Hazard recognition and risk perception are two important factors that are a focus of most safety training programs. According to previous research, unrecognized hazards could lead to underestimation of risks, which ultimately could lead to injuries and fatalities. The primary objective of this research was to assess hazard recognition and safety risk perception skills in the electrician trade among electricians in unions. Another goal of this study was to find possible correlation between level of engagement in safety training and hazard recognition and risk perception skills. The research objectives were accomplished by gathering data from sixty-seven apprentices and journeymen across the United States. Each individual was asked to find identify hazards and to assess the risk associated with each hazard. both groups of apprentices and journeymen are similar to each other in terms of hazard recognition and both are significantly different than an expert group.The result also shows that apprentices perceive the risk not significantly different than the expert group. The result will help understand the impact of the level of engagement of safety training on hazard recognition and risk perception skills of their workers. The result could also help electrical unions identify performance gaps in their training and ultimately improve safety behaviors with union electricians.

The goal of this study is to determine issues rural Appalachian residents consider most important, their perceived environmental health risk, and how community engagement can potentially improve those issues. The University of Kentucky Superfund Research Center held the Appalachian Community Health and Well-being Forum at the Letcher County Cooperative Extension Office in Eastern Kentucky. A four-member panel consisted of two local health officials, a nutrition expert, and a federal scientist; answered questions from community members. The expert panel and audience members shared concerns, success stories, and highlighted efforts to promote health in the region. Community members completed a questionnaire collecting information on perceived environmental health risk, fruit and vegetable intake, and basic demographic information. The concerns raised by community members were chronic disease, poverty, pollution, mental health, and wellness. Proposed solutions were compliance, nutrition, physical activity, education, empathy, funding, community engagement, awareness, holistic health, prevention, and insurance/policy change. The programs in place to combat these issues are FARMACY, Community Health Workers, transportation services, mobile dental vans, Kentucky River Watershed Watch, research, policy changes, and the CLIK program. The questionnaire showed that residents are aware of the types of pollution in their community and believe that illness is caused by pollution in their environment. Community residents feel that pollution is not something they should have to live with, they act to protect themselves from pollution, and likely to engage in community efforts to stop pollution in their community.

Background. CRC risk can be reduced though lifestyle modification and regular screenings. Providing CRC risk feedback that promotes preventive behaviors to those at average risk has the potential to significantly reduce CRC morbidity and mortality. Purpose. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the impact of CRC risk assessment feedback among adults aged 50-75 with no personal or family history of the disease. The specific aims were to: (1a) test personalized (vs. generic) risk assessment feedback on individuals’ risk perceptions and intentions to engage in three risk-reducing behaviors (e.g., physical activity, diet, and screening); (1b) determine if the provision of CRC risk information influences breast cancer risk perceptions and mammography intentions; (2a) examine individuals’ accuracy of perceived lifetime risk of CRC; (2b) assess whether improved accuracy following risk assessment was associated with changes in behavioral intentions; and finally, (3) evaluate the use of a unique sampling procedure designed to increase diversity of survey respondents. Methods. A pre-post parallel, two arm randomized controlled trial examined the effects of providing CRC risk assessment feedback that included lifetime risk estimates and information about CRC risk factors that was either personalized (treatment) or generic (control). N=419 average risk adults between the ages of 50-75 were recruited from a commercial online panel. Results. There were no differences in risk perception between study arms. Overall participants, perceived lifetime risk of CRC lowered at post-test and seemingly produced a spillover effect in lowered perceived lifetime risk of breast cancer among females. CRC screening intentions increased in both study arms and mammography intentions increased in the control arm. Accuracy of lifetime risk improved at post-test, but was not associated with changes in intentions to perform risk reducing behaviors. Quota sampling acquired a targeted and diverse sample quickly and efficiently. Conclusion. Communicating CRC risk information to average risk adults can improve CRC risk perception accuracy and enhance colorectal and mammography screening intentions. Risk assessment feedback did not consistently influence intentions to improve diet and physical activity.

