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With all the talk of using common sense, I remembered something I had
in my Email archive...
First something showing we aren't the only ones being overregulated and
something that may be funny now but we do get closer and closer to being
required to warn of the commonsensical.
Enjoy,
Matt Caya
Sr EHS Tech
UofMn,RPD
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Let me recommend _Breaking the Vicious Circle: Toward Effective Risk
Regulation_ by Stephen Breyer, Chief Judge, United States Court of
Appeals for the First Circuit. He has been in the news lately.
The following table from the book gives the expected cost per life
saved of various Government regulations aimed at reducing risk.
*****[A fact not in his book is that when the cost exceeds $7.5 million per
life saved there is probably a net loss of life because of reduced
personal income to the population.]*******
Here's the table.
TABLE 5. Risks and Cost-Effectiveness of Selected Regulations
(from the Budget for Fiscal Year 1992, Table C-2, Part 2, p. 370)
____________________________________________________________________________
__
Baseline Cost
per
Health mortality risk
premature
Year or per million death
averted
Regulation(a) Issued Safety Agency exposed ($millions
1990)
____________________________________________________________________________
__
Unvented Space
Heater Ban 1980 S CPSC 1,890
0.1
Aircraft Cabin Fire
Protection Standard 1985 S FAA 5
0.1
Auto Passive
Restraint/Seat
Belt Standards 1984 S NHTSA 6,370
0.1
Steering Column Pro-
tection Standard(b) 1967 S NHTSA 385
0.1
Underground Constru-
ction Standards(c) 1989 S OSHA-S 38,700
0.1
Trihalomethane
Drinking Water
Standards 1979 H EPA 420
0.2
Aircraft Seat Cushion
Flammability Standard 1984 S FAA 11
0.4
Alcohol and Drug
Control Standards(c) 1985 H FRA 81
0.4
Auto Fuel-System
Integrity Standard 1875 S NHTSA 343
0.4
Standards for Servic-
ing Auto Wheel Rims(c) 1984 S OSHA-S 630
0.4
Aircraft Floor
Emergency Lighting
Standard 1984 S FAA 2
0.6
Concrete & Masonry
Construction
Standards(c) 1988 S OSHA-S 630
0.6
Crane Suspended
Personnel Platform
Standard 1988 S OSHA-S 81,000
0.7
Passive Restraints
for Trucks & Buses
(Proposed) 1989 S NHTSA 6,370
0.7
Side-Impact Standards
for Autos (Dynamic) 1990 S NHTSA NA
0.8
Children's Sleepwear
Flammability Ban(d) 1973 S CPSC 29
0.8
Auto Side Door
Support Standards 1970 S NHTSA 2,520
0.8
Low-Altitude Windshear
Equipment & Training
Standards 1988 S FAA NA
1.3
Electrical Equipment
Standards
(Metal Mines) 1970 S MSHA NA
1.4
Trenching and Exca-
vation Standards(c) 1989 S OSHA-S 14,310
1.5
Traffic Alert and
Collision Avoidance
(TCAS) Systems 1988 S FAA NA
1.5
Hazard Communication
Standard(c) 1983 S OSHA-S 1,800
1.6
Side-Impact Standards
for Trucks, Buses, and
MPVs (Proposed) 1989 S NHTSA NA
2.2
Grain Dust Explosion
Prevention Standards
(c) 1987 S OSHA-S 9,450
2.8
Rear Lap/Shoulder
Belts for Autos 1989 S NHTSA NA
3.2
Standards for Radion-
uclides in Uranium
Mines(c) 1984 H EPA 6,300
3.4
Benzene NESHAP
(Original: Fugitive
Emissions) 1984 H EPA 1,470
3.4
Ethylene Dibromide
Drinking Water
Standard 1991 H EPA NA
5.7
Benzene NESHAP
(Revised: Coke
Byproducts(c) 1988 H EPA NA
6.1
Asbestos Occupational
Exposure Limit(c) 1972 H OSHA-H 3,015
8.3
Benzene Occupational
Exposure Limit(c) 1987 H OSHA-H 39,600
8.9
Electrical Equipment
Standards (Coal Mines)
(c) 1970 S MSHA NA
9.2
Arsenic Emission
Standards for Glass
Plants 1986 H EPA 2,660
13.5
Ethylene Oxide
Occupational Exposure
Limit(c) 1984 H OSHA-H 1,980
20.5
