With respect to the three risk discourses, some are more likely to be articulated by some professional groups -hazard by physicians, liability by administrators (hospital and blood supplier), precaution by administrators (especially the blood supplier). Those groups are largely responsible for managing the risk from these respective vantage points. There is largely a coherence of expertise within those realms, although it is in part challenged by laboratory technicians (hazard and liability) and transfusion recipients (liability and precaution). A vital strategy in managing any risk or consequences of error is a coherent response. This coherence may break down as different dimensions of risk management are required (patient safety, system maintenance) or different professional and lay groups engaged. In fact, it is possible for different discourses to be used by one or more different groups. In all discourses, it is possible for different heuristics to guide management response, overconfidence with respect to medical expertise and the scientific assessment of risk (physicians and blood supplier), anchoring to the legal and formal positions of institutions (hospitals), and affect with respect to feelings about uncoordinated public announcement of a risk and perceived media response (laboratory technicians and transfusion staff). The blood supplier uses all discourses because of its variable role in supplying safe products.