Before a risk communicator can begin to communicate with the public, two things have to be taken into consideration. One is “why you are communicating the risk (purpose)” and the second is “what you hope to gain by it (objective)” (Lundgren and McMakin 115). Once these ideas have been taken into consideration, the goals of communicating the risk need to be discussed with everyone involved, most importantly the organization who is communicating the risk. Effectively communicating with those you are working with will allow you to communicate the most important and useful information to the public efficiently. Once the objectives of communication are identified more factors come into play, such as legal issues and organizational requirements.
Legal Issues
Before conveying risks to the public, a communicator must know the laws that govern how this may be done. Some of these laws pertain to Executive Order 13045: Reduce Environmental Health and Safety Risks to Children, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Risk Management Program Rule, or the Privacy Rule. All of these laws have requirements or restrictions that risk communicators have to follow or govern “how the public will be involved in risk management decisions” (Lundgren and McMakin 116).
Let’s use Executive Order 13045: Reduce Environmental Health and Safety Risks to Children as an example. This law “requires that federal agencies and departments consider the potentially disproportionate health and safety impacts to children from the organization’s activities, policies, and programs” (Lundgren and McMakin 35). Any organization that enacts a new regulation needs to submit the risks it may have to children under this law. For instance, children riding in the front seat of cars is very dangerous. The risks that car manufacturers have learned of during testing need to be submitted to the government so the organization that deals with these problems can properly convey the risks to the public in order to keep their children safe.
Sometimes the purpose and objective of communicating a risk may differ from the legal guidelines that have already been set. If such a case arises, legal waivers or exemptions may be needed. As we have seen, especially in the case of health, we have to expect the unexpected.
Organizational Requirements
Once a risk communicator has addressed the legal issues at hand, any requirements of the organization conveying the risk need to be addressed. These requirements could involve anything from “policies regarding the communication of risk, the involvement of the public, the release of information, and the development of communication materials and processes in general” (Lundgren and McMakin 117). As stated above, the communicator should be sure to check with the organization to be sure about what they expect from the risk communicator.
Some things an organization may be concerned about are their image, their impact on the situation, and/or their future reputation as effective risk conveyors. All of these need to be taken in to consideration when communicating risks along with the policies set forth by the organization.
While considering both legal issues and organizational requirements is very important in the undertaking of risk communication, one should remember that the public is the most important thing to consider because they are the ones who the information needs to reach. As Lundgren and McMakin put it, “the audience’s needs and concerns heavily affect any type of risk communication” (120).