By Amy Charlene
Reed, RiskWorld staff,
E-mail to: reed@tec-com.com.
The difference between U.S., European, and Australian approaches
to environmental risk analysis is the focus of an upcoming forum
titled "International Case Studies in Risk Assessment and
Risk Management." The forum is on March 5-7, 1996, at the
Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, which is one
of the event’s sponsors.
"The goal of the forum is first to highlight some of the differences in risk assessment and risk management practices in areas such as land-use planning, stakeholder involvement, cost-benefit analysis, and mathematical approaches to risk quantitation," said Richard Jablonski, a research associate who is the university’s liaison for the event. "Second, we want to create an opportunity for discussion to see how some of the approaches in one country may be applied in other countries, particularly the United States."
At the forum, an international group of speakers will present six case studies that were selected through a series of steering committee meetings:
"Risk Management in the Netherlands"
"Risk-based Approach to Protection of River Systems"
(in the United Kingdom)
"Weapons Test Site Clean-up in Australia"
"Radioactive Waste Disposal in Sweden"
"Safety Management at the British Atomic Weapons
Establishment"
"Uranium Mine Remediation in Eastern Germany"
Following the case studies, a panel discussion will summarize the issues presented during the three-day event.
The co-sponsors of the event are the Medical University’s Environmental Hazards Assessment Program, which is funded largely by a U.S. Department of Energy grant; AEA Technology of the United Kingdom; and Coleman Research Corporation, a private company in Washington, D.C., whose work includes risk assessment and management. The forum culminates a year-long effort by the sponsors to identify and compare diverse approaches to environmental risk assessment and management.
"In addition to proceedings, we also plan to produce a videotape that we can circulate in risk assessment and risk management communities," Jablonski said. "We want as many people as possible to participate in the exchange of ideas."
Key organizers of the event include David Hoel, chairman of
the Medical University’s Department of Biometry and
Epidemiology; William Nixon, manager of AEA’s Environmental
Risk Assessment Department; and Marc Eddowes of AEA. For
information regarding other key participants, see the listing of Steering Committee members.
To register to attend the forum, contact David Flynn, director of the Coleman Research’s International Division of Environmental Risk and Technology Evaluation Service, by e-mail david_flynn@mail.crc.com, fax (202) 863-9259, or telephone (202) 863-0916.
Story posted November 1995
Copyright © 1995 by Tec-Com Inc.