Risk Management in Post-Trust Societies

We live in "post-trust" societies in which public confidence in governments and corporations over health, food and environmental risks is eroding rapidly. Risk communication helps companies, governments and institutions minimize disputes, resolve issues and anticipate problems before they result in an irreversible breakdown in communication. Without good risk communication and good risk management, policy-makers have no roadmap to guide them through unforeseen problems and this frequently derails the best policies and results in a breakdown in communication and a loss of trust on behalf of those they are trying hardest to persuade. Most policy-makers still use outdated methods'developed at a time before health scares like BSE, genetically modified organisms and dioxins in Belgian chicken feed eroded public confidence in industry and government'to communicate policies and achieve their objectives. This book provides effective methods for managing and communicating risk effectively in post-trust societies.