Almost all aspects of the discourse on the societal and environmental impacts of scientific and technological development can be framed in terms of risk and uncertainty. It is an unavoidable component of progress and innovation that some effects are unpredictable and unknown. Therefore, this topic deserves its own chapter in the context of chemical progress in science, research and design (R&D) and innovation. Here, we will shed light onto the conceptual and practical definitions of risk and uncertainty, approaches to risk assessment and risk management, the role of chemists in different risk discourse contexts, and contemporary institutional implementation of handling uncertainties in the form of the precautionary principle. Risk is one of those terms that different people associate with very different things. Chemists – that is, people with an educational background in a natural science, often working in environments in which technical problem-solving is achieved using expertise, knowledge, skills and competences – often understand risk as something empirically comprehensible (for example, the likelihood of a malfunction or contamination) or a result of ignorance that can be tackled by doing more research (that means, a cognitive challenge). We will learn that parts of the risk discourse revolve around normative and evaluative aspects. In accordance with the claims in the previous chapters, decision-makers and actors in chemistry contexts benefit from an awareness of these discourses as important contributors to an interdisciplinary endeavour: mitigating risks on a solid evidence-based factual foundation (delivered by science and empirical research) under consideration of a well-informed plausible normative framework.
Karibu mambo yote ya mazungumzo juu ya athari za kijamii na mazingira ya maendeleo ya kisayansi na kiteknolojia yanaweza kuundwa katika suala la hatari na kutokuwa na uhakika. Ni sehemu isiyoepukika ya maendeleo na uvumbuzi kwamba baadhi ya athari ni unpredictable na haijulikani. Kwa hivyo, mada hii inastahili sura yake mwenyewe katika muktadha wa maendeleo ya kemikali katika sayansi, utafiti na kubuni (R&D) na uvumbuzi. Katika makala hii, tutaelezea ufafanuzi wa dhana na vitendo vya hatari na kutokuwa na uhakika, mbinu za tathmini ya hatari na usimamizi wa hatari, jukumu la wataalamu wa kemikali katika muktadha tofauti wa mazungumzo ya hatari, na utekelezaji wa kisasa wa taasisi ya kushughulikia kutokuwa na uhakika katika fomu ya kanuni ya tahadhari. Hatari ni neno ambalo watu tofauti huunganisha na mambo tofauti. Wanasayansi, yaani, watu wenye elimu ya asili katika sayansi ya asili, mara nyingi kufanya kazi katika mazingira ambayo ufumbuzi wa tatizo la kiufundi ni mafanikio kwa kutumia utaalam, maarifa, ujuzi na uwezo, mara nyingi kuelewa hatari kama kitu empirically uelewevu (kwa mfano, uwezekano wa malfunction au uchafuzi) au matokeo ya ujinga ambayo inaweza kushughulikiwa kwa kufanya utafiti zaidi (yaani, changamoto ya utambuzi). Tutajifunza kwamba sehemu ya hotuba ya hatari huzunguka mambo ya kawaida na ya tathmini. Kwa mujibu wa madai katika sura zilizopita, watunga maamuzi na watendaji katika mazingira ya kemia wananufaika na ufahamu wa mazungumzo haya kama mchangiaji muhimu kwa juhudi za interdisciplinary: kupunguza hatari juu ya msingi thabiti wa ushahidi (kutolewa na sayansi na utafiti wa empirical) chini ya kuzingatia mfumo wa kanuni wa habari.