Risk Management Professionals Publications

Practical Guide to Risk Management Communications

With the focus of most of the existing risk communication guidebooks on agencies and environmental issues, we were interested in providing a Practical Guide to Risk Management Communications for the industrial risk communicator (with Quick Summary Checklists).

AUTHORS

Steven T. Maher, PE CSP - Risk Management Professionals - Steve.Maher@RMPCorp.com

R. Scott Adams - R.S. Adams Consulting - rscottadams@direcway.com
Kennith M. Hall - KMHall Consulting - KMHall2@cox.net
Carolin A. Keith - Exxon Mobil Corporation - Carolin.A.Keith@exxonmobil.com
Dr. Mary F. McDaniel, D.O., M.P.H - McDaniel-Lambert - MFMcDaniel@mclam.com
Stephen R. Melvin, PE CSP
Dr. Peter M. Sandman - PSandman@WebTV.net

ORDERING INFORMATION

This 140-page soft cover edition is being offered at $20.00 + $4.95 S&H. Orders may be placed:

by e-mail to: info@RMPCorp.com. Please provide your name, company, mailing address, phone number, and FAX number. An e-mail reply with a confirmation/order number will be generated within 24 hours, and a book will be reserved in your name and priority-processed upon receipt of your check for $24.95 payable to "Risk Management Professionals."

by mail to: Book Orders, Risk Management Professionals, 27405 Puerta Real, Suite 220, Mission Viejo, California 92691 (Please enclose a check for $24.95 payable to "Risk Management Professionals")

by phone to: 949/282-0123

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
2.0 GENERAL RISK PERCEPTION/COMMUNICATION ISSUES
    2.1 Key Risk Issues Often of Interest to the Community
    2.2 Factors in Community Outrage
3.0 POSSIBLE RISK COMMUNICATION PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
    3.1 Defining the Target Audience
    3.2 Pre-Incident Objectives and Information Priorities
    3.3 Objectives and Information Priorities During and After an Incident
    3.4 Potential Enhancements to Community Emergency Response
4.0 TRUST AND CREDIBILITY FACTORS
    4.1 Pre-Incident Actions to Build Trust and Credibility
    4.2 Timing of Information Releases
    4.3 Trust and Credibility Issues During and After an Incident
5.0 EFFECTIVE MECHANISMS FOR RISK COMMUNICATION
    5.1 Defining Effective Pre-Incident Risk Communication Activities
    5.2 Defining Effective Risk Communication Activities During and After Incidents
6.0 EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES IN PUBLIC FORUMS
    6.1 Understanding the Risk Communication Needs of Different Audiences
    6.2 Dealing with Values and Feelings
    6.3 Responding Personally
    6.4 Other Communication Strategies
7.0 EFFECTIVE PUBLIC FORUM RISK COMMUNICATION RESOURCES
    7.1 Choosing the Right Representatives
    7.2 Effective Communications Media
    7.3 Other Considerations
8.0 EXPLAINING RISK
    8.1 Avoiding Outrage When Explaining Risk
    8.2 Presenting and Explaining Technical Information
    8.3 Dealing with Uncertainty
9.0 REFERENCES & RESOURCES

TABLES
3-1 The "Publics" in Public Involvement
3-2 Talking About Worst-Case Scenarios - Eight Principle Strategies
3-3 The Three Kinds of Crisis Communication and Their Relationship to Risk Communication
5-1 Risk Communication Methods
5-2 Outrage Management in Mid-Crisis
8-1 Simplifying Technical Presentations

QUICK SUMMARY CHECKLISTS
2-1 General Risk Perception/Communication Issues
3-1 Possible Risk Communication Program Objectives
4-1 Trust and Credibility Factors
5-1 Effective Mechanisms for Risk Communication
6-1 Effective Communication Strategies in Public Forums
7-1 Effective Public Forum Risk Communication Resources
8-1 Explaining Risk

