A few weeks ago, I somewhat nervously decided to go on a business trip to New York.
Despite being vaxxed to the max, I figured that with the six flights required for the round-trip journey, the numerous meetings I’d be taking, the subway rides and socialising, I’d finally end up getting Covid.
But I went anyway. I masked up as much as I could, including during a sold-out concert by
The Who at Madison Square Garden. I had a blast in the US and came home free of the virus.
We weigh up these sorts of risks every day. Our choices are a trade-off between one potential outcome and another. It’s a highly subjective process influenced by a range of factors, including the credibility of sources dispensing advice about risk.
So it was really refreshing last week to hear a bureaucrat from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) advising us to get some perspective on the risk posed by the country’s 4200 earthquake-prone buildings.
MBIE building performance manager Dave Gittings pointed out that the “annual fatality risk” of a building with a new building standard (NBS) rating of 34% or less is one in 40,000 – 100,000.
In comparison, Gittings pointed out, the risk of dying while flying on an aeroplane is one in 700,000, while the risk of driving a car carries a fatality risk of one in 20,000.
In the scheme of things, sitting behind a desk in an earthquake-prone building in central Wellington is far less likely to get you killed than your daily commute.
MBIE has updated its seismic risk guidance on earthquake-prone buildings, advising that they are not “imminently dangerous” and can stay occupied while building owners work towards remediating them.
This is an overdue and much-needed point of clarification.
There has been far too much angst in Wellington among tenants, employees and owners over whether people should even still be in buildings that require remediation. It has dented the psyche of the city.
I know people who won’t live in an apartment in central Wellington, and some who have even left the city entirely over fears about earthquake risk.
Living in a 12th floor apartment building myself, I don’t worry about it. Heart disease, paddleboarding, or being hit by a bus on Manners St, are all more likely to do me in than an earthquake.
I’m not reckless about it.
The building has a very good NBS rating, is insured and as a member of the governance board, I share responsibility for its maintenance.
We know what to do in an emergency. Wellingtonians should value and enjoy those buildings that do need strengthening, while they are being upgraded.
Natural hazards are an ever-present threat we need to prepare for, and risk assessments change over time.
But if we took into account the relative risk of our day-to-day actions, we’d probably make better decisions and worry less in the process.
Originally published on Stuff.co.nz.
Photo credit: Jose Vasquez, Unsplash
PETER GRIFFIN 