All-hazards pandemic planning is the foundation of current emergency management planning doctrine, yet there is limited information and limited studies related to its effectiveness in mitigating pandemics. The North Texas emergency management community handles incidents of West Nile Virus, H1N1 influenza, and a recent Ebola incident. Despite efforts to mitigate these threats, reported cases and deaths are still occurring from both influenza and West Nile virus. The purpose of this case study was to assess the risk perceptions of emergency planners in a small emergency operation center in North Texas using the cultural theory of risk perception as the theoretical framework. The raw data for this study originated from qualitative semi structured interviews with five emergency managers. By way of qualitative hand coding and thematic extraction, four primary themes emerged from the data: (a) political/organizational climate, (b) emergency response, (c) training and experience, and (d) communication. Additionally, all themes yielded relevant subthemes. The all-hazards approach to pandemic planning was effective as long as planners swiftly adjusted or adapted their plan for individual emergency events. The emergency management community still struggles with ineffective communication, negative political influences, poor coordination, and training shortfalls. Lack of trust in the levels of government emerged as a potential underlying cause to many of the issues. These findings may promote positive social change by assisting emergency management planners in assessing communications, coordination, training, appropriate use of personnel, and to identify areas where lack of trust between community partners may be affecting the overall response effort.

How people pereceive the risks associated with natural hazards contributes to their willingness to take protective action. Such action may be constrained by prevailing socio-economic and place-specific conditions that restrict or inform the choice of protective measures available to the individual. Vulnerability to the impacts of extreme geophysical events increases when the range of alternatives is limited or misinformed. Many evacuees from a potentially violent volcanic eruption in Ecuador returned to their home town of Banos while it was still under an evacuation order in 2000 and considered to be a high risk area by officials. The research examined four main questions: (1) What economic conditions confronted Baños evacuees? (2) What political or other social events occurred while they were evacuated that limited their perceived range of options? (3) What information was available about prior eruptions of the volcano and other local natural hazards? and (4) What were the characteristics of the economic base of Baños? These questions were investigated using data from interviews with evacuees, government and non-governmental officials, census and other statistical information, scholarly texts and newspaper reports. The research suggests that economic conditions made it extremely difficult for people to relocate to other communities. When a violent eruption did not occur immediately, and few direct impacts of the eruptions were experienced in Baños, many people chose to return home in an effort to reestablish themselves economically. These people perceived the volcano hazard in Baños to be far less threatening than the economic destitution associated with evacuation. This perception may have been influenced by factors other than the socio-economic context, including efforts of political leaders and tourist business owners to effect the town's economic recovery. These efforts included an aggressive publicity campaign that minimized the risk posed by the volcano. Besides encouraging tourists to return, the campaign also encouraged evacuees to do so. Finally, among some residents, religious beliefs may have contributed to perceptions that they would not be harmed in the event of an explosive eruption.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Bowling Green State University, 2007. / Document formatted into pages; contains xiv, 166 p. Includes bibliographical references.

