Presentation Abstract: Aamir Fazil
Health Canada
The creation of an Internet community for risk assessment purposes should focus on three key areas. These areas can be grouped into inputs, training, and outputs.
The input area is vital, since it is crucial to facilitate the creation of high quality and reproducible risk assessments. Inputs include the data and information upon which the model is based. It is important to note that raw data are preferred over summary statistics when defining inputs in a risk assessment model. Raw data contain more information and are better for the identification of trends.They are also unbiased by interpretation. Also, it is imperative to consider the methods used to collect the data, as some methods may be superior to others. In addition, it is essential to consider data relevancy in evaluating input data, as particular data may not be relevant to the risk assessment being performed.
The second focus point for creating a food safety risk analysis community on the Internet is training. Training is necessary to promote risk assessments and to educate the stakeholders and risk assessors on the state of the art technologies that are currently available to them. Instruction can include information regarding risk assessment methodologies, online presentations, and a database of techniques, models, approaches and recommendations.
Outputs are the third area of focus and represent the dissemination of the information to the community.It is essential that the interactive features of the Internet be used in order to promote the transparency of assessments and assist in communicating results and approaches that are difficult to do in the current paper report format. To date, within the microbial risk assessment community, the Internet is being used as a vehicle to disseminate the outputs of risk assessments in a convenient easily accessible manner, whereby outputs very similar to paper reports are posted and downloaded. This approach is insufficient and needs to be greatly expanded. The most obvious use of the web in presenting outputs of risk assessments is through the layered approach that is the cornerstone of the web itself. This allows greater and greater detail to be presented to the user that requests it while maintaining simplicity for others. Other approaches that could be employed involve the use of software (one example is Analytica from Lumina Decision Systems) that incorporate the model and the documentation into one package that facilitates a more interactive experience when evaluating or reviewing the model and documentation. The output area requires the development of new and imaginative techniques that allow the strengths of the web to be fully exploited in the presentation of results.
