Part A Societal attitudes towards Risk 

Write a critical summary of the points made by Clarke in the provided paper by Clarke (Witches, 1 Floods and Wonder Drugs). Clarke bases his points on three stories, but there is an overall set of ideas that he is using these stories to illustrate. What are the ideas he is presenting? A critical summary is not a point-by-point paraphrasing of the content, it is a higher-level interpretation of the content and it includes your views on this.

Part B Personal and Societal Responses to Risk 

Select a disaster that is well documented on the web and that is in a situation or industry of interest
to you. Provide relevant links etc. of all the sources you use, so that I may see the same detail that
you have had access to.
Topic 2 notes describe ten things that influence people’s perceptions of risk. See slides 3 to 7 inclusive and, of course, study carefully the
lecture on these slides and the associated notes. Read also the provided paper by Slovic (Perception of Risk).
1. Your first task is to reflect on the application of these ideas to people affected by the disaster you have chosen. Do this considering both the people who were the victims of the case and a representative person from an organisation in control of the risk.

2. Your second task is to comment on the management of this type of risk by society. To comment in a meaningful manner, you will need to study and reflect on the notes on this subject.

Part C Legal and Victim Views of Risk  

Complete the three exercises found in the Module 2 Topic 3 notes., namely:
Exercise 1: Look for relevant legislation in a jurisdiction of interest to you and extract from it the general statements of expectation
ASSIGNMENT 2
Midnight Sunday 29th April 2018 Length: As and where indicated in the questions. If no word count guide is given assume that brief and precise responses are required. Purpose: To provide a structured opportunity to consider and apply the concepts presented in the notes. See note at the end of this assignment. 1 Version 1 Revision 0 Semester 1, 2018

RSK80003 Risk Perception and Analysis 

The relevant legislation is legislation that is concerned with safety duties in either the occupational or
public risk domains. Extend your investigations to include a small number of relevant Regulations and Codes of Practice, including those relating to the meaning of the term ‘reasonably practical’. Subject these to critical analysis (in the context of the theory introduced in this Unit) of meaning, 2 definitions, logic and practicality.

Exercise 2: In 2016 mine tailing dam in Brazil failed. There is a lot of information on the www about this very high profile disaster. This ABC article includes these comments: “…the collapse was due to a range of construction and design flaws”, and “BHP has taken multi-billion dollar write-downs because of the Samarco disaster and operations remain suspended at the mine”. The article also records the fact that the Brazilian authorities were sue-ing the various companies involved for more than US$50billion.
Read up about the disaster and about the negligence concepts which I have outlined above. A search for this term on the www will unearth many sites that will expand on the ideas I have presented. How do you think the four common law tests of negligence would be argued in a court of law by a lawyer defending the owners of the mine?
Exercise 3: In the notes above this is said:
“Any discussion about risk is always concerned with whether enough is currently being done to control the risk.”  “… how does an organisation decide what is acceptable and to whom it is acceptable?” In the context of the Samarco Dam failure, discuss. how the process of risk assessment as described above would be or could be applied to the decision-making of senior managers on dam safety. Include in this the dynamics of decision-making on (a) the expenditure of funds to improve understanding the dam’s condition and (b) the funds required to improve its stability by senior management at the mine.