ABSTRACT
During the past twenty-five years, risk communication has become widely recognized among risk professionals as an integral part of risk management decision-making. I define risk management as the attempt to anticipate and prevent or mitigate harms that may be avoidable. Risk communication is recognized as a contributor to the prospects for success in all the dimensions of this wider mission, from the first awareness of either an already well-characterized risk or a new and emerging one, through the search for a broad consensus on a comprehensive risk assessment, to the exploration of feasible decision options for effective risk control strategies.
