The perception of the risk and the system of communication

The measures that are applied to regulate a certain practice, are based on the risk that implies the practice and in the acceptance of the above mentioned risk from the part affected by the practice. If the perception of the risk does not correspond to the reality the situation is unstable and it is possible to lose the control of the situation. When discrepancies exist in the Perception of the Risk on the part of different sectors of the society, they can produce serious conflicts that affect the establishment of the protection measures. The problem of the 'perception of the risk' rests on the fact that the technical people and the public use generally different reasoning and therefore its coincidence is almost fortuitous. The intuitive perception of the risk is often narrowly tied to a 'symbolic mechanism' and once established the symbolic relation can produce a psychological phenomenon by means of which the individuals resist to the reality, and the symbols make prevail over the facts in order not to alter the interior symbolic pre-established scheme. The perception of the risk appears in two different groups of persons: 1) The persons affected by the risk (the public); and 2) The persons who can modify this risk (operators). It is important that the perception of the risk is compatible with the scientific hypotheses to avoid conflicts in the situation 1 and to assure the control in the situation 2 (safety culture). The 'perception of the risk' is fundamental to support the control of a practice and it is possible to modify it across the communication. It is necessary to know which are all The Factors that affect the perception of the risk to be able to design a strategy of suitable communication. Across different studies it has been learned which are the factors that affect the perception of risk: 1) Some factors depend on the proper characteristics of the risk; 2) Others depend on the proper characteristics of the individuals and finally; 3) Other factors depend on the conditions of the external environment or on the social local context. One of the most important factors is the related with the direct benefits that are perceived. This determines, for example, that a person perceives minor risks of his cellular telephone that of the antennas (That allows that the system should work) when the situation is exactly the opposite one. It is very important that the society establishes a system of rational and independent communication with all the affected parts (stake holders) that allows to safeguard the systems of control. The system of communication must be independent and cannot be handled or influenced by those that perceive an economic benefit since they are an interested part. In this presentation a methodology and strategy is proposed for the communication with different groups affected by the risks come so much of the ionizing or non ionizing radiation. (author)