Under The Microscope

RISK ASSESSMENT OF INDUSTRIAL AND NATURAL HAZARDS, by various authors, Centre for Advanced Engineering, 1992.

This book consists primarily of the position papers presented at the CAE Workshop on industrial and natural hazards in August 1991. In addition there are the briefing papers for that workshop, the project executive report, a brief record of the discussion of papers, the workshop's conclusions and recommendations.

Browsing through the papers can be most enlightening. With participants in the workshop coming from spheres such as engineering, research institutes, insurance, local bodies and government departments, there is a wide variety of views of risk. It would seem that the book gives a useful overview of New Zealand risk management in general.

Road safety, electricity distribution, earthquakes and floods are amongst specific risk areas covered in papers. There's an interesting paper on toxicology, which is a useful introduction to how allowable levels of chemicals are worked out, and a great piece on the types of danger associated with New Zealand volcanoes.

On the other hand, some of the papers are pretty minimalist and the authors weren't chosen for their writing skills. On balance, the book has potential as a useful resource in an area which is too rarely thought about by the public.

One piece of information particularly struck me -- it indicates just how unexpected risks can be. A participant at the Workshop noted that safety-testing of electric blankets actually increased the incidence of blanket fires, by being responsible for interference with the wiring arrangements.

Phil Anderson, NZSM