Abstract
Ethical aspects are crucial in the analysis of risk, but they have often been neglected. One of the reasons for this is the lack of operational tools for the ethical analysis of risks. A model for ethical risk analysis is proposed that focuses on the ethical relationships between three critical parties (or roles) that are present in almost all risk-related decisions: the risk-exposed, the beneficiary and the decision-maker. Seven crucial questions are proposed that can be used to characterize these relationships. It is shown with examples from the railway sector how they can be used to identify the salient ethical features of risk management problems.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
The number killed if suicides are included is 67. See http://www.banverket.se/upload/pdf/media/HK_Pressmeddelanden/Statistik_pressmed5sep05.pdf.
References
Bryant, B. and Mohai, P. (eds) (1992). Race and the Incidence of Environmental Hazards. Boulder: Westview Press.
Cowen, T. and Parfit, D. (1992). Against the Social Discount Rate. In Laslett, P. and Fishkin, J.S. (eds) Justice Between Age Groups and Generations. New Haven: Yale University Press, pp. 144–161.
Frewer, L.J., Shepherd, R. and Sparks, P. (1994). The Interrelationship between Perceived Knowledge, Control and Risk Associated with a Range of Food-Related Hazards Targeted at the Individual, Other People and Society. Journal of Food Safety. 14, pp. 19–40.
Grill, K. and Hansson, S.O. (2005). Epistemic Paternalism in Public Health. Journal of Medical Ethics. 31, pp. 648–653.
Hansson, S.O. (2003). Ethical Criteria of Risk Acceptance. Erkenntnis. 59(3), pp. 291–309.
Hansson, S.O. (2004). Weighing Risks and Benefits. Topoi. 23, pp. 145–152.
Hansson, S.O. (2005a). Seven Myths of Risk. Risk Management. 7(2), pp. 7–17.
Hansson, S.O. (2005b). Extended Antipaternalism. Journal of Medical Ethics. 31, pp. 97–100.
Hansson, S.O. (2006a). Economic (Ir)rationality in Risk Analysis. Economics and Philosophy. 22, pp. 231–241.
Hansson, S.O. (2006b). Uncertainty and the Ethics of Clinical Trials. Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics. 27, pp. 149–167.
Hansson, S.O. and Peterson, M. (2001). Rights, Risks, and Residual Obligations. Risk Decision and Policy. 6, pp. 1–10.
Hermansson, H. (2005). Consistent Risk Management: Three Models Outlined. Journal of Risk Research. 8(7–8), pp. 557–568.
Hermansson, H. (2007). The Ethics of NIMBY Conflicts. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice. 10(1), pp. 23–34.
Jasanoff, S. (1988). The Bhopal Disaster and the Right to Know. Social Science and Medicine. 27(10), pp. 1113–1123.
Loewenstein, G., Read, D. and Baumeister, R.F. (eds) (2003). Time and Decision. Economic and Psychological Perspectives on Intertemporal Choice. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
London, A.J. (2001). Equipoise and International Human-Subjects Research. Bioethics. 15, pp. 312–332.
McCarthy, M., Brennan, M., Ritson, C. and de Boer, M. (2006). Food Hazard Characteristics and Risk Reduction Behaviour: The View of Consumers on the Island of Ireland. British Food Journal. 108(10), pp. 875–891.
Möller, N. (in press). Should We Follow the Experts' Advice? On Epistemic Uncertainty and Asymmetries of Safety. International Journal of Risk Assessment and Management.
O'Hare, M., Bacow, L. and Sanderson, D. (1983). Facility Siting and Public Opposition. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. Inc.
Ramsberg, J. and Sjöberg, L. (1996). The Cost-Effectiveness of Lifesaving Interventions in Sweden Risk Research Report No. 24 Stockholm: Center for Risk Research, Stockholm School of Economics.
Rechard, R.P. (1999). Historical Relationship Between Performance Assessment for Radioactive Waste Disposal and Other Types of Risk Assessment. Risk Analysis. 19(5), pp. 763–807.
Ringquist, E.J. (2000). Environmental Justice: Normative Concerns and Empirical Evidence. In Vig, N.J. and Kraft, M.E. (eds) Environmental Policy: New Directions for the Twenty-First Century. Washington, DC: CQ Press, pp. 232–256.
Shrader-Frechette, K.S. (1991). Risk and Rationality. Philosophical Foundations for Populist Reforms, Berkeley: University of California Press.
Shrader-Frechette, K.S. (2002). Environmental Justice: Creating Equality, Reclaiming Democracy. Oxford: University Press.
Sjöberg, L. and Ogander, T. (1994). Att rädda liv – Kostnader och effekter [Saving lives – costs and effects] Rapport till ESO No. Ds1994:14. Stockholm: ESO.
Taylor, P. (1984). Smoke Ring, The Politics of Tobacco. London: Bodley Head.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hermansson, H., Hansson, S. A Three-Party Model Tool for Ethical Risk Analysis. Risk Manag 9, 129–144 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.rm.8250028
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.rm.8250028