Risk, Relating to Outdoors and Adventure, and the Public Services
Risk: Relating to Outdoor and Adventure and the Public Services
Introduction
This essay will start with the analysis of the concepts of risk and risk taking and how they apply to my experience of kayaking and decision making. It will also discuss how I would ensure the health and safety of a group when taking part in an adventure activity while including an example of a risk assessment and an explanation of the process of a risk assessment. It will then discuss what impact perceived risk, real risk, and risk taking has on a public service employee, how they come to face these risks and what training enables them to take risk. I will then conclude the essay stating what I have achieved in the essay and how it has improved my knowledge and understanding, and my self-awareness. My aim of doing this essay is to understand risk fully and its different concepts and how it can apply to a public service.
Risk and its Concepts
This part of the essay will discuss what the definition of risk is, why people choose to take risks, and some of the concepts of risk and relating them to my experiences of kayaking.
Kaplan, S, and Garrick, B. J (2006) say that risk is the notion of uncertainty while there being a likelihood of some kind of loss or damage and that risk is simply the conversion of a hazard into the delivery of a loss of damage. They say risk can be reduced through safeguards and use an example of being out in the ocean, which is a hazard, and instead of crossing it in a rowboat, which would be a high risk; you can cross it in a liner to reduce that risk. According to the Oxford English Dictionary the definition of risk is ‘a situation involving exposure to danger’. Both definitions are similar but Kaplan and Garrick’s is more detailed by explaining that hazards are the source of the risk.
High risk is when the probability and frequency of a hazard delivering a serious kind of loss or damage is high. Although there are high possibilities of a serious
Introduction
This essay will start with the analysis of the concepts of risk and risk taking and how they apply to my experience of kayaking and decision making. It will also discuss how I would ensure the health and safety of a group when taking part in an adventure activity while including an example of a risk assessment and an explanation of the process of a risk assessment. It will then discuss what impact perceived risk, real risk, and risk taking has on a public service employee, how they come to face these risks and what training enables them to take risk. I will then conclude the essay stating what I have achieved in the essay and how it has improved my knowledge and understanding, and my self-awareness. My aim of doing this essay is to understand risk fully and its different concepts and how it can apply to a public service.
Risk and its Concepts
This part of the essay will discuss what the definition of risk is, why people choose to take risks, and some of the concepts of risk and relating them to my experiences of kayaking.
Kaplan, S, and Garrick, B. J (2006) say that risk is the notion of uncertainty while there being a likelihood of some kind of loss or damage and that risk is simply the conversion of a hazard into the delivery of a loss of damage. They say risk can be reduced through safeguards and use an example of being out in the ocean, which is a hazard, and instead of crossing it in a rowboat, which would be a high risk; you can cross it in a liner to reduce that risk. According to the Oxford English Dictionary the definition of risk is ‘a situation involving exposure to danger’. Both definitions are similar but Kaplan and Garrick’s is more detailed by explaining that hazards are the source of the risk.
High risk is when the probability and frequency of a hazard delivering a serious kind of loss or damage is high. Although there are high possibilities of a serious
References: Berry, M, & Hodgson, C (2011) Adventure Education: An Introduction, Routledge: United States of America & Canada Five Steps to Risk Assessment Harris, C.R, Jenkins, M, & Glaser, D (2006) Gender Differences in Risk Assessment: Why do Women Take Fewer Risks Than Men? Judgement and Decision Making, 1(1), 48-63 Kaplan, S, & Garrick, B Loftstedt, R, & Frewer, L (1998) The Earthscan Reader in: Risk & Modern Society, Earthscan: London Oxford English Dictionary (2008) Eleventh Edition (Revised 2008) Oxford: Oxford University Press Rausand, M (2004) System Reliability Theory, 2nd Ed., University of Science and Technology: Trondheim, Norway Renn, O (2010) Concepts of Risk: A Classification Sjoberg, L, Moen, B. E, & Rundmo, T (2004) Explaining Risk Perception, Rotunde: Norway Wolchover, J (2011) Why do People Take Risks? Available online at http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/1728-people-take-risks.html Accessed on 10 December 2012