The Conceptual Risks of Risk Assessment

Many, if not most, risk assessors allege that their methods of risk identification and risk estimation are wholly objective. Contrary to this view, it can be shown that a variety of value judgments are inherent in classical risk assessment methods. In addition to these methodological threats to objectivity, there are at least three ethical problems which require risk assessors or policymakers to make normative decisions. After outlining these ethical and methodological difficulties, the essay closes with two suggestions for improving risk assessment and for rendering its evaluative components explicit.