Introduction
Risk analysis originated in safety and systems engineering and following the events at the Three Mile Island nuclear facilities in the United States developed into an interdisciplinary approach to better understand and manage hazards. It has been applied to many human and ecological health issues, such as air borne spread of biological agents, destruction of the United States chemical weapons stockpile, cyber attacks, facility safety, food contamination, hazardous waste management, medical decision-making, nuclear power and waste management, and natural hazards such as earthquakes, floods, and tornadoes. Several of the ideas and models can be extended to economic, social, and even political risk.
Risk analysis is divided into risk assessment and risk management, although feedback loops exist among the stages. To provide continuity to this entry, the author uses the example of a terrorist planning to kill bus riders.
Risk Assessment
Risk assessors try to answer three...
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References and Further Reading
Aven T, Renn O (2009) The role of quantitative risk assessment for characterizing risk and uncertainty and delineating appropriate risk management options, special emphasis on terrorism risk. Risk Anal 29(4):587–599
Bedford T, Cooke R (2001) Probabilistic risk analysis: foundations and methods. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK
Chankong V, Haimes Y (2008) Multiobjective decision making: theory and methodology. Dover, New York
Committee on Methodological Improvements to the Department of Homeland Securities Biological Agent Risk Analysis, National Research Council (2007) Interim report on methodological improvements to the Department of Homeland Security’s biological agent risk analysis. National Academy, Washington, DC
Cox LA Jr (2009) Improving risk-based decision-making for terrorism applications. Risk Anal 29(3):336–341
Dillon R, Liebe R, Bestafka T (2009) Risk-based decision-making for terrorism applications. Risk Anal 29(3):321–335
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Greenberg, M.R. (2011). Risk Analysis. In: Lovric, M. (eds) International Encyclopedia of Statistical Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04898-2_61
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04898-2_61
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