In this 10 part series of Reducing Risk Tolerance we will explore each of the ten factors that influence risk rolerance and provide more details about each.  When taken together, this series should provide a more comprehensive review of the factors that influence risk tolerance so action can be taken to reduce risk toerlance and keep people safer. The factors that influence personal risk tolerance are:

• Overestimating one’s own capability and experience (increases risk tolerance)
• Familiarity with the task i.e. complacency (increases risk tolerance)
• Seriousness of the potential safety outcome (decreases risk tolerance)
• Voluntary actions and sense of being in control (increases risk tolerance)
• Personal experience with an outcome (decreases risk tolerance)
• Cost or implications of non-compliance (decreases risk tolerance)
• Confidence in the equipment (increases risk tolerance)
• Confidence in PPE and rescue (increases risk tolerance)
• Potential profit / gain from the action (increases risk tolerance)
• Role models accepting risk (increases risk tolerance)

This chapter discusses how Cost or implications of non-compliance tends to decrease risk tolerance when undertaking a job.  When the consequence or punishment of non-compliance increases it tends to decrease the number of violations.  As people understand through communication and observation of actual consequences for non-compliance they tend to follow the expectations, especially if the consequences become espcially high.  As a thought exercise, think for a moment if the consequences for speeding were a $10 000 fine, the loss of your driver’s license for a year and the impounding of your vehicle, the instances of speeding would decrease dramatically.  This concept is behind the doubling of speeding fines in construction zones and one of the reasons opponents of photo radar cite as to their ineffectiveness (i.e. small fine, and no impact of license demerits).

Additionally, in general, increasing the consequences for non-compliance should be used selectively and sparingly and only for the most critical of compliance actions as you cannot threaten punishment for everything.  Instead, you need to incent the right behaviours for the right actions, and make the “right way, the easy way.”  One must make the correct behaviours the preferred way to operate and that should consume most of the attention of the organization.