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Comparative Risk Assessment: Concepts, Problems and Applications

Description
All those who make risk-related decisions require sound knowledge on which to base their decisions, wherever possible including the best scientific knowledge available. Often, they are confronted by the need to make decisions in which they must allocate resources to one or more of several different problems, and are required to do so in the absence of any objective means of comparing the risks or the impact of their decisions. CRA offers a possible way of providing a scientific basis for such decisions.
This valuable contribution to the debate about CRA and its place in the total risk governance process provides a catalog of suggested solutions for different categories of issues, offering a balanced overview backed by methodological examples. It considers CRA in the USA, Europe and Germany, using case studies to analyze and exemplify the decision-making processes and challenges involved.
Following an introductory section, the authors go on to look at the concepts and definitions of risk, as well as the practical implementation of CRA. Along the way, they consider the empirical foundations of CRA and a conceptual framework for an integrated comparative risk evaluation. They also study the practical lessons learned from the case studies, together with an in-depth discussion of the underlying scientific hypotheses. The whole is rounded off with appendices covering risk metrics, MCRA, a comparative evaluation of unclear risks and the risks of hazardous incidents.
Sound scientific knowledge for everyone who makes decisions, whether government ministers, regulators, or company directors.
About the Author
Holger Schutz is a senior scientist in the MUT (Man, Environment and Technology) Program Group at the Julich Research Center, focusing on risk perception and risk communication, comparative assessment of environmental health risks and evidence assessment.
Peter M. Wiedemann is the Director of the MUT Program Group and also teaches at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. He was elected President of the Society for Risk Analysis - Europe and served on the WHO task force on risk communication, the Scientific Expert Group of the National Action Program "Environment and Health", and on the EMF Communication Group of the WHO EMF Project. He has extensive experience in societal conflicts over modern technologies with a focus on risk communication and conflict resolution.
Wilfried Hennings is a member of the MUT Program Group, whose current research centers on methods for assessing technological risks. He received his diploma in electrical engineering from the RWTH Aachen University.
Johannes Mertens is a member of the MUT Program Group, who received his PhD in physics from the RWTH Aachen University. His recent research is on the assessment and management of technological risks.
Martin Clauberg is a lecturer at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and also Sr. Risk/Science Consultant & Founder of Dr. Clauberg-Consulting, Germany & US. He has been a visiting scientist at the Julich Research Center and at the National Institutes of Health, Washington, DC, as well as Human Health Risk Assessor & Risk Assessment Team Leader at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.