Risk Perception & Analysis Report: Accidents, Perceptions & Responses

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of risk perception and its various facets. Part A examines accidents, exemplified by a construction site incident, and the associated perceptions, highlighting the importance of safety protocols and risk assessment. Part B delves into the psychological aspects of risk perception, exploring historical examples like witch hunts and contemporary challenges in resource management and drug-related risks. It emphasizes the human tendency to fear the unknown and the need for proactive risk management strategies. Part C shifts to legal and victim perspectives, including case studies like the Brazil dam collapse and responsibilities of a safety officer in NSW, Australia. The report underscores the importance of understanding and mitigating risks through effective planning, resource allocation, and the consideration of uncertainties. It concludes that while eliminating risk entirely is impossible, proactive measures can significantly reduce its impact and improve safety outcomes, as the government and organizations should put efforts on this.

RUNNING AHEAD: RISK PERCEPTION AND ANALYSIS 1
RISK PERCEPTION & ANALYSIS
STUDENT NAME
UNIVERSITY NAME

RISK PERCEPTION AND ANALYSIS 2
Table of Contents
Part A: Accidents and associated perceptions........................................................................................3
Part B: Perceptions of risk.....................................................................................................................4
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................4
Witch hunts.......................................................................................................................................4
Resource management - Rivers.........................................................................................................6
Drugs.................................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.........................................................................................................................................8
Part B: Personal and societal responses to risk......................................................................................9
Factors influencing the perception of risk..........................................................................................9
Part C: Legal and Victim views of risk................................................................................................11
Exercise 1 Responsibilities of Safety officer at Construction site in NSW, Australia........................11
Exercise 2: Brazil Dam Collapse Case.........................................................................................12
Exercise 3: Prevent risk in the near future.......................................................................................12
References...........................................................................................................................................14

RISK PERCEPTION AND ANALYSIS 3
Part A: Accidents and associated perceptions
In 2015, Robert Cyr, 47, slipped to death from the fourth floor of the construction site. One of
the manager’s in the site paid Cyr to install water and ice shield on the 4th floor. Mr. Cyr was
hired as there was lack of people on the site. Reporters stated that Cyr was sceptical about
doing the job and at the same time, the hiring official also was not aware of the skill sets Cyr
holds. The manager was in need of people and Cyr was in need of money and hence, he
decided to take up the job. While performing the job he wasn’t clipped and due to this, his
fall was smooth and directly on the ground.
Looking at the situation, it can be clearly said that the risk assessment at the construction site
was poor and that’s the only reason due to which this accident took place. First and foremost,
the safety officer at the construction site should have ensured that they a qualified person
rather than hiring someone to get the job done. On the other end, Cyr was under the influence
of seductive and hence, even if he would have been qualified, he shouldn’t have been allowed
to do the job. Finally, Cyr was not clipped while performing the job. This is the most riskiest
task that can be undertaken by anybody at the construction site.
The safety officer at the construction site should ensure that they have safety checklist in
place. Before a worker starts working on the construction site, he needs to fulfil all the
criteria in the checklist. This will ensure that the safety of construction workers is improved.
The safety officer should ensure that the checklist is verified against each employee on daily
basis. This will ensure that all the employees are available at construction site with all the
safety requirements in place.
Different reports state different things like Cyr was on sedatives and few stated that he was
not clipped. Despite different reasons, one thing is clear that the safety measurements were

RISK PERCEPTION AND ANALYSIS 4
not taken properly and it is the fault of the construction manager and the safety officer, who
allowed the worker to work without any prior check up.
The general public also stated that the accident at construction site has become very common
and they are not able to do much about the same. Construction workers also stated that they
are scared to work at the construction site as the safety at most of the construction sites are
questionable, but they are forced to work as they are dependent on that salary to feed their
family.
.
Part B: Perceptions of risk
Introduction
Clarke states that any risk is more of psychological rather than actual. If an unknown
situation arrives, people are scared on what would happen, what will not happen and mostly,
importantly, they are scared of the unknown factors that may or may not come. He also states
that it is people’s incapability to not understand the situation and blaming the unknown may
be unacceptable.
Witch hunts
In the past, for every problem, people use to visit church to understand the reason and
also a solution if the problem can be sorted. The experts were not well educated or well aware
of what would be the reason behind a particular activity and at the same time, they wouldn’t
accept to the fact that they aren’t aware of the logical reason. If they accept the same, the
people around would lose trust on them and hence, they conveniently used terms like witch
hunt and witch crafts. People around started believing that they have to deal with this and

