Principles of Risk Communication

Know  the  Audience

In formulating risk communication messages, the audience should be analyzed to understand  their motivations and opinions. Beyond knowing in general who the audience is, it is necessary to actually get  to  know them as groups and ideally as  individuals to understand their concerns  and  feelings and to maintain an open  channel of communication with them. Listening to all interested parties  is an  important part of risk communication.

Establish Expertise  in  Communication

Successful risk communication requires expertise in conveying understandable and usable information to all interested parties. Risk managers and technical experts may not have the time or the skill to perform complex risk communication  tasks, such as responding to  the needs of the various audiences (public, industry, media, etc.) and preparing effective messages. People with an expertise  in risk communication should therefore be involved as early as possible. This expertise will be likely to be developed by  training and experience.

Share  Responsibility

Regulatory agencies of governments at the national, regional and local levels have a fundamental responsibility for risk communication. The public expects the government to  play  a leading role  in managing public  health  risks. This  is  true when  the risk management decision  involves regulatory or voluntary controls, and is even true when the government decision is  to  take no  action. In the  latter event, communication is still essential to provide a reason why  taking no action is the best option. In order to understand the public concerns and to ensure that risk management decisions  respond to  those concerns in appropriate ways, the government needs to determine what the public knows about the risks and what the public thinks of  the various options being considered  to manage  those risks.