<p>Hovedmålet med avhandlingen var å undersøke risikopersepsjon i den norske befolkningen. I tillegg ble relaterte prioriteringer av sikkerhet og krav om risikoreduserende tiltak undersøkt. Avhandlingen består av en introduksjonsdel og tre artikler. Alle er basert på to spørreskjemaundersøkelser gjennomført i 2004 (n= 1730 og 510).</p><p>Den første artikkelen hadde som hovedmål å undersøke risikopersepsjon. Resultatene viser at transportrisiko er delt i to hovedkategorier: offentlig og privat transport. Bekymring ble funnet å være den viktigste predikatoren på risikopersepsjon. Ved nærmere undersøkelse ble det funnet kjønnsforskjeller hvor kvinner la størst vekt på bekymring relatert til både offentlig og privat transport. For menn derimot var sannsynlighetsvurderinger (dvs. kognitive evalueringer) viktigst for privat transport, mens bekymring var viktigst for offentlig transport. Dette impliserer en forskjell i hvordan risikoen blir oppfattet, og dermed er det ansett som hensiktsmessig å differensiere hvordan risiko blir kommunisert til de ulike gruppene.</p><p>Den andre artikkelen foreslår en modell for potensielle faktorer som kan predikere prioritering av sikkerhet. Effekten av personlighetstrekkene angst, sensasjonssøking og tillit ble undersøkt. I tillegg var føreroptimisme, bekymring relatert til transportrisiko, betalingsvillighet for å redusere risiko og negative holdninger mot regler inkludert i modellen. Bekymring var den viktigste predikatoren for prioritering av sikkerhet. Den foreslåtte modellen forklarte 44% av variansen i sikkerhetsprioriteringer. Denne kunnskapen kan øke suksessen relater til intervensjoner fordi det kan øke sjansen for å treffe de som prioriterer sikkerhet lavt og dermed veilede dem til å forandre sin atferd.</p><p>Den tredje artikkelen undersøker hvorvidt det teorietiske rammeverket til ’risk-as-feelings’ hypotesen kunne brukes til å forklare krav om risikoreduserende tiltak. Modelltilpasningen til den teoretiske modellen var tilfredsstillende og resultatene viste at 30% av variasjonen til krav om risikoreduserende tiltak kunne forklares av denne modellen. Den viktigste predikatoren var atferdsmessige intensjoner om å prioritere sikkerhet. Sannsynlighetsvurdering og evaluering av konsekvenser ble funnet å være viktige for både kognitiv vurdering og følelser.</p> / <p>The aims of the PhD-thesis were to examine perceived risk in the Norwegian public as well as related priorities of safety and demands for risk mitigation. The thesis consists of a theoretical introduction and three papers. They are all based on two questionnaire surveys conducted in 2004 (n=1730 and 510 respectively).</p><p>The first paper aims to explore risk perception. The results showed that transport risks consisted of two main categories: public and private means of transportation. Related to risk perception, worry was found to be the most important predictor. On further scrutiny, a gender difference was found. Females were found to emphasize worry related to both public and private transportation as highest. For men, probability assessments (i.e. cognitive evaluations) were found to be most important to private means of transportation whereas worry was found to be most important for public transportation. This implies a difference in perceived risk, and hence how risk is communicated to the public should dependent on the target group.</p><p>The second paper proposed a model for potential predictors of priorities of safety. Several factors were investigated. First, the personality traits anxiety, excitement-seeking, and trust were included. Further factors were driver optimism, worry related to transport risks, willingness to pay to increase safety, and negative attitudes towards traffic rules. Worry was found to be the most important predictor of safety priorities, and the proposed model explained 44% of the variance in priority of safety. This knowledge gives additional information to improve the success of interventions because it can help targeting those who consider safety a low priority and guide them to modify their behaviour.</p><p>The third paper investigated the applicability of the risk-as-feeling framework to explain demand for risk mitigation. The fit of the data to the theoretical model was found to be satisfactory. The results showed that the risk-as-feelings framework explained 30 per cent of the variance of demand for risk mitigation. Behavioural intentions as priorities were found to be an important predictor of mitigation demands. Probability assessment and consequence evaluation were found to be important to cognitive risk assessment and feelings.</p>

<p>The study examines risk perception and crisis preparedness among personnel at high-schools. The focus is set on teachers and leaders at four high-schools in Örebro municipality, Sweden. The purpose of the study is to examine crisis preparedness and identify factors which influences risk perception and crisis preparedness. The survey consisted of a questionnaire which was completed by 95 respondents. The results show that better information about the crisis preparedness in the schools is needed. Further education is also required, as two thirds of the respondents states that they have not received any training in crisis preparedness. Having personal crisis experience increases the awareness of risks. Being a leader increases both risk perception and the judgement of crisis preparedness of the school.</p>