RISK PERCEPTION AND ANALYSIS 5
they don’t have an option to get rid of this witch craft. Sudden death of a family member was
termed as witch craft, rather than trying to hunt the reason for the same. Today, people are
smart enough to dig back the reason of death so that they can safeguard their other family
members, friends, and colleagues from such problems, in the near future (Pierce 2015)
With time, people wanted to safeguard themselves from the unwanted problems and
hence, they decided that an unknown witch cannot be stronger than that of the known
remedies. With this understanding, people started to search for logic, for everything that is
happening around them. If a village or locality is prone to natural disaster then probably one
cannot understand the reason behind the national disaster, but then they can take necessary
actions to ensure that the impact of the earthquake is reduced to a great extend and this is
allowing people to be more carefree and to concentrate on other things. Due to the witchcraft
in picture, people were not able to concentrate on the bigger things as they were just
concerned about what would happen next minute which they aren’t aware of (Grinshpun
2014).
Through this article, Clarke states that people are scared about the negatives that
would come if they take particular action and that is one of the main reasons due to which
people are not acting as and when required. Acting while a risk has arrived shows an
individual’s capability and competence on how to act when the situation is uncontrollable,
rather than blaming the unknown which may not even exist. Today, many countries don’t
even believe in witchcraft. It is always important for an individual to analyse the situation
rather than that of taking decisions based on what ancestors have said and what people
around is saying.
It is important to analyse the situation and understand the reason for which a
particular situation has raised. If the crops fall off due to heavy rains or storm then one need

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to understand if this is the season then year-on-year safety measures should be put in place to
ensure that the problems can be avoided in the upcoming years. If this has happened during
the off-season then people should watch weather forecasts and be prepared for the
unforeseen.
Resource management - Rivers
Resource management is one of the most important things that an individual needs to learn so
that he can act fast if any risk arises. This is well understood by the government of many
countries and also the managers in the organization are trained on this. In the past, number of
people affected by natural disasters was really high in number but the number has now come
down to a great extent. One needs to understand and remember that uncertainty is one factor
which cannot be deleted completely. The manager in an organization may put 100% efforts to
ensure that none of his team member leaves, but there would be few reasons on which he
cannot act upon and hence, few team members may leave the system due to some
unavoidable reasons. The manager needs to be prepared that few people would leave the
organization at some point of time and hence, he needs to hire additional people, keep them
ready for their future roles and responsibilities so that they can act accordingly rather than
blaming the people who are leaving the organization or being helpless in such situations.
The uncertainty may also be due to the things that are yet unknown. A person willing to
combat risk should always try to understand the unsaid factors as well and this will help him
at the time of risk. When many countries were affected by Tsunami, people were shocked as
many were not even aware of the existence of something called Tsunami. After the effect, the
researchers tried their level best to analyse the situation and also they tried to understand the
reason due to which Tsunami came. The loss of life to this event was huge but unavoidable
too, due to the lack of knowledge among the people and also the government officials. Today,

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many nations have systems that can forecast Tsunami so that they can warn people and also
save their lives, if not anything else.
A risk manager should always spend time with historians who have a good understanding of
the situation so that they can share their experience and accordingly, the risk manager can
discover new things. It is very important to understand the previous research and then based
on the same, the additional research should take place. While preparing a risk management
plan, the risk manager should always take the uncertainty into consideration and only then the
plan can be implemented successfully. If the manager feels that a particular thing has never
took place in the past and it will never take place in the future as well then the risk
management plan will never considered to be complete. Allocation of available resources to
the right team, for the right purpose is also one role which the risk manager needs to play. If
excess resource is allocated to an unwanted situation then the risk in another situation cannot
be reduced.
Drugs
While talking of risk management, drugs cannot be missed at any cost. At one point of time,
plenty of people were suffering from unknown health problems and they were dying of the
same but the situation is not the same. There are plenty of drugs that would help the patient to
recover easily from diseases like typhoid, jaundice and other diseases which was life
threatening at one point of time. The situation is different today but this doesn’t mean that
people aren’t dying of any disease at all. Even today, there aren’t medicines for cancer, HIV
and many others. The team of scientists are working on this and they are trying to find
medication for diseases which is still a threat to many.
The risk associated with drug manufacturing doesn’t end there. There are plenty of other risks
as well associated with it. If a research is undertaken for a new drug then there are
possibilities that the research is taking lot of time and hence, it is not reaching to people on

