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Identical single accidents’ consequences can lead to diverging societal impacts: where lies the difference?

Identical single accidents’ consequences can lead to diverging societal impacts Let’s discuss, as we mentioned in the prior post, different accident types, with identical or very similar single-accident direct consequences, but very different global impacts, which may generate surprisingly different public reactions. The discussion will include the classification of the “German” metaphors. Incidentally, we have found one non German document entitled “Blackett Review of High Impact Low Probability Risks ”, by the U.K. Government Office for Science, that refers to…

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Metaphoric description of risks and their perception: are they useful or just “wordplays”?

Metaphoric description of risks and their perception A couple decades ago, German researchers in the field of theoretical risk management developed a series of metaphors to describe public perception of risks. They are summarized below, with examples: Sword of Damocles has a very high disaster potential, although the probability that this potential manifests itself is theoretically extremely low. Nuclear power plants (Fukushima), large-scale chemical facilities (Bophal, Seveso), hydro-dams and meteorite impacts are typical examples. Cyclops it is only possible to…

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Consumer trust, consumer experience and risk management

Consumer trust, consumer experience and risk management A recent article by Michael Lowenstein indicates that customer trust “is the connective tissue that holds customers, brands, and enterprises together; and, without trust, these connections would quickly dissolve.” Over the last few years Riskope have spent a lot of R&D funds and efforts to study the relationship between public perception of risks, risk assessments and crises developments, coming to the same conclusions.  If trust is not built through at least: transparent and rational risk assessments,…

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BYOD Security: Balancing Risks and Rewards

Security: Balancing Risks and Rewards Riskope thanks Paige Calahan for this post. Bring your own device (BYOD) campaigns involve companies allowing employees to use their own smartphones, tablets and laptops for business. It’s a great perk for employees because they remain connected to their own gear with some financial compensation, and businesses receive more productive and satisfied employees. With all that activity between devices in a cloud computing space, BYOD can “compromise your company information if [employees] don’t have the…

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Special Issue: Mount Polley, B.C., Tailings Dam Breach, Aug. 4th 2014

Special Issue: Mount Polley, B.C., Tailings Dam Breach, Aug. 4th 2014 We have read public information about the tailings dam accident Special Issue: Mount Polley, B.C., Tailings Dam Breach, Aug. 4th 2014 Of course, official inquiries will define causes and responsibilities. What we intend to do with this note is to rationally discuss a few concepts linked to this event.  It seems that, like usual, in the aftermath of a catastrophe, numerous voices raise out of emotional and sometimes irrational perceptions.…

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Optimum Risk Estimates, ORE and Aerospace Applications

Optimum Risk Estimates, ORE and Aerospace Applications Smaller satellites are becoming frequent in the so called era of the “nano satellites”. Canada, for example, using an Indian launcher placed simultaneously into orbit, a little more than one year ago, four satellites. Indeed, the drive to miniaturize has been a recurring theme in the space industry for size and weight translate directly into the cost of getting a satellite off the ground (setting into orbit one tonne of equipment costs approximately…

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Franco Oboni interviewed by an Italian journalist

Franco Oboni interviewed by an Italian journalist This blog post is a summary of an interview released by Riskope’s  Franco Oboni in Italy. Q1 Could you please define risk management and explain its scope? Risk Management in Riskope’s day-to-day practice is a scientific, rational approach based on over twenty years of applied research. It allows our clients to optimize their resources, all of them, including the “hidden ones”, and finally “boldly go where – sorry for the Star-Trek hint here–…

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Solutions for local regional national scale rational landslide risk assessment and management

Riskope’s experts have worked since the ’80s in landslides assessment and in particular for Solutions for local regional national scale rational landslide risk assessment and management . Indeed, F. Oboni was the head geotechnical researcher of a Federally funded Swiss Landslide research team that developed internationally recognized pioneering work.   F. Oboni was also a member of a committee of IUGS that literally wrote the first glossary for Landslide Risk Management at the end of the ’90s. This long practice with…

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