<p>More than 1 billion people in developing countries lack access to safe water and sanitation. Drinking water in these countries is often collected from unsafe sources outside the home. Even piped well water in the developing world can be unsafe due to inadequately maintained pipes, low pressure, intermittent delivery, lack of chlorination, and clandestine connections. Furthermore, drinking water often becomes contaminated after collection, either during transport or during storage in the home. Improvements in water supply, hygiene education and safe storage can reduce the spread of waterborne diseases, such as diarrhoea. However it is not an easy task to combat unsafe drinking water, and several factors have to be taken into account. Correct management of water at the household level is a vital factor in reducing contamination of water in areas where water is not available in the home, and often has to be transported for long distances before storage.</p><p>It is often a woman's responsibility to collect and store water. The aim of this study is to provide an understanding of women’s knowledge and perceptions of the risks associated with drinking water and waterborne diseases in Babati, Tanzania. Furthermore, the study sets out to investigate the methods utilized at the household-level to prevent waterborne diseases. Interviews were the key method to collecting primary data and the results present findings from 20 women in two villages in Babati. All of the respondents had access to community water pipes but none had taps in their household. Among the respondents who treated their water, the most common method of treatment was boiling. The study shows that there is a link between lived experience, perceptions of risk, and the way water is managed in the household.</p>

<p>Riskhantering inom rese- och turismnäringen där resenärens uppfattning ligger till grund för dennes köpbeslutsprocess har fått begränsat med uppmärksamhet på den akademiska arenan.</p><p><strong>Syfte:</strong> denna uppsats syftar till att studera vilka riskuppfattningar som en potentiell resenär associerar med den urbana miljön, samt hur detta fungerar som inverkansfaktor på resenärens konsumentbeteende i valet av staden som destination. <strong></strong></p><p><strong>Teoretiskt ramverk:</strong> en litteraturgenomgång och ett teoretiskt ramverk visar på vad som utgör det så kallade risksamhället, betydelsen av riskkategorisering diskuteras samt hur kopplingen mellan resenärens riskuppfattning och dennes köpbeslutsprocess ser ut.</p><p><strong>Metod:</strong> för att uppnå syftet har problemet angripits med ett abduktivt arbetssätt. En kombination av kvantitativ och kvalitativ metodik har applicerats. I enkätundersökningen deltog 224 inkommande resenärer till Stockholm, vilket har bearbetats statistiskt med Pearsons Chi2-test för att undersöka graden av riskuppfattning beroende på socio-demografiska faktorer. Dessutom genomfördes nio samtalsintervjuer som ledde till en tematiserad sammanställning.</p><p><strong>Empiri:</strong> genom enkätformuläret observerades att psykologiska riskuppfattningar var mest framträdande, och i samtalsintervjuerna noterades hur riskuppfattningen påverkar konsumentbeteendet.</p><p><strong>R</strong><strong>esultat:</strong> slutsatserna som har dragits är att 1) korrelation föreligger mellan socio-demografiska faktorer och riskuppfattning, 2) stadens livsrytm fungerar som inverkansfaktor, och att 3) uppfattningen om risker präglas av subjektivitet.</p> / <p>Risk management within the travel- and tourism industry has been undeservingly neglected as a field of study in the academia.</p><p><strong>Purpose:</strong> this thesis aims to study different types of risk perceptions that a potential traveller associates with urban areas, and how this perception influences the consumer behaviour in the decision-making process.</p><p><strong>Theoretical framework:</strong> the literature review seeks to explain what constitutes a risk society, the significance of categorizing risk perceptions is outlined, and the connection between traveller´s perception of risks and its decision-making. <strong></strong></p><p><strong>Methodology:</strong> to achieve the purpose of this study, the writers have used an abductive approach, where a quantitative and a qualitative methodology have been applied. 224 incoming travellers to Stockholm participated in the survey. The outcome was then statistically processed using Pearson´s chi-square test in order to measure the risk perceptions based on socio-demographical aspects. In addition, nine interviews were conducted.</p><p><strong>Empirical data:</strong> in the survey it was noted that psychological risk perceptions were most noticeable, and in the interviews it was found in what form risk perceptions affect traveller´s consumer behaviour.</p><p><strong>Findings: </strong>the found conclusions are that 1) traveller´s perception of risks correlates with socio-demographical factors, 2) a city´s pace of life functions as an influential factor on the consumer behaviour, and that 3) the perceptions of risks are primarily characterized by their subjectivity.</p>