Friday, February 24, 2012

Risk misManagement:

You realize of course that nothing in statistical reality is ever 100% safe at all times to all people around or using it, yes? A person could theoretically choke to death on a textureless boiled soggy piece of broccoli if they were breathing heavily in the midst of arguing and eating at the same time. That doesn't mean everybody should skip eating boiled vegetables in order to be safe though. Likewise, there's a statistically infinitesmally small chance of the occurrence of a rare but lethal microbe landing on you that got carried over from someplace else and blown onto you by the wind while you are just minding your own business outside in a regular place under regular circumstances but that doesn't mean we should all never again go outside and only do so in protective clothing with masks and rebreathers or sealed air tanks!

It is then much to my worry that people walk around demanding absolutely NO RISK in ANYTHING EVER. That things be proven 100% SAFE. That NO RISKS OR EVEN POSSIBLE POTENTIAL RISKS ARE EVER ACCEPTABLE.

The most well engineered vehicle or tool ever designed and built might only have 85-92% safety to it. There is a rough, small CHANCE OF MECHANICAL FAILURE, NATURAL DISASTER, SABOTAGE OR "ACTS OF GOD" no matter how well planned or made something is. That's how real life in the world works and the laws of the universe and of motion that seem to govern everything outside a committee room or concerned citizens group town hall meetings seemingly function. You have disaster and safety procedures to deal with containment or cleaning up of accidents when they occur but you do not try to sell people on that they should expect nothing bad to ever happen. Not unless you want perpetually unskilled helpless losers who are always hurting themselves on things all the time and panicking about garbage happening...

Rather than tell people to expect things to be good or always be horrible, is it not more sensible to give them disaster plans, accident procedures and safety protocols for things that are dangerous or when things do go wrong?

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