RISK PERCEPTION AND ANALYSIS 8
time and hence, many could suffer from the health problem. Apart from that, if the drug is
released quickly in the market without much of testing then there are high chances that it
would lead to other problems and ultimately, it may also claim a person’s life (Zulch 2014).
Risk is associated with medication as well and hence, one need to be rest assured that they are
consuming the proper drug and not just something that is randomly available in the market. A
well approved drug may be considered by an individual for any kind of viral fever, on the
other end, the ingredients in that drug may not be suitable to the other and hence, the other
person may suffer may some other problem. This is a risk associated with drugs as well and
one needs to understand that risk is inevitable and an individual needs to bear with risks at all
point of time.
Conclusion
Throughout the article, Clarke states that humans are continuously looking for to reduce the
risks in their life so that they can be safe and happy but this is merely impossible. An
individual should look for ways by which the risk can be reduced to a great extent but at the
same time, people will come across risks which they need to face and overcome to survive in
life. The government is putting in efforts on various areas so that they can reduce the risks,
but at the same time, they also should revise the policy at regular intervals, by way of
analysing the existing situation with that of the past so that decisions can be taken
accordingly. Policy revision considering the current scenario and situation will ensure that the
risks can be reduced to a great extent, but one needs to accept that risks cannot be reduced
completely. Ignorance and unawareness of risk will increase the risks on the individual rather
than that of making them safe. At the same time, one should have the courage to look for
ways to reduce the risk rather than avoiding it.

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Part B: Personal and societal responses to risk
Due to heavy rains on April 12, 2018, Koranga (Northern border part of Malawi) was
flooded. More than 300 families were stranded and the government is looking for ways to
ensure that most of the families are safe. The government has engaged a team to ensure that
people are safe and also the basic needs like food, clothing and shelter are met (Ziek 2015).
Factors influencing the perception of risk
The various factors that create an impact on the perception of risk are as follows: -
Factors Explanation
Imposition This risk was imposed on the people of Koranga by nature and hence,
this couldn’t have been avoided at any cost. Similarly, this risk was
imposed, on the government, by the nature and it is their responsibility to
ensure that the affected people are safe.
Voluntariness Exposure to this risk was not voluntary by the people. The government
officials have started the rescue operation with the hope that people
would be saved. This is voluntary on their behalf as it is their
responsibility to ensure that the society is safe.
Equitability  The risk is inequitable for the people affected as they have lost
their house. On the other end, the risk is equitable for the
government officials as they can save the people and hence, the
benefit derived from the risk is more than that of avoiding it
(Sorooshian 2013).
State of
knowledge
People and the government officials are aware of the problems that
would arise due to the risk that has arrived. Due to the intensity of the
risk, people are struggling hard to survive and at the same time, the

RISK PERCEPTION AND ANALYSIS 10
officials are willing to save the affected people.
Proximity In this case, the proximity of affected people with the risk is very high as
they are affected directly by the floods. The government officials are
willing to affect the people and they are more concerned about the
people’s life than anything else (Shelley 2015).
Time Koranga as a region is affected by floods frequently and hence, people
experience this disaster very frequently. Due to this, people are aware of
the safety measures that they need to take to ensure that they are safe.
Similarly, the government officials will also be aware of the steps that
they need to take to ensure safety of the affected people.
Extreme Value At this point of time, the government officials is more concerned about
the possibility of cholera outbreak in the society and hence, they are
trying hard to control this situation. On the other end, the affected people
are concerned about the death of themselves or their loved ones because
of lack of food, sleep, shelter and medication (Rolstadas 2014).
Dread People have plenty of such questions in their mind like – “What if
nobody rescues us? Who will give us food? What happened to what we
saved?” Similarly, the government officials also had few questions in
their mind, like – “Will we be able to save all?” “Anything else can be
done to save the people?” “What if the rescue materials carried by the
officials aren’t sufficient?” (Rolfe 2013).
Unknown If the rescue operation is delay, the suffering would increase, there are
also possibilities that the death toll may increase and further delay would

