1. Risk Management

2. Risk management is the consideration of social,
economical and political factors in the decision
making process of controlling risks.
The basic task of a risk manager is to take a
risk assessment and integrate it with the best
available sociological, economical and political
information.

3. In reality, the reliability of the data on which
risk and cost calcualtions are based on often leads
risk management to cross the line of risk assess-
ment.
Theoretically, however, a risk assessor should
stick to his or her scientific approach and present
the reliable and objective information to the risk
manager while the risk manager should take the
assessment at its face value for integrating other
factors and making decisions.

4. A risk manager should start with setting priori-
ties on the factors below:
* the degree to which the risk can be controlled;
* the costs of control;
* the social and political feasibility and
acceptibility of the control;
* the benefits of the product;
* the degree to which the risk-taking activities is
voluntary or involuntary.

5. Usually, the law, the nature of the regulator, pu-
blic perceptions and external pressures determine
the extent whether the risk manager is able to con-
trol the agenda.

6. Control techniques can be:
* a ban on the manufacture or a limit on the pro-
duct's use. It can be accomplished by setting a de
minimis risk level below which risk is considered
trivial even with insignificant cost. Examples of
which are the emission level and the cost limit per
case avoided or per life saved etc..
* a technological control of the manufacture or
use. This is usually accomplished by the Best
Available Technology (BAT).

7. Since the process of transmitting scientific in-
formation from data base to decision-making in-
volves a complex balancing of positive and negati-
ve factors, the more explicit the decision, the bet-
ter. Risks, benefits and costs can be expressed
quantitively (industrial cost or profit, consumer
cost or saving, job or lives saved or lost) or qualita-
tively (environmental benefit or losses).

8. Conclusion
In general, the outcomes of risk management usual-
ly depend on the individual personalities, philoso-
phies and experiences.