Guiding idea of the risk profile

The BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment risk profile is a graphical tool that clearly visualises the key characteristics of a health risk. The aim is to communicate risks in an understandable and transparent manner.

Since the early days of the scientific study of risks, risks have often been defined according to probability of occurrence and extent of damage in order to simplify communication. The risk matrix is a common form of risk representation that illustrates the relationship between the probability of occurrence and the extent of damage in colour gradations. However, due to the restriction to the two-dimensional level, the information value is too low to visualise the full extent of the risk and the assessment uncertainties. The existing visualisation models only partially help consumers in particular to make individual decisions on health risks based on the best possible scientific facts without prior specialist knowledge.

The BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment is therefore committed to developing informative, transparent, evidence-based and generally understandable risk visualisations for consumer health protection topics, as graphic elements have the advantage that they clearly illustrate important factors of a decision at a glance. They are therefore indispensable in risk communication. The BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment risk profile is intended to enable readers to quickly recognise the facts and key characteristics of the risk assessed in the opinions.

The central task of the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment is the scientific risk assessment of food and feed as well as of substances and products as a basis for consumer health protection. The final results of the investigations are published in scientific statements in which the procedures used in laboratory analyses and the assessment methods as well as options for action to reduce or avoid risks are listed. These scientific statements are not only used for risk management decisions, but also form the basis of risk communication with the aim of enabling the public to make informed risk decisions. Consequently, the results of the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment's work and recommendations serve as an important decision-making aid for risk minimisation measures for strongly divergent user groups.

As part of an evaluation of the effects of risk communication on risk perception carried out by the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment in 2010, the extent to which the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment statements achieve the central communication goals of comprehensibility, transparency and usability was analysed. It was found that shorter sentences and illustrations would improve the visualisation of complex interrelationships. This led to the basic idea of making the essential aspects of the risk assessment for the individual areas of food safety, biological safety, chemical safety and the safety of consumer-related products recognisable at a glance in order to make it easier for recipients to understand the information.

The initial aim was to develop criteria for visualised risk assessment information that corresponds to the tasks of the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment and is transferable to all subject areas as far as possible. In doing so, the tension between normativity and description in the institutional context was to be taken into account.

Risk assessment in consumer health protection is based on the description, measurement and assessment of risk indicators such as the concentration of a potentially harmful substance in a product, the dose-response relationship and the indication of exposureClose dialogexposureExposureTo glossary and the probability of damage to health. In a second step, a graphically supported procedure for communicating risk assessment results should be developed which, by focusing on the essential aspects of risk assessment for the individual areas of food safety, biological safety, chemical safety and the safety of consumer-related products, makes the risk characterisation, the quality of the data situation and options for action visible at a glance and makes it easier for recipients to understand the information. 

This risk profile should also form part of the scientific statements and document their core results in summarised form in text and graphics.

In 2013, the results of the risk assessments were summarised graphically in the so-called BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment risk profile. The graphic was structured as a table containing the following features:

• Groups of persons affected,
• the probability of adverse health effects in the event of exposure,
• their severity,
• the informative value of the available data,
• and the possibility for consumers to control the risk - for example by not using or handling the product carefully.

This first-generation BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment risk profile was developed in various internal and external test phases together with scientists from different disciplines. The BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment risk profile supplemented the scientific opinions and was based on the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment guidelines for health assessments. This was followed by a three-month evaluation phase during which readers were able to send their comments to the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment.

An evaluation carried out in 2015 showed the potential for optimisation in order to reach the various target groups (consumers, politics, science, media, business and consumer associations) even better. The "VisRisk" project therefore aimed to further develop the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment risk profile format scientifically by combining the expertise of the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment and the Harding Centre for Risk Literacy at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development. Particular attention was to be paid to laypersons' understanding of risk - with the aim of designing the numerical, verbal and visual presentation formats to suit the target group. The two-year research collaboration, which began in August 2017, involved an interdisciplinary team from the fields of psychology and health and natural sciences to investigate how the statements from the risk assessment can be presented in both verbal and visual formats in a generally understandable way. Findings and methods from cognitive decision psychology enabled the further development of the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment risk profile for the layperson-friendly presentation of the risk potential of food, consumer goods and consumer products. Following an experimental study with 330 participants and focus groups as part of an evaluation with consumers and experts from risk management and risk assessment, the second-generation BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment risk profile was published and is now part of the scientific statements.