APPENDICES
A - PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING THE RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN PUBLIC MEETINGS
      A.1 - PL 106-40 "Chemical Safety Information, Site Security and Fuels Regulatory Relief Act" Requirements
      A.2 - Decision Charts for Determining Appropriate Outreach Efforts
      A.3 - Key Logistics in the Planning of the Public Meeting
      A.4 - Public Meeting Notification Strategies
      A.5 - Communicating RMP Risk Issues
      A.6 - Public Meeting Presentation Templates
      A.7 - Certification Letter and Suggested Document Retention
      A.8 - Public Meeting Risk Communication Case Study
      A.9 - Sample Questions when Communicating with the Public
B - EXAMPLE EFFECTIVE RISK COMMUNICATION FLYERS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Importance of risk communication

The ability of the emergency management professional to assess risk and employ effective mechanisms to mitigate and manage risk has seen numerous advances in the past few decades. However, a key factor to the success of any risk management activity (that involves the community) is risk communication.

Purpose

The purpose of this guide is to provide a resource for the effective communication of risk issues with the community (residential, business, & industrial) and with agencies (local government and regulatory). Examples of potential risks that may need to be the subject of a risk communication program include:

facility-originated events (e.g., fires, explosions, toxic releases
natural phenomena that could potentially impact the industrial facility (earthquakes, wildfires, floods)

This guide provides general risk management communication strategies, as well as specific insights on the communication of potential risks identified via the RMP Rule and via the California Accidental Risk Prevention (CalARP) Program.

Benefits of effective risk communication

Although it may be tempting for emergency management professionals (industry and agency) to feel that their emergency preparation and response capabilities are adequate and the community need only trust them, potential benefits of risk communication (and possible general objectives of the risk communication program) include:

improved ability for the community to act on emergency responder requests for community actions (e.g., emergency responder notification, shelter-in-place, evacuation)
improved community understanding of potential risks (often precipitating improved acceptance, and possibly allowing for personal actions to mitigate potential effects)
improved community perception of risk issues· improved community understanding & support of emergency preparation activities
decreased potential for legal action by the community to enforce what it considers to be an equitable risk balance

All of the above elements contribute to a reduced impact in the event of an emergency. In addition, a key point to consider is if a risk to the community exists (that is worthy of emergency response planning), the community deserves to be informed and consulted.

The understanding of the importance of risk communication has also prompted its inclusion in contemporary safety regulatory initiatives (e.g., Risk Management Plans).

Organization of this Risk Management Communication Guide

There are many resources that provide risk communication guidance (see Section 9); however, many of these resources focus on environmental risk communication. This Practical Guide to Risk Management Communications adapts the best available guidance, provides a compendium of readily useful risk communication tips, and focuses on risk communication of emergency issues. It is not designed to replace training or the review of some of the more comprehensive tutorials on risk communication.

The chapters of this guide are partitioned into a practical step-wise approach to risk communication. Key elements include:

General Risk Perception/Communication Issues - Before undertaking the development of a risk communication program, it is important to have a general understanding of potential risk communication challenges (i.e., general risk issues of interest to the community and outrage factors).
Possible Risk Communication Program Objectives - The definition of clear goals and objectives is one of the most important initial activities, as it can provide a platform for the risk communication program to be more effective, better focused, and more likely to achieve the desired benefit.
Trust and Credibility Factors - These parameters lay an important foundation for successful risk communication.
Effective Mechanisms for Risk Communication - Once goals are defined and an appropriate platform for success exists, this section overviews some common and effective mechanisms for risk communication.
Effective Communication Strategies in Public Forums - A public forum can be an effective (and often necessary) mechanism for risk communication of "high profile" risk issues. Ensuring that the appropriate risk communication strategies are applied is critical.
Effective Public Forum Risk Communication Resources - When directly interacting with the community, having the proper resources available can make the difference between success and failure.
Explaining Risk - This section contains some final thoughts and useful tips for conveying an understanding of risk to the stakeholder.
References & Resources provide several useful, supplemental guidance documents. Of these, References 1, 2, & 3 represent exceptionally useful guidance documents.

Quick Summary Checklists are located at the end of each section to provide the reader with key summary points to consider when developing a risk communication program. Copies of these checklists may be extracted from this guide to facilitate risk management communication planning within your organization.

Appendices A & B are designed to be a focused resource for addressing the requirements of PL 106-40 ("Chemical Safety Information … Act").

Although not focused on the industrial risk communications a free copy of a companion guide, “Risk Communication Guide for State and Local Agencies”, may be downloaded from the OES website.