The Nature of Risk and the Problems of Occupational Safety

The concept of risk. Objective and subjective conceptions of risk. The basic elements defining the essence of risk. Types of risk: justified and unjustified. The structure of the development of a risky situation. Sources of the emergence of uncertainty. Constructing a model of action under conditions of uncertainty and risk. Factors regulating human behavior in situations of risk.

The nature of risk and problems of safety

The word "risk" entered the Russian language from European languages; thus, translated from Portuguese it means "sheer cliff" . The concept of "risk" is used by many social and natural sciences. Each of them has its own subject and its own orientation in the study of risk and applies its own methods for this purpose. This situation makes it possible to distinguish psychological, socio-psychological, economic, legal, medico-biological, and other aspects of the phenomenon of "risk".

Let us examine some existing approaches to understanding the phenomenon of "risk".

1. In mass consciousness and in the social-science literature, judgments about risk as a possible danger or failure are widespread. Risk is a measure of expected failure, of misfortune in an activity; the danger of unfavorable consequences arising for a person's health; certain phenomena whose occurrence is associated with the possibility of material loss.

• 2. In some cases risk is understood as an activity undertaken in the hope of a successful outcome.
• 3. Combining the first and second approaches allows risk to be viewed as "the probability of error or success of one or another choice in a situation with several alternatives" .
• 4. There are also attempts to give a more generalized definition of risk, to identify features that characterize it as a general scientific concept. For example: "Risk represents a course of action in an unclear, uncertain environment" .

On the basis of the analysis carried out, the following definition of the concept of "risk" can be given.

Risk is a situational characteristic of an activity, consisting in the uncertainty of its outcome and the possible unfavorable consequences in the event of failure.

In psychology, risk is examined in various aspects. It may be studied as one of the elements of decision-making. In this aspect it is linked to measuring the probability of an error of choice in a situation with several alternatives (R. D. Luce, H. Raiffa, V. D. Rudashevsky, Yu. M. Zabrodin, N. D. Zavalishina, B. F. Lomov, V. F. Rubakhin, V. A. Abchuk [1987]; O. I. Larichev and others).

A. P. Algin, a specialist in the field of economic risks, presented risk as the conscious, volitional activity of a subject aimed at overcoming uncertainty in a situation of inevitable choice among several alternatives, in the course of which there is an opportunity to determine the probability of achieving the desired result. In this aspect risk appears as a special form of active attitude toward reality and a model for resolving the uncertainty generated by the unpredictability of natural phenomena, the actions of other subjects, the ambiguity of cognition of an object or phenomenon, and the lack of information and its variability.

In the literature there are differences of opinion regarding the objective and subjective nature of risk. A number of authors (V. E. Agapeev, D. N. Rozantseva, and others) proceed from the premise that risk is an objective category that makes it possible to regulate relations between people, labor collectives, organizations, and other subjects of social life that arise from the transformation of a possible danger into reality. Risk is thereby regarded as a concept representing "the possible danger of the accidental occurrence of negative (personal and property) consequences" . The position of the objective conception is shared by A. A. Sobchak, a specialist in economics and law. According to him, risk is "always the danger of unfavorable consequences arising (of a property or personal nature), regarding which it is unknown whether they will occur or not" .

The subjective conception of risk is fairly widespread. It has been most consistently developed by the jurist V. A. Oygenzikht, who proceeds from the premise that risk is always subjective, since it appears as a person's assessment of an act, as a conscious choice made with alternatives in mind. Since, from the standpoint of this conception, the manifestation of risk is always linked to a person's will and consciousness, "risk is the choice of a course of behavior with account taken of danger, threat, and possible consequences" .

When it comes to risk as a specific form of activity, a social phenomenon performing a regulatory function based on accounting for the needs and interests of individuals, social groups, and labor collectives, a conception of risk that combines the objective and subjective approaches proves more suitable for analyzing actual reality.

On the whole, the following basic elements are distinguished in the phenomenon of risk, whose interrelation constitutes its essence:

• • the possibility of deviation from the intended goal for the sake of which the chosen alternative is being pursued;
• • the probability of achieving the desired result;
• • the absence of confidence in attaining the set goal;
• • the possibility of unfavorable consequences occurring (material or physical harm, illness, death) in carrying out one or another action under conditions of uncertainty for the subject who takes the risk;
• • material, environmental, moral-ideological, and other losses associated with implementing the alternative chosen under conditions of uncertainty;
• • the anticipation of danger or failure as a result of choosing an alternative and implementing it.

The presence of these elements in the phenomenon of risk shows that its content cannot rightly be equated either solely with possible negative consequences, losses, danger, and failure, or solely with anticipated successful results.

With regard to carrying out practical actions in a risk situation, it is advisable to take into account three main elements:

• • the probability of obtaining the desired result (success);
• • the probability of undesirable consequences (failure) occurring in the course of choosing an alternative and implementing it;
• • the probability of deviation, of either a negative or a positive nature, from the chosen goal.

Decisions related to safety issues vary in scale and character depending on the degree of risk. Thus, compliance with occupational safety rules is only one of the many requirements that managers must take into account when choosing a possible course of action.