ABSTRACT
A “risk message” is a written, verbal, or visual statement containing information about risk, and it may or may not include advice about risk reduction behavior. Several important misconceptions need to be dispelled before the strategies in risk communication can be addressed. A risk analysis checklist is a list of questions that can be asked in a risk analysis in order to clarify what problem has been addressed and how well it has been solved. Risk messages should closely reflect the perspectives, technical capacity, and concerns of the target audience. The technical and policy issues involved in making risk management decisions are complex enough in themselves. Much concern about risk communication has been focused on questions of message content. In many cases, risk communication efforts have floundered because public trust and credibility were lacking.
