Home | Databases | WorldLII | Search | Feedback Edited Legal Collections Data

Epprecht, Thomas K. --- "Producing Safety or Managing Risks? How Regulatory Paradigms Affect Insurability" [2010] ELECD 717; in Hodge, A. Graeme; Bowman, M. Diana; Maynard, D. Andrew (eds), "International Handbook on Regulating Nanotechnologies" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: International Handbook on Regulating Nanotechnologies

Editor(s): Hodge, A. Graeme; Bowman, M. Diana; Maynard, D. Andrew

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781848446731

Section: Chapter 9

Section Title: Producing Safety or Managing Risks? How Regulatory Paradigms Affect Insurability

Author(s): Epprecht, Thomas K.

Number of pages: 12

Extract:

9 Producing safety or managing risks?
How regulatory paradigms affect
insurability
Thomas K. Epprecht1


The possibilities ­ and the inherent risks ­ associated with nanotechnol-
ogy are only just beginning to unfold. The insurance industry, an enabler
of risk taking, focuses on understanding these risks in order to help its
business partners to mitigate the financial consequences of possible losses.
Nanotechnology offers immense innovation potential across many disci-
plines. Further, as with acceleration and miniaturization in information
technology, technological convergence in the nano-sphere will increasingly
change the lives of many on a daily basis.
Regulation provides the framework for both freedom and responsi-
ble action. It is there to facilitate living together rather than to limit the
horizon of potential prospects. A technological leap, as promised by nano-
technology, notably accentuates the question of balance and therefore
deserves particular attention. Against this background we address here the
purpose of regulation, the influence that regulatory regimes and societal
environments can have on insurability, the role of the insurance industry
in society and how the availability or denial of insurance cover impacts on
regulation.


9.1 INTRODUCTION: THE PURPOSE OF
REGULATION

Nanotechnology, as does every new technology, solves existing problems
as well as creating new ones. Therefore, scientific, economic and regula-
tory bodies invest an enormous amount of energy into risk management
and loss prevention to avoid or minimize the impact of potential problems
before they emerge. Safety is an indispensable part of any technology and
we can no longer imagine making use ...