Risk Management: Roles And Responsibilities In The Decision-Making Process

Decision-making under conditions of large uncertainty is an issue that poses serious questions about the decisional chain, its complexities, the consequent responsibilities, and, ultimately, the difficulties of identifying the “right” decision to make. This paper addresses these issues from a civil protection perspective, i.e., from the point of view of an organization which often operates under highly uncertain conditions in the management of the risk cycle. Three main participants in the decision-making process are identified: scientists, political decision-makers (PDMs), and technical decision-makers (TDMs). They provide different contributions to the risk management, with frequent and intricate interactions that, however, can cause distortions in the distinction of the roles to be played, and thus of the responsibilities to be taken. In addition to scientists and decision-makers, there are other participants playing important roles in the risk cycle, and thus influencing decisions within the civil protection system, such as the technical community of professionals, the mass media, the magistrates, and the citizens. PDMs and TDMs, as well as scientists, are directly involved in the decision-making process. Professionals, journalists, magistrates, and citizens can indirectly condition decisions and their implementation. Examples are reported for all of these categories. Participants in the decisional process who understand their role and responsibilities can contribute to a more efficient and effective civil protection system, reducing the occurrence of errors and incidents, if they act within the bounds of their expertise, but avoid to adhere too rigidly to their role. How to develop a correct and fruitful interaction among all the actors is a primary target for a mature civil protection system.