Citation

Schutz H, Wiedemann PM. Safety Sci. 1995; 18(3): 203-214.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1995, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

According to the recently implemented German Hazardous Incident Ordinance (Storfallverordnung), chemical companies to which that ordinance applies are obliged to inform the public about risks of a plant and appropriate emergency behaviour by providing hazardous incident information. For an evaluation study a prototype hazardous incident information (HII) package was designed and evaluated in a telephone survey by using a standardized questionnaire. The questionnaire covered reception and assessment (e.g., comprehensibility, credibility) of the HII, risk perception, trust, and knowledge about hazardous incident warnings and emergency behaviour. One week after having distributed the HII among the residents of the pharmaceutical plant, 204 residents who had been provided with the HII answered the questionnaire in a telephone interview. Four weeks later 154 of these residents again answered the questionnaire. At that time, a control group of 101 residents who did not receive the HII also answered the questionnaire. The results show that, in general, subjects rated the HII positively. Informed subjects had significantly more knowledge about hazardous incident warnings and emergency behaviour. The HII did not influence risk perception but led to a significant increase in trust in the company. Finally, no time effects were found with regard to hazardous incident knowledge.