Stakeholder involvement is used to come to a consensus about the goals and visions of the future. Regulatory agencies, specialists and industrial representatives are valuable participants in the debates as their different views can help create a more balanced outcome. Institutional organizations are often high profile so their decisions are often considered important, for this reason a lot of thought needs to go into which organizations should be chosen to help with risk management decisions.
As with all other types of risk communication, stakeholder involvement needs to happen at the beginning of risk management, not at the end. Institutional stakeholders need to be informed about the risk management project at the beginning and their expertise needs to be sought when it comes time to balance the pros and the cons of the risk management options. If the project is high profile and controversial then institutional organizations should be involved from the early stages.
Strategies for risk communication with institutional stakeholders are:
- Expert hearings;
- Expert committees;
- Stakeholder hearings; and
- Round tables (advisory groups)
For more information on the above strategies and others see the OECD Guidance Document (2002) listed below.
References: Adapted from OECD Guidance Document on Risk Communication for Chemical Risk Management
