risk communication. Part II explains how to plan a communication effort. Part III describes how to put risk communication into action. Part IV discusses how to evaluate risk communication efforts, including techniques to measure success. Part V discusses communicating risk during and after a health or environmental emergency, from bioterrorism attacks to mad cow disease. Outstanding features include the melding of sound, scientific research with practical, hands-on advice from risk practitioners with over 20 years experience in the field. The book is meant to be used as an introduction to the field as well as a refresher and reference book for those communicating environmental, safety, and health risks in government, industry, and academia.

Table of Contents

Preface. Tables and Figures. 1. Introduction. Part I: Understanding Risk Communication. 2. Approaches to Communicating Risk. 3. Laws that Mandate Risk Communication. 4. Constraints to Effective Risk Communication. 5. Ethical Issues. 6. Principles of Risk Communication. Part II: Planning the Risk Communication Effort. 7. Determine Purpose and Objectives. 8. Analyze Your Audience. 9. Develop Your Message. 10. Determine the Appropriate Methods. 11. Set a Schedule. 12. Develop a Communication Plan. Part III: Putting Risk Communication Into Action. 13. Information Materials. 14. Visual Representation of Risks. 15. Face-to-Face Communication. 16. Working with the Media. 17. Stakeholder Participation. 18. Technology-Assisted Communication. Part IV: Evaluating Risk Communication Efforts. 19. Evaluating Risk Communication Efforts. Part V: Bioterrorism and Other Emergencies. 20. Risk Communication Before, During, and After Emergencies. Part VI: Resources, Glossary, Index. 21. Resources. 22. Glossary. 23. Index.

Author Biography

Regina Lundgren is an independent consultant, formerly a research scientist for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, which Battelle operates for the U.S. Department of Energy. For nearly 20 years, she has specialized in communicating environmental,safety, and health risks to lay audiences. Her communication materials have won national and international awards. She serves her clients in government and industry as a consultant, trainer, and project manager. She developed the risk communication plan for the most sophisticated cancer cluster investigation in the nation's history and one of the first state-level public health emergency risk communication plans. She conducted research on the mental models approach to risk communication. She is a frequent speaker to industry groups and professionals societies. She has a degree in scientific and technical communication from the University of Washington and a certificate in regulatory analysis from the Harvard School of Public Health. Andrea McMakin is a Senior Communication Specialist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington. She works with government and industry clients to communicate risks and other information about science, technology, and business. She's contributed to risk communication programs involving cancer clusters, health and environmental impacts from waste and Superfund sites, nuclear safety in former Soviet countries, worker chemical exposure, and risk perception research. She has spoken and taught about communication issues for 23 years. Her work has been published and cited in technical journals and science magazines, and she wrote a local newspaper column on business issues for 5 years. A former teacher, she holds a Master of Arts degree in Communication from Washington State University.