Chapter 8 -- Ethical Aspects of Technical Risks Flashcards
hazard
possible damage or otherwise undesirable effect
risk
specification of a hazard; most often used definition of risk is the product of the probability of an undesirable event and the effect of that event
safety
the condition that refers to a situation in which the risks have been reduced as far as reasonably feasible and desirable
acceptable risk
a risk that is morally acceptable
considerations to determine if a risk is morally acceptable
1) the degree of informed consent with the risk
2) the degree to which the benefits of a risky activity weigh up against the disadvantages and risks
3) the availability of alternatives with a lower risk
4) the degree to which risks and advantages are justly distributed
uncertainty
a lack of knowledge; refers to situations in which we know the type of consequences, but can’t meaningfully attribute probabilities to the occurrence of such consequences
ignorance
lack of knowledge; refers to the situation in which we do not know what we do not know
ambiguity
the property that different interpretations or meanings can be given to a term
inherently safe design
an approach to safe design that avoids hazards instead of coping with them
safety factor
a factor or ratio by which an installation is made safer than is needed to withstand either the expected or the maximum (expected) load
negative feedback mechanism
a mechanism that if a device fails or an operator loses control assures that the (dangerous) device shuts down
multiple independent safety barriers
a chain of safety barriers that operate independently of each other so that if one fails the others do not necessarily also fail
risk assessment
a systematic investigation in which the risks of a technology of an activity are mapped and expressed quantitatively in a certain risk measure
failure mode
series of events that may lead to the failure of an installation
event tree
tree of events in which one starts with a certain event and considers what events will follow
fault tree
tree of events in which we move backwards from an unwanted event (a fault) to the events that could lead to the undesirable event
animal tests
tests for determining dose-response relationships by exposing animals to various dosages and assessing their response
epidemiological research
research in which population data is used to find out which population data is used to find out what the relationship is between the occurrence of certain diseases or certain mental deviations and certain factors that may cause these deviations
models for dose-response relationships
models that presuppose or predict a certain relationship between dose and response
type I error
the mistake of assuming that a scientific statement is true while it is actually false
type I error in terms of risk assessment
mistake that one assumes a risk when there is actually no risk
type II error
mistake of assuming that a scientific statement is false while it is actually true
type II error in terms of risk assessment
mistake that one assumes there is no risk while there is actually a risk
informed consent
principle that states that activities are acceptable if people have freely consented to them after being fully informed about the potential risks and benefits of those activities
risk-cost-benefit analysis
social costs for risk reduction are weighed against the social benefits offered by risk reduction, so achieving an optimal level of risk in which the social benefits are highest
best available technology
as an approach to acceptable risk, best available technology refers to an approach that does not prescribe a specific technology but uses the best available tech alternative as yardstick for what is acceptable
personal risks
risks that only affect an individual and not a collective
collective risks
risks that affect a collective of people and not just individuals
risk communicators
specialists that inform, or advise how to inform, the public about risks and hazards
precautionary principle
principle that prescribes how to deal with threats that are uncertain and/or cannot be scientifically established
format of the precautionary principle
if there is a (1) threat, which is (2) uncertain, then (3) some kind of action (4) is mandatory
four dimensions of the precautionary principle
1) threat dimension
2) uncertainty dimension
3) action dimension
4) prescription dimension
societal experiments
final testing of possible hazards and risks of technology and its functioning take place by the actual implementation of a technology is society
hypothetical consent
refers to a form of informed consent in which people do not actually consent to something but are hypothetically supposed to consent if certain conditions are met; would be rational for them to consent or in their own interest to
