Perceived risk and behavioural feedback: Strategies for reducing accidents and increasing efficiency

There is overwhelming evidence that people will adapt to an increase in perceived risk by taking more care, and to a reduction in perceived risk by taking less care (behavioural feedback). This can reduce the effects of some safety measures and even, in some cases, produce the opposite effect to that which was intended or expected. Any safety programme should take account of this by seeking to minimize any change in perceived risk while maximizing the change in objective risk. It is, for example, probably counterproductive to 'oversell' the potential benefits of any safety measure.