@article {bnh-7811, title = {Driving into floodwater: using data from emergency responders to inform workplace safety policy and practice}, journal = {Australian Journal of Emergency Management}, volume = {35}, year = {2020}, month = {10/2020}, pages = {26-34}, abstract = {

Since 2001, approximately 45 per cent of all flood fatalities in Australia are attributed to people entering floodwater in motor vehicles. This behaviour is considered high-risk and avoidable. However, for emergency services personnel performing their duties, there may be additional pressure to take on such risks. In Victoria, the Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES) is the control agency for floods and storms and its personnel encounter floodwater frequently. At an organisational level, good workplace health and safety practices are fundamental and duty of care is of paramount importance. VICSES personnel are discouraged from driving through floodwater; an exception being when responding to life-threatening situations. Doing so exposes staff to personal harm and driving through floodwater in work vehicles can result in vehicle and equipment damage. There is also the potential for VICSES reputation damage if people observe VICSES personnel driving into floodwaters and not heeding safety advice to {\textquoteright}never drive (walk, or ride) through floodwater{\textquoteright}. This raises public safety concerns if people take similar risks. This paper presents findings from a larger study into the circumstances in which SES personnel drive through floodwater in SES or private vehicles. Outcomes from this research will inform policy, practice and training to improve safety, keep staff and equipment safe and model good practice in communities.

}, keywords = {data, Driving, emergency responders, floodwater, Policy, practice, workplace safety}, url = {https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/resources/ajem-october-2020-driving-into-floodwater-using-data-from-emergency-responders-to-inform-workplace-safety-policy-and-practice/}, author = {Mel Taylor and Tim Wiebusch and Benjamin Beccari and Katharine Haynes and Mozumdar Arifa Ahmed and Matalena Tofa} } @article {bnh-6697, title = {Duty or safety? Exploring emergency service personnel{\textquoteright}s perceptions of risk and decision-making when driving through floodwater}, journal = {Progress in Disaster Science}, volume = {5}, year = {2020}, month = {01/2020}, abstract = {

Vehicle-related flood fatalities and rescues due to driving through floodwater are a significant emergency management issue for emergency services. To reduce fatalities, injuries, and costs associated with this risky driving behaviour it is essential to develop strategies to stop or reduce the incidence of people driving through floodwater. In Australia, people are told not to enter floodwater {\textendash} on foot or in vehicles {\textendash} with the phrase {\textquoteleft}If it{\textquoteright}s flooded, forget it{\textquoteright} widely used in official messaging. As first responders responsible for floods, storms and tsunamis, Australian State Emergency Service (SES) personnel are working in flood conditions regularly and are considered an occupationally {\textquoteleft}at-risk{\textquoteright} group for driving through floodwater. Although SES agencies across states and territories in Australia are independently led, they typically promote policies of not entering floodwater to their personnel. Such policies are important for meeting duty of care obligations to employees, for protection of assets (vehicles and equipment), and for upholding organisational reputation (leading by example). This study was undertaken to explore the behaviour of driving through floodwater by SES personnel. The study explored the characteristics of those who have and have not driven through floodwater, and then used detailed situations in which SES personnel entered floodwater in vehicles to analyse their perception of risks, the conditions and contexts in which they entered floodwater, and to identify what influenced their decision to enter.

Following an earlier systematic literature review, a detailed online questionnaire was developed and administered to SES personnel from a single agency. Data from 670 respondents indicated that 54.8\% had driven through floodwater in the previous two years, and a number of differences in the profile of those who had/had not driven through floodwater were identified. Those more likely to have driven through floodwater included males, volunteer personnel with longer lengths of service, those doing more driving hours per week, those deployed to work in flood conditions, and those with current flood rescue qualifications. The location type, water depth, and water velocity were conditions that contributed more to perception of risk at the time personnel drove through the floodwater. Detailed information about an experience of entering floodwater was obtained from 201 respondents who had driven through floodwater in SES vehicles, and six factors relating to the decision to drive through floodwater were extracted. {\textquoteleft}Organisational training and safety{\textquoteright}, {\textquoteleft}External locus of control{\textquoteright} and {\textquoteleft}Absence of risk signals{\textquoteright} were identified as having the greatest influence on risk perception leading to decisions to drive through floodwater. The findings of the study have a number of practical implications for the improvement of occupational safety management; such as upgrading risk assessments strategies, reviewing workplace health and safety policies, enhancing training, increasing skills and knowledge of emergency services personnel about floodwater hazard situations, and improving internal flood risk communication.

}, keywords = {Decision making, Driving, emergency services, floodwater, Occupational safety, Risk perception}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pdisas.2020.100068}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590061720300053?via\%3Dihub}, author = {Mozumdar Arifa Ahmed and Katharine Haynes and Matalena Tofa and Gemma Hope and Mel Taylor} } @article {bnh-7473, title = {Vehicle-related flood fatalities in Australia, 2001{\textendash}2017}, journal = {Journal of Flood Risk Management}, volume = {13}, year = {2020}, month = {04/2020}, abstract = {

This study analyses the circumstances of vehicle-related flood fatalities between 2001 and 2017, in Australia. The research identified 96 deaths from 74 incidents during this period. The aim of this analysis is to understand the demographic, spatial and temporal patterns, and the situational conditions in which those (n\ = 96) deaths have occurred. This is important for informing efficient and strategic risk reduction strategies to reduce vehicle related deaths and injuries in floodwater. Data were accessed from the Australian National Coronial Information System (NCIS), which includes witness and police statements, forensic documents, and detailed coronial findings. Analysis was conducted in two phases. In phase one, data were coded and categorised according to a range of factors previously identified as significant in vehicle-related flood fatalities internationally. In phase two, a detailed analysis was conducted on 11 selected incidents for which there were complete sets of records. This detailed analysis provides insight into the multifaceted nature of fatal vehicle-related flood fatality incidents. The overall results reveal that, for drivers, middle-aged and elderly males are over-represented in the fatality statistics. As passengers, young women and children are vulnerable. The study also identified deep floodwater with high flow contributes more to vehicle immersion, and the presence of alcohol and drugs, leading to impaired responses, reduces the chance of survival for the vehicle occupants.

}, keywords = {driver, drowning fatalities, Flood, natural hazard, passenger vehicles}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1111/jfr3.12616}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jfr3.12616}, author = {Mozumdar Arifa Ahmed and