The Terms Hazard, Risk and Danger as They Are Used in Engineering Design and the Courtroom

Abstract

Often, when we use terms in different situations we change their meanings, sometimes inadvertently, sometimes deliberately and, in most cases, without significant impact. However, the transfer of terms from the lay world, where their meanings are understood with benign ambiguity, to the more demanding worlds of engineering and the courts of law can lead to needless misunderstandings and failures in communication. This can be especially true in the contentious milieu of a trial setting where three distinct cultures converge