Managing Risks in a Restorative Environment

The countryside is simultaneously a working environment and a place with recreational and restorative benefits. This poses a range of dilemmas for those responsible for managing potential risks both to those that work and those that visit. One key dilemma relating to visitors in particular concerns the requirement to warn and to encourage appropriate behaviour, without causing alarm. The present research explored the perception and management of hazards in the countryside from the perspective of forest managers who have responsibility for staff and public safety. Individual telephone interviews with 17 forest managers from across the UK explored their perception of forest hazards and risk, and their experience of communicating these to staff and the public. The analysis was informed by thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) and discursive psychology (Edwards & Potter, 1992) as we were interested in the construction of ‘forest hazards and risks’ in talk and in strategies of justification and attribution. Participants distinguished between different categories of hazard, such as natural vs. man-made. Both patterns of responsibility for risk management and constructions of likely responsiveness to risk communication varied between staff and the public. Public facing risk communications strategies were underpinned by a balancing act between managing risks and informing the public without causing unnecessary alarm