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Risk perception views risk more by feeling than judgment.
Look what happened with BSE.
You may have thought that if you were to eat beef you would
become ill and die horribly. That
was the perception of the risk. However the actual risk was
about one in 600 million. Despite assurances from scientists
and government, worldwide bans were imposed wrecking the UK
beef industry.
Yet, 3000 people die due to mesothelioma each year in the UK from previous exposure to asbestos. It has taken about a 100 years to get near a worldwide ban on asbestos.
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Risk assessment is the process that tries to estimate the amount of risk. It is usually estimated by working out the danger then checking this against the frequency. The words often differ slightly, but the calculation is much the same; multiply the danger/hazard/impact with the likelihood.
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What
is the Greatest risk?
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Risk factors measure the incidence of disease/disorder due to exposure from activities or environmental influences.
Risk
assessment combines the amount of possible "harm" with the
"likelihood" of it occurring. Multiple them together to produce
an estimate of risk.
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