Risk Characterization and the Red Book

Of the four components of the risk paradigm, Risk Characterization receives the briefest description in die National Research Council's report Risk Assessment in the Federal Government: Managing the Process, also called the “Red Book.” It is often stated that two decades ago when the Red Book was written there was the naive belief that Risk Assessment could be completely separated from Risk Management. However, it was clear at the time that there was an overlap between the two, occurring at the Risk Characterization step. The expansion in knowledge about the understanding of risk has led to a heightened interest in risk characterization and communication. Unfortunately, in the rush to use new tools, there has been an overstatement of the value of the routine mathematical depiction of uncertainty, rather than the written description called for in the Red Book.