Avalanchenearmiss.org is a place for avalanche workers to tell their stories and share their experiences.
Avalanche accidents are often well documented by public sector investigators and published in volumes like The Snowy Torrents or Avalanche Accidents in Canada. The lessons learned from these reports are invaluable. Working with avalanches requires a wealth of experience, and a seasoned avalanche worker’s most valuable experiences often come from events that don’t end in injury or death – from near misses.
This project is patterned after a similar effort in the Firefighter and Law Enforcement communities. Nationalnearmiss.org has run successful near miss data collection and dissemination efforts in these communities for many years. Avalanchenearmiss.org is based on their work and built with their guidance. The database and submission form are designed to collect enough information to help others understand the near miss, help institutions and researchers look for trends, and make it as easy as possible for people to submit a report. You can learn more about near miss reporting from the National Safety Council.
Avalanchenearmiss.org collects information on workplace near misses and accidents involving avalanche workers. Each report is reviewed by a volunteer moderator. The moderator may contact the reporting party to clarify details of the near miss. The moderator will remove any information that identifies the people, organization, or location involved in the incident. The moderator may add comments to highlight or clarify aspects of the event. The reporter’s contact information is deleted when the moderator approves the report, and the record is stored in the database. Reviewed reports are available in the View Reports section.
Avalanchenearmiss.org is a project of Avalanche Worker Safety, a not-for-profit group that seeks to increase the level of safety in snow and avalanche operations by forming partnerships and providing pathways to share information.
Our Partners:
