AC SAFETY CULTURE “ROUTE SAFETY”

1. AC SAFETY CULTURE “ROUTE SAFETY”

2. DONOVAN’S DEMISE PHOTO’S ALLEY GREG’S GRAVITY RICH’S HANG FIETON’S FALLOUT

3. ACCIDENT — an undesired event or sequence of events causing injury, ill-health or property damage. NEAR MISS — near misses describe incidents where, given a slight shift in time or distance, injury, ill-health or damage easily could have occurred.

4. “SAFETY CULTURE” THE WAY SAFETY AND SAFETY TRAINING ARE MANAGED. “THE WAY IT IS DONE AROUND HERE”

5. KEEP IN MIND: “TO SOME DEGREE HUMAN ERROR IS INEVITABLE IN AVALANCHE WORK OR ANY OTHER COMPLEX SITUATIONS.”

6. KNOWLEDGE NEEDED FOR ROUTE SAFETY *SNOW & AVALANCHE KNOWLEDGE *ROUTE KNOWLEDGE *SKI CUT KNOWLEDGE *EXPLOSIVE KNOWLEDGE *RESCUE KNOWLEDGE

7. REPEATED MISTAKES BY AVALANCHE PROFESSIONALS (Doug Richmond) 5 INTER-RELATED CATAGORIES *TERRAIN EVALUATION *SNOWPACK EVALUATION *CONTOL PRACTICES *PARTNER DYNAMICS *ORGANIZATION

8. TERRAIN EVALUATION *MISJUDGMENT OF AVALANCHE POTENTIAL *SKI CUT SUITABILITY *INHERENTLY PROBLEMATIC TERRAIN

9. SNOW PACK EVALUATION *DEEP LEVEL INSTABILITIES *SKI CUT SUITABILITY *EXTREME EVENTS *POST CONTROL CHANGES *ISOTHERMAL EVALUATIONS

10. CONTROL PRACTICES *BOMBING TECHNIQUES *OVERDEPENDENCE ON SKI CUTTING *HARD SLAB CONTROL

11. SKI CUTTING MISTAKES *WRONG TERRAIN *WRONG SNOW *WRONG TECHNIQUE *PERCEIVED NECESSITY

12. PARTNER DYNAMICS *ABANDON “SAFE RITUAL TRAVEL” *COMMUNICATION *COORDINATION WITH TEAMS *VISITORS *LARGE NUMBERS

13. ORGANIZATIONAL MISTAKES *OVERALL TIME FOR AVALANCHE *BOMB BUDGET *UNSAFE CONTROL ROUTES *HIGH TURNOVER *OVER-STRUCTURED AC PLAN *PERFORM UNDER SIEGE

14. PROFESSIONAL AVALANCHE NEAR MISSES (RON SIMENHOIS & SCOTTY SAVAGE) 4 CONTRIBUTING FACTORS *DISTRACTIONS *COMMUNICATION FAILURE *MOTIVATED REASONING *REPEAT INCIDENTS

15. DECISION MAKING *LESS EXPERIENCE – HEURISTICS, RULES OF THUMB *EXPERIENCED – “RPD” RECOGNITION PRIMAL DECISIONS, GUT FEELING *TWEENERS – LITTLE OF BOTH, BUT TEND TO THINK THEY KNOW MORE THAN THEY DO

16. *NEED HEALTHY DISCUSSIONS, WHERE THERE IS NO FEAR OF REPRISAL *MISTAKES ARE BUILDING BLOCKS FOR GOOD DECISION MAKING *SEE IT, SAY IT, FIX IT

34. SAFETY

37. BE SAFE OUT THERE

38. *PROPER GEAR AND SKILL TO USE IT *KNOW CURRENT WEATHER & SNOWPACK DATA *VISUAL AND VERBAL CONTACT WITH PARTNER *KNOWLEDGE & COMMUNICATION WITH OTHER TEAMS *SAFE EXPLOSIVE HANDELING *SAFE ZONES *HAVE PACK CLOSED AND READY *NEVER BECOME COMPLACENT BASED ON JOSH’S LIST

39. **NO LIGHT POLICY** *PULL FUSE TRAIN AND PUT IN MEMORABLE PLACE WITH CAP DOWN AND MOVE AWAY, NOT TO BE APPROACHED WITH IN THE NEXT FIFTEEN MINUTES. **DUD POLICY** *MAKE NOTE OF WHERE DUD IS LOCATED *CONTROL SLOPE AS NEEDED *BEFORE RETRIEVAL, WAIT AT LEAST 15 MINUTES OR IF EMMITTING SMOKE, FOR AT LEAST ONE HOUR. *DISARM BY PULLING THE FUSE TRAIN (RETURN FUSE TRAIN TO FORECASTER FOR INSPECTION) *DOCUMENT IF DUD CAN’T BE FOUND

40. ALWAYS!!! *COMMUNICATE, DON’T ASSUME *KNOW POTENTIAL HAZARD *HAVE PROPER EQUIPMENT *TEST TRANSCEIVER BEFORE LEAVING BASE AREA *HAVE VISUAL & VERBAL COMMUNICATION *WORK FROM SAFE ZONE *SPOT EACH OTHER W/ MOVEMENT & EXPLOSIVES *CHECK TO SEE IF SLIDE PATH CLEAR *ASSESS WHERE PATH IS LOADED & PLACEMENT NEEDED *CLIP 1” OFF OF FUSE *MAKE SURE IG IS PROPERLY SEATED *INFORM PARTNER “IG ON” *AGAIN, CHECK FOR CLEAR SLIDE PATH *MAKE SURE FUSE IS LIT *REDUCE EXPOSURE TO BLAST & FUMES *MOVE SAFELY & SPOT EACH OTHER WHILE SKI CUTTING *ASSESS & RE-EVALUATE HAZARD CONDITIONS *COMMUNICATE WITH OTHER ROUTES, IF NEEDED *BE AWARE OF TIME *GET MORE EXPLOSIVES, IF NEEDED *INFORM WHEN DONE OR DELAYED