Chapter 8 -- Ethical Aspects of Technical Risks

Question 1

hazard

Answer 1

possible damage or otherwise undesirable effect

Question 2

risk

Answer 2

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

Question 3

safety

Answer 3

the condition that refers to a situation in which the risks have been reduced as far as reasonably feasible and desirable

Question 4

acceptable risk

Answer 4

a risk that is morally acceptable

Question 5

considerations to determine if a risk is morally acceptable

Answer 5

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

Question 6

uncertainty

Answer 6

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

Question 7

ignorance

Answer 7

lack of knowledge; refers to the situation in which we do not know what we do not know

Question 8

ambiguity

Answer 8

the property that different interpretations or meanings can be given to a term

Question 9

inherently safe design

Answer 9

an approach to safe design that avoids hazards instead of coping with them

Question 10

safety factor

Answer 10

a factor or ratio by which an installation is made safer than is needed to withstand either the expected or the maximum (expected) load

Question 11

negative feedback mechanism

Answer 11

a mechanism that if a device fails or an operator loses control assures that the (dangerous) device shuts down

Question 12

multiple independent safety barriers

Answer 12

a chain of safety barriers that operate independently of each other so that if one fails the others do not necessarily also fail

Question 13

risk assessment

Answer 13

a systematic investigation in which the risks of a technology of an activity are mapped and expressed quantitatively in a certain risk measure

Question 14

failure mode

Answer 14

series of events that may lead to the failure of an installation

Question 15

event tree

Answer 15

tree of events in which one starts with a certain event and considers what events will follow

Question 16

fault tree

Answer 16

tree of events in which we move backwards from an unwanted event (a fault) to the events that could lead to the undesirable event

Question 17

animal tests

Answer 17

tests for determining dose-response relationships by exposing animals to various dosages and assessing their response

Question 18

epidemiological research

Answer 18

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

Question 19

models for dose-response relationships

Answer 19

models that presuppose or predict a certain relationship between dose and response

Question 20

type I error

Answer 20

the mistake of assuming that a scientific statement is true while it is actually false

Question 21

type I error in terms of risk assessment

Answer 21

mistake that one assumes a risk when there is actually no risk

Question 22

type II error

Answer 22

mistake of assuming that a scientific statement is false while it is actually true

Question 23

type II error in terms of risk assessment

Answer 23

mistake that one assumes there is no risk while there is actually a risk

Question 24

informed consent

Answer 24

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

Question 25

risk-cost-benefit analysis

Answer 25

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

Question 26

best available technology

Answer 26

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

Question 27

personal risks

Answer 27

risks that only affect an individual and not a collective

Question 28

collective risks

Answer 28

risks that affect a collective of people and not just individuals

Question 29

risk communicators

Answer 29

specialists that inform, or advise how to inform, the public about risks and hazards

Question 30

precautionary principle

Answer 30

principle that prescribes how to deal with threats that are uncertain and/or cannot be scientifically established

Question 31

format of the precautionary principle

Answer 31

if there is a (1) threat, which is (2) uncertain, then (3) some kind of action (4) is mandatory

Question 32

four dimensions of the precautionary principle

Answer 32

1) threat dimension
2) uncertainty dimension
3) action dimension
4) prescription dimension

Question 33

societal experiments

Answer 33

final testing of possible hazards and risks of technology and its functioning take place by the actual implementation of a technology is society

Question 34

hypothetical consent

Answer 34

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