ABSTRACT
There is no such thing as zero risk. This is because no physical item has a zero failure rate, no human being makes zero errors and no piece of software design can foresee every possibility.
Nevertheless public perception of risk, particularly in the aftermath of a major incident, often calls for the zero risk ideal. However, in general most people understand that this is not practicable as can be seen from the following examples of everyday risk of death from various causes:
All causes (mid-life including medical) 1 103 pa All accidents (per individual) 5 104 pa Accident in the home 4 104 pa Road traffic accident 6 105 pa Natural disasters (per individual) 2 106 pa
Therefore the concept of defining and accepting a tolerable risk for any particular activity prevails.
