Just 52% of respondents to a new survey of UK households believed that that they understand potential hazards that they faced and a further 21% said that they were not aware of the risks at all.
Those are some of the findings of a new Technical Report, from Bournemouth University’s Disaster Management Centre and the Business School, in collaboration with Safehouse Pro Ltd, a start-up company aiming to improve resilience amongst UK citizens.
Accidents at home (35%) was top of the list of hazards that UK households perceived as most likely to affect them.
On the other hand, the impacts of war and conflict (5%) and terrorism (4%) were the lowest, highlighting a disconnect between the priorities of UK households and the “whole of society approach” to dealing with global threats that successive UK governments have aimed for.
“There is clearly a need to more fully address the awareness, preparedness and willingness of UK households to engage in resilience,” said Lee Miles, Professor of Disaster Management at Bournemouth University who co-authored the report.
“A positive finding was that 81% of respondents stated that they are willing to improve their preparedness to deal with hazards and handle future emergencies affecting their home, so UK households want to do more! There is a growing demand for accessible information, education and initiatives that can upskill UK households,” he added.
The Technical Report, an outcome of the Empowering Preparedness in Everyday Household Resilience (EM-PREPARE) project, presents findings from a national survey of 931 people in the UK. It makes a series of recommendations for policy-makers to equip households and communities with the tools and knowledge they need in an increasingly uncertain world - marked by everyday hazards, climate change, and emerging threats such as global conflict and terrorism.
EM-PREPARE has been funded by Research England’s Regional Innovation Fund (RIF) and Innovate-UK.
The report was launched on Friday 20th June at an event at the University, attended by over 90 representatives from the UK Cabinet Office, Ministry of Defence, UK Resilience Academy, local authorities and local resilience forums and other specialists and advocates in crisis resilience.
Professor Miles launching the EM-PREPARE Technical ReportSpeaking at the launch event, Professor Miles, who is also Director of the EM-PREPARE Project, said:
“The publication of the Technical Report is especially timely after the UK government launched its new National Security Strategy 2025 this week where it reaffirmed commitments to a ‘whole of society’ approach to national resilience. The new Strategy highlights the importance of engaging with the UK public in dealing with emerging threats and hazards to build resilience and preparedness across the country.”
“More targeted risk communication to the UK public as well as providing new information and education opportunities for householders to upskill their resilience will be key.”
The launch event included speeches by Bruce Mann, a former Head of Civil Contingencies in the UK Cabinet Office and another by Lord Toby Harris, Chair of the National Preparedness Commission. Both speakers praised the Technical Report for providing a rigorous set of findings and recommendations that can inform future governmental thinking when seeking to improve risk communication on ‘whole of society’ resilience.
BU-EM PREPARE Team“This report reflects years of research and collaboration with Bournemouth University Disaster Management Centre,” says Martin Travers, Co-Director of Safehouse Pro® Ltd. “It’s a timely and essential step toward helping UK households become more proactive and informed in the face of today’s challenges. The Technical Report introduces scalable, practical solutions for improving the resilience of UK households at a time when resilience is more crucial than ever.”
As Charlie Jenkins, Co-Director of Safehouse Pro® Ltd concluded: “Feedback has already indicated that the Technical Report will be highly impactful in shaping the actions of wider stakeholders with its clear recommendations for the future and provides clear recommendations for the company to consider. An exciting future lies ahead.”
The full Techinical Report can be read here.