Arsenic/Copper NESHAP 1986 H EPA 63,000
23.0
Hazardous Waste
Listing for Petroleum
Refining Sludge 1990 H EPA 210
27.6
Cover/Move Uranium
Mill Tailings
(Inactive Sites) 1983 H EPA 30,100
31.7
Benzene NESHAP
(Revised: Transfer
Operations) 1990 H EPA NA
32.9
Cover/Move Uranium
Mill Tailings
(Active Sites) 1983 H EPA 30,100
45.0
Acrylonitrile Occupa-
tional Exposure Limit
(c) 1978 H OSHA-H 42,300
51.5
Coke Ovens Occupation-
al Exposure Limit(c) 1976 H OSHA-H 7,200
63.5
Lockout/Tagout(c) 1989 S OSHA-S 4
70.9
Asbestos Occupational
Exposure Limit(c) 1986 H OSHA-H 3,015
74.0
Arsenic Occupational
Exposure Limit(c) 1978 H OSHA-H 14,800
106.9
Asbestos Ban 1989 H EPA NA
110.7
Diethylstilbestrol
(DES) Cattlefeed Ban 1979 H FDA 22
124.8
Benzene NESHAP
(Revised: Waste
Operations) 1990 H EPA NA
168.2
1,2-Dichloropropane
Drinking Water
Standard 1991 H EPA NA
653.0
Hazardous Waste Land
Disposal Ban (1st 3rd) 1988 H EPA 2
4,190.4
Municipal Solid Waste
Landfill Standards
(Proposed) 1988 H EPA <1
19,107.0
Formaldehyde Occupa-
tional Exposure
Limit(c) 1987 H OSHA-H 31
86,201.8
Atrazine/Alachlor
Drinking Water
Standard 1991 H EPA NA
92,069.7
Hazardous Waste
Listing for Wood-
Preserving Chemicals 1990 H EPA <1
5,700,000.0
____________________________________________________________________________
__
Source: Regulatory Program of the United States Government, April 1, 1991-
March 31, 1992, p. 12.
a. 70-year lifetime exposure assumed unless otherwise specified.
b. 50-year lifetime exposure.
c. 45-year lifetime exposure.
d. 12-year exposure period.
NA--not available.
Agency abbreviations: CPSC: Consumer Product Safety Commission; MSHA Mine
Safety and Health Administration; EPA: Enmvironmental Protection Agency;
NHTSA: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; FAA; Federal Aviation
Administration; FRA: Federal Railroad Administration; FDA: Food and Drug
Administration; OSHA-H: Occupationial Safety and Health Administration,
Health Standards; OSHA-S: Occupational Safety and Health Administration,
Safety Standards.
--
John McCarthy, Computer Science Department, Stanford, CA 94305
*
He who refuses to do arithmetic is doomed to talk nonsense.
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Now for something a little lighter
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--
FORWARDED FROM SAFETY:
From: Chuck Cooper <ccc%MAILHOST.PP.PDX.EDU@vm1.spcs.umn.edu>
Subject: Do we like being scared? <Risk Humor>
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--
As safety experts and concerned citizens, we applaud the recent
trend towards legislation that requires the prominent placing of
warnings on products that present hazards to the general public. yet
we must also offer the cautionary thought that such warnings, however
well-intentioned, merely scratch the surface of what is really
necessary in this important area. This is especially true in light
of the findings of 20th century physics.
We are therefore proposing that, as responsible professionals and
science enthusiasts, we join together in an intensive push for new
laws that will mandate the conspicuous placement of suitably
informative warnings on the packaging of every product in every
category offered for sale. Our suggested list of required warnings
appears below:
WARNING: This Product Warps
Space and Time in Its Vicinity.
WARNING: This Product Attracts
Every Other Piece of Matter in the
Universe, Including the Products of
Other Manufacturers, with a Force
Proportional to the Product of the
Massed and Inversely Proportional to
the Distance Between Them.
