Gender differences in risk management of contaminated land at a Swedish authority

Abstract

Any risk analysis process leading to the remediation of contaminated land will be affected by individual judgements. Many contaminated land risk assessments in Sweden are reviewed by the County Administrative Board (CAB), a regional government authority. The cost for risk assessments and eventually remediation is funded by whichever operator is legally responsible; however, when the responsible party is unknown, the cost can be met by government grants. A questionnaire was sent to all employees working with contaminated land at each of Sweden’s CABs to investigate whether gender, age and work experience, as well as funding source, affect the reviewing of risk assessments, and the employees’ perception of knowledge gained from the Sustainable Remediation (Hållbar Sanering) research programme. It was found that gender was the most significant factor, but also age and experience of the employees influenced the respondent’s answers. The reviews of risk assessments also varied depending on funding source.

Keywords:

• risk assessment
• risk management
• contaminated land
• gender
• Sustainable Remediation

Acknowledgements

The participation of employees at the County Administrative Boards (CAB) is greatly appreciated; we are particularly grateful to the employees of the CAB in Kalmar for their advice. We also thank Marianne Henningsson, Diz Manning, Petra Nordqvist and an anonymous reviewer for valuable comments on the manuscript.