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.