In the 1990 s it s 'Be safe'. Nor is it just a mathematical proclamation delivered from on high by scientists to an uninvolved public. Sandman believes that Outrage is a perfectly acceptable part of the Risk calculation and anyone who ignores it does so at their own peril. In this context, we take a look at three areas of risk. Smoking, Radiation and Chemical Sprays.
Smoking is an example of high hazard, low outrage.
The statistics are that if you are a long term, heavy smoker, your chances of dying of a smoking-related disease are one in two. Yet in spite of the horrendous statistics we continue to be quite accepting of smoking. Radiation poses far less risk to Australians than smoking but because it s imposed on us and we can t see it, we feel more outrage about it. We take a look at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation s efforts to counter the community s unease about Australia s only nuclear reactor and the risk it poses to the community. In an unprecedented move, they have just distributed 20,000 leaflets telling the local people what to do in an emergency - for the first time admitting that something could go wrong.