How do people concerned by hazardous activities relate to and cope with uncertainty, such as the introduction of technological innovations and organisational change? How do people create the conditions which make it possible to move forward in uncertain contexts? This is the subject explored via case studies, in this Cahier de la sécurité industrielle.
Six research groups from different disciplines - psychology, sociology, management, industrial engineering and nuclear engineering – investigated different research fields: risk prevention in "Seveso" facilities, managing viral pandemics, group decisions in a hospital environment, and drug development in the pharmaceutical sector.
This review analyses the types of uncertainty encountered in various fields and formulates hypotheses concerning their influence on decision making:
- What are the sources of uncertainty and how can they be characterised?
- How do stakeholders view these sources of uncertainty?
- What is their potential impact on people's actions and the decisions they make ..or avoid making, or postpone?
Objectives
To present a practical, example-based approach to the concepts of uncertainty and decision making, which are essential to risk management.
About the author
This document was written by research teams financed by the Foundation for a Culture of Industrial Safety in the context of the "Decision-making practice under uncertainty" programme, launched in 2008. The principal authors are Saïna Hassanzadech, Emmanuel Martinais, Véronique Steyer, Stéphanie Tillement and Thomas Reverdy.