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lead to outbreak of Cholera, which is highly risky.
Number affected Number of people affected by the floods is close to 1000 and hence, the
government officials are putting in efforts to save these people. This is
creating a huge pressure on the government as the number of people is
huge (Parker 2015).
It is very difficult for the people to be prepared for such risks, but the government can take
initiative before the risk comes. The dreadful thoughts among the people makes the situation
even scarier as people are more concerned about saving their loved ones. The number of
people affected by floods keeps on increasing and hence, it makes the situation difficult with
passing time. The intensity of the problem raises for the rescue team as well, as reaching the
venue is very difficult (Muller 2014,).
Part C: Legal and Victim views of risk
Exercise 1 Responsibilities of Safety officer at Construction site in NSW, Australia
To ensure that the possible risks are kept at bay while the construction work is on, it is the
responsibility of the safety officer to take necessary steps. Few of steps that would ensure that
the risks at construction site can be reduced to a great extent are as follows: -
 Transportation to the construction site should be pre-decided
 Unauthorized access to the site should be avoided
 All the employees at the site should be trained about the SOPs to adhere
 All the workers should wear the required safety equipments (Morris 2013)

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The safety officer should ensure that all the employees and workers should adhere to the
guidelines. All the employees should be educated about the hazards of not wearing the safety
equipments. This law is in place to ensure that the employees and also people in the nearby
localities aren’t affected due to the construction work that is taking place (Makarova 2014).
Exercise 2: Brazil Dam Collapse Case
The test of causation – The Brazil Dam Collapse was due to the design flaws and the range of
construction. BHP is responsible for the environmental disaster caused due to Brazil Dam
Collapse. BHP safety team should have been extra careful while the project was in design
stage (Wang 2013).
Foresee-ability – BHP didn’t foresee such a big risk that is laying ahead due to the design
flaws. If these things would have been foreseen by the BHP team then they would have
avoided it as the financial loss to the company due to this disaster is huge and at the same
time, the reputation of the organization is also tampered.
Controllability – It wasn’t possible for the organization to control it as this disaster took place
suddenly and the safety team didn’t have much of time to react on it. At this point of time,
BHP is extremely cautious so that they can avoid such disasters in the near future (Pretorious
2015).
Reasonableness – BHP should have taken safety precautions to check on the quality of
designs that were about to be implemented. The design was approved by government officials
and hence, the organization couldn’t reason the disaster (Mehdi 2012).
Exercise 3: Prevent risk in the near future
It is very important for the safety team at BHP to measure the effects of risk in the near
future. In the near future, they should ensure that the risk is completely avoided so that the
people can be safe and at the same time, this is the only way by which BHP can gain back the

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trust of their stakeholders. Currently, BHP needs to identify the reason behind the risks so
that these checkpoints can be put in place in the safety document. This will ensure that the
safety team continuously tracks the similar concerns to avoid the same in the near future
(Jiayue 2014).
Decision making about risks should be based on systematic risk assessment process so that
BHP can avoid these kinds of disasters in the near future. Few of the risk assessment
activities that need to be undertaken by BHP are as follows: -
 Risk determination - The team should list down the existing list of risks and at the
same time, they also need to identify other risks as well. To make things better BHP
can hire industry experts to guide the risk evaluation team so that none of the risks are
missed out with determining the risks.
 Risk estimation – Against each risk, BHP needs to understand the problems
associated with it. There are possibilities that few risks can be accepted, considering
the other alternatives available. On the other end, few risks may lead to huge concerns
and hence, the government cannot avoid the same at any cost (Huang 2015).
The management team at BHP will have to implement various risk controllers and assessors
as that would help the organization as a whole. Few of advantages of implementation of risk
controllers and assessors are as follows: -
 The employees and the workers at the site would be safe and hence, they would be
able to concentrate more on productivity (Helbing 2016).
 The cost of risk is reduced and hence, BHP team can plan other investments which
can improve the organization’s profit margin.

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 The insurance department of the organization can relax as the insurance companies
will develop a trust on the organization.
 Finally, the stakeholders would give a warm welcome to the organization rather than
resisting their entry (Cahan 2013).
BHP needs to assess the risks and look for ways to reduce the same in the near future. BHP
now is willing to pay at least US $150 billion to clean the disaster, but with the help of proper
planning, the amount spend on maintenance would be half of the penalty. To add on, the
reputation of the organization would be boosted as well (Borch 2013).
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