Item: Risk-oriented vs hazard-oriented decision-making for opening and closing of traffic routes
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Title: Risk-oriented vs hazard-oriented decision-making for opening and closing of traffic routes
Proceedings: International Snow Science Workshop Proceedings 2018, Innsbruck, Austria
Authors:
- Michael Bründl [ WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Davos Dorf, Switzerland ]
- Lukas Stoffel [ WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Davos Dorf, Switzerland ]
- Walter Steinkogler [ Wyssen Avalanche Control, Reichenbach, Switzerland ]
Date: 2018-10-07
Abstract: People expect to be safe when driving on roads. During winter, local avalanche services in charge for infrastructure safety continuously assess the hazard situation along traffic routes. Based on meteorological data, national or regional avalanche forecasts and their own interpretation of the specific avalanche situation, they either decide to keep traffic routes open or to close them when an avalanche might hit the road. Even more difficult can be the decision to re-open e.g. a road section. Today, in Switzerland these decisions are hazard-oriented, which means that actions are taken when the hazard is considered too high. In many alpine countries, decisions on the realization of permanent protection measures such as avalanche defense structures are based on risk assessments. In structured working steps supported by software tools, the risk to people and property without and with planned measures are compared and related to the cost of measures. The resulting cost-benefit-ratio and the level of individual risk are taken as decision-criteria among others such as social acceptance and environmental sustainability. Therefore, it is obvious that decisions of safety services for infrastructure safety could also base on risk criteria rather than on hazard criteria in future. Based on procedures developed for risk-oriented planning of mitigation measures we present a method for the estimation of individual risk of people along roads. We compare the risk with accepted risk thresholds for individual risk and discuss legal limitations of risk-oriented decision-making of avalanche safety services in Switzerland. We conclude that risk-oriented decisions encounter difficulties when the legal system is not risk-oriented.
Language of Article: English
Presenters:
Keywords: avalanche hazard and risk assessment, duty of care, individual risk, decision making, safety services.
Page Number(s): 223-226
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Digital Abstract Not Available
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