We are proud to publish Holistic Geoethical Slopes’ Portfolio Risk Assessment in Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 508. We want to personally thank Giuseppe Di Capua of IAPG for inviting us. Here is a summary of what we discuss in our paper Landslides of natural and man-made slopes, including dykes and dams represent hazardous geomorphological processes that generate highly variable risks. To optimize a slope mitigation approach, one has to combine the probability of failure and the cost of consequences…
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A tale of hazards, risks and resilience came to my mind while in Venice, end of October. I lived though an extraordinary “acqua alta” (high tide) which submerged approximately 70% of the city and was reportedly the fifth event of such magnitude in 924 years. Aqua alta is a complex event combining high tide and wind driven surge in the Venetian Laguna: South winds hinder the tide outflow and “push” in the Laguna open sea water. Aqua alta is not…
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Natural and man-made slopes portfolio require Landslides risk assessment in order to ensure sustainable management. Slopes present hazardous geo-morphological processes such as landslides which can occur discretely (some deformation, cracking followed by a large movement) or “continuously” (deformations ranging between a few millimeters and several centimeters per years with occasional accelerations followed by a return to “average velocity”). Shall we manage hazards or risks? Any slope, anywhere in the world, has a probability of occurrence (of “first” failure). Continuously sliding…
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Vulnerable territories, well known hazards are the ingredients of events such as Harvey and Irma. High density industrial operations, hazmat, toxic compounds storage facilities are obvious boosters to the magnitude and duration of resulting consequences. Vulnerable territories, well known hazards Vulnerable territories, well known hazards are due to a combination of: Malicious climate. Unforgiving flat topography. Houston is reportedly locally sinking by 2.2 inches per year due to pumping of oil, water and other factors. Facilities handling or storing hazardous…
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What M. Planck, G.B. Shaw and A. Rand have to do with Risk Management? Max Planck wrote: “A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.” At Riskope belong to those who argue that the transition from faith and luck, which were two pillars, fortunately not the only ones, of planning/managing the future of…
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Back in 1999, we were giving on a regular basis a course at UBC (Continuing Education, University of British Columbia). It was entitled “Design of Risk Management Systems”. Later, in the book entitled Improving Sustainability through Reasonable Risk and Crisis Management ( A guide to Making Better Decisions ISBN 978-0-9784462-0-8) we promoted a strong linkage between Risk Management and Crisis Management. We also stresse the need for robust, science based, risk ranking methodologies. Today we will look at ISO 31000 IEC,…
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Hazards, Safety and Security Management of Mining (and other Natural Resources) Access Roads are becoming very important issues. Indeed, off-site road transportation (access roads) to remote mining (coal copper, zinc, and other natural resources) operations (public, private or semi-private) poses a series of unique challenges to people in charge of their Safety, Security and Hazard Management. This course is based on real-life cases This course draws information from a number of real-life studies performed on this type of road by the…
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