ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with risks to society from potential major accidents. It begins with a discussion of the historical, cultural and economic background to the concept of 'risk'. The chapter introduces the formal definitions of risk and extends them to individual and social risk. The way in which individual and/or societal risk targets are used depends on the risk management context. A comprehensive review of the development of risk analysis and risk management by V. T. Covello and J. Mumpower paints a picture of the concept of risk evolving from exposure to misfortune and the vagaries of our natural environment to exposure to industrial hazards. The evolution of 'risk' as a component of our culture has been presented from the rather parochial view of western cultural development. In fact the nature of probability - which defines the nature of risk - has been a topic of debate by mathematicians and philosophers ever since its concepts were first applied.