CAUTION: The Mass of This Product
Contains the Energy Equivalent of 85
Million Tons of TNT per Net Ounce of
Weight.
HANDLE WITH EXTREME CARE:
This Product Contains Minute
Electrically Charged Particles Moving
at Velocities in Excess of Five Hundred
Million Miles per Hour.
CONSUMER NOTICE: Because of the
"Uncertainty Principle," It Is Impossible
for the Consumer to Find Out at the
Same Time Both Precisely Where This
Product Is and How Fast It Is Moving.
ADVISORY: There is an Extremely
Small but Nonzero Chance That,
Through a Process Known as
"Tunneling," This Product May
Spontaneously Disappear from Its
Present Location and Reappear at Any
Random Place in the Universe,
Including Your Neighbor's Domicile.
The Manufacturer Will Not Be
Responsible for Any Damages or
Inconvenience That May Result.
READ THIS BEFORE OPENING
PACKAGE: According to Certain
Suggested Versions of a Grand Unified
Theory, the Primary Particles
Constituting This Product May Decay to
Nothingness Within the Next Four
Hundred Million Years.
THIS IS A 100% MATTER PRODUCT:
In the Unlikely Event That This
Merchandise Should Contact
Antimatter in Any Form, a Catastrophic
Explosion Will Result.
PUBLIC NOTICE AS REQUIRED BY
LAW: Any Use of This Product, In Any
Manner Whatsoever, Will Increase the
Amount of Disorder in the Universe.
Although No Liability is Implied Herein,
the Consumer Is Warned That This
Process Will Ultimately Lead to the
Heat Death of the Universe.
NOTE: The Most Fundamental
Particles in This Product Are Held
Together by a "Gluing" Force About
Which Little Is Currently Known and
Whose Adhesive Power Can Therefore
Not Be Permanently guaranteed.
ATTENTION: Despite Any Other
Listing of Product Contents Found
Hereon, the Consumer Is Advised That,
in Actuality, This Product Consists of
99.9999999999% Empty Space.
NEW GRAND UNIFIED THEORY
DISCLAIMER: The Manufacturer May
Technically Be Entitled To Claim That
This Product Is Ten-Dimensional.
However, the Consumer Is Reminded
That This Confers No Legal Rights
Above and Beyond Those Applicable
to Three-Dimensional Objects, Since
the Seven New Dimensions Are
"Rolled Up" Into Such a Small "Area"
That They Cannot Be Detected.
PLEASE NOTE: Some Quantum
Physics Theories Suggest That When
the Consumer Is Not Directly
Observing This Product, It May Cease
to Exist or Will Exist Only in a Vague
and Undetermined State.
COMPONENT EQUIVALENCY
NOTICE: The Subatomic Particles
(Electrons, Protons, etc..) Comprising
This Product Are Exactly the Same in
Every Measurable Respect as Those
Used in the Products of Other
Manufacturers, and No Claim to the
Contrary May Legitimately Be
Expressed or Implied.
HEALTH WARNING: Care Should Be
Taken When Lifting This Product,
Since Its Mass, and Thus Its Weight, Is
Dependent on Its Velocity Relative to
the User.
IMPORTANT NOTICE TO PURCHASERS: The Entire Physical Universe, Including
This Product, May One Day Collapse Back into an Infinitesimally Small
Space. Should Another Universe Subsequently Reemerge, the Existence of
This Product in That Universe Cannot Be Guaranteed
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
And on a more thoughtfull note, studies have shown that americans are far
more "risk averse" than most other cultures. This is because we have more
wealth to dedicate to risk abatement and more lawyers to support per
capita than almost anywhere else on the face of the globe. As the economic
power of this country becomes constrained we will have to look more
closely at how we allocate the dollars we have for risk reduction.
Secondly, the media in this country plays to our societies morbid fear of
risk which only exacerbates it. Take elevators for example, said to be the
safest form of transportation per passenger mile yet developed. Yet I am
constantly supprised at the fear many people have of them because many a
movie character has met his end trapped in a plumiting elevator.
Accept it, people often don't even LIKE being rational.....it's no fun!
-Chuck Cooper-