Risk communication strategies and tools. a review

Abstract

Within the scope of occupational health and safety it must be emphasized that the main objective of systems regarding this topic is to prevent and control risks in the workplace and guarantee that the continuous improvement process minimizes them (OHSAS, 2007). To be able to accomplish these objectives, it is important to have the right tools, among them, the fundamental one is risk communication. The importance of communication within the context of risk management is given by the need to stregthen preventive mechanisms, the actions to carry out when the risk has been produced, as well as the activities to do after the fact has occurred giving it a differential and particular treatment according to the circumstances in which it happens (Gallego et al., 2006). The present article provides an outlook from communication conceptualization, how it influences risk management, the modelling of communication strategies and it gives information about the most important tools of risk communication in organizations. It is necessary to bear in mind that, through risk communication, risk knowledge increases and, according to the expressed by Beck (1998), risk also increases.