A Study of Differences in the Perceived Risk of Attaining a Residential Fire Injury

Abstract

Certain groups (e.g., those of higher age, lower educational attainment, lower income, living alone, immigrants, etc.) have a greater risk of residential fire mortality. Previous research has also shown that individuals belonging to high-risk groups have generally lower levels of fire protection, and it has been suggested that this is due to a lower risk perception in this group. As such, this study investigates how the perceived risk of being injured in a residential fire varies in the Swedish population. The results show that risk perception varies in the Swedish population depending upon sociodemographic factors. When the different sociodemographic factors are controlled against each other, women, individuals with a low educational level, individuals living in rural communities and individuals born outside of the Nordic countries consistently experience their risk to be higher. With the exception of women, the results show that high-risk individuals have a high risk perception. These results are important as they indicate that it is not a lack of risk awareness that is the reason why high-risk groups are less inclined to implement fire safety practices.