Changing Risk Perception of People: a Key for Enhancing Building Code Compliance

Abstract eng:
Understanding Risk Perception of communities is an important aspect for developing risk reduction concepts and programs. This helps authorities, communities and individuals to comprehend the needs, and to plan and undertake actions to manage risks. In a country like Nepal which faces high seismic hazard due to its geologic condition, and where the risk is further aggravated by the large stock of weak buildings, lack of preparedness and awareness among the people and institutions, enhancing the risk perception of the people should be considered as a crucial aspect in creating demand for risk reduction and thus by influencing the risk reduction process. Out of several actions for risk reduction, safer building construction through the building code compliance is taken as a top most factor. To bring change in the level of risk perception of the people, it is necessary to gauge the residents’ current perception of risk, their level of preparedness and the earthquake risk reduction activities they are implementing if any. The earthquake risk perception of population is defined in terms of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) on earthquake risk and reduction measures. To understand the influence of change in risk perception to the change in building code compliance, a study was conducted in 23 municipalities of Nepal under Building Code Implementation Program in the municipalities of Nepal (BCIPN) being implemented by NSET. The survey was conducted among 40,000 respondents in the different wards of the municipalities. This paper examines the current level of risk perception by measuring knowledge on earthquake risk, their attitude towards existing risk and their behavior for risk reduction. The study used simple random sampling based on Stratified Systematic Area Sampling procedures. Several questions related to knowledge, attitude and practice were included for the survey on KAP and the questions were grouped accordingly. The questions were assigned certain weightage and scores obtained was calculated. The KAP assessment of the municipalities reflected that the knowledge level of the residents is fairly good (scored 47 out of 100) in addition their attitude towards earthquake risk reduction is also very positive (scored 73 out of 100) but still there seems to be a gap between transforming these knowledge and attitude into real actions/ practice (scored 20 out of 100). Level of risk perception was compared with the level of building code compliance. Intervention such as orientation on earthquake risk reduction, training programs, campaigns were made to enhance the level of risk perception. Later, the level of risk perception together with the level of building code compliance were measured. It has been observed that level of building code compliance increased significantly as the level of risk perception enhanced. The study also shows that there has been some initiatives and knowledge on earthquake risk reduction including the building code implementation in the municipalities complimented by the positive attitude of the people towards it, the need now is to widen the knowledge coverage and to translate raised awareness into actions of riskreduction.

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