Appraisal of Risk Perception in Occupational Health and Safety Research in Developing Countries

This paper addresses scientists in the field of occupational health and safety, with a special emphasis on research in developing countries. The article is based on findings of and a method used in a recent study of occupational health and safety in mines in Africa and Latin America. Dialog between technical experts and social scientists is needed to synthesize the values of society and the facts of nature into policy decisions that are both politically legitimate and consistent with the current state of technical knowledge. The author asks how researchers in the field of occupational health can take two axioms of the social sciences into account: 1) the concept of human agency, and 2) the notion that risk perception is socially constructed: rather than being determined by "real" risks, it is shaped by the adversarial context of, among other factors, the nature of labor relations, values in society, and personal histories. With regard to first axiom, it is shown why actors' risk perceptions and their context need indeed to be taken seriously. With regard to the second, a methodologic outline is given to complement technical research on occupational hygiene with risk-perception appraisal. The method is actor-oriented, building on the perceptions, views, and opinions of the different groups of relevant actors. Systematic integration of this method into technological studies could enrich them, contributing substantially to their applicability.