'When you smell smoke…': 'Risk factors' and fire safety in action

Abstract

A neglected way of talking about risk is to focus on one of its correlates, 'safety'. This study examines how fire-safety knowledge is put into action. We are concerned with how knowledge of household fire 'risk factors' may, or may not, gain a concrete existence in the interactions between firefighters and householders. Using a 'translation' model loosely derived from Actor-Network-Theory, we show the complexity of the social interactions that constitute safety in action. The aim is not to critique the 'risk factors' approach and its epidemiological underpinnings; nevertheless, the implication is that proponents of the 'risk factors' approach need to understand the interactions where risk and safety are socially embedded, for this is where they gain their life.

Keywords:

• Risk
• Fire Safety
• Knowledge Translation