A Practical Guide to Understanding, Managing and Reviewing Environmental Risk Assessment Reports provides team leaders and team members with a strategy for developing the elements of risk assessment into a readable and beneficial report.
The authors believe that successful management of the risk assessment team is a key factor is quality reports. Leadership first clarifies the roles of each participant and the unique technical factors of their respective disciplines. Teamwork is achieved through an emphasis on common language and procedures.
Belluck and Benjamin explore a variety of techniques for creating accurate and useful reports. An example is Proactive Risk Assessment, which breaks a project into discrete parts to be delivered on an interim basis. This method, based on iterative review, drastically increases the chance of detecting errors while they can still be corrected.
The authors emphasize rigorous standards by which reports are audited, evaluated and critiqued. The goal is to create reports that are accurate, useful and, adaptable on an industry-wide basis.
Sally L. Benjamin, M.S., J.D., is an environmental scientist and attorney with more than 25 years of professional experience in environmental policy, natural resources management, and public dispute resolution. Ms. Benjamin's rm, Risk Writers, Ltd., 3108 46th Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55406, conducts historical and technical research for environmental litigation and provides expert services in toxicology, environmental science, and the history of science. Ms. Benjamin earned her Bachelor of Arts in Biology, Mans eld State College, Pennsylvania, her Master of Science from the Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Minnesota. She is a member of the Hennepin County Bar and of the Minnesota and the Wisconsin State Bar Associations. Her research interests include environmental impacts of local land use planning, interrelationships of transit, traf c and urban air quality, manufactured gas plant history, and the role of environmental science in litigation, public policy, legislation, and regulation. David A. Belluck, B.S., Ph.D., is a toxicologist and risk assessor with more than 30 years experience in public health and environmental science. Dr. Belluck is principal toxicologist for Risk Writers, Ltd., 3108 46th Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55406. Dr. Belluck provides expert services for litigation in the areas of toxicology, environmental risk, and the history of science. Dr. Belluck publishes extensively on risk assessment, toxicology, and groundwater protection. His current research interests include historical toxicology of manufactured gas plants and improved project management techniques for risk assessment and public decisionmaking. He is a member of the National Advisory Committee to the U.S. EPA on Ambient Exposure Guideline Levels (AEGLs). Dr. Belluck earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University and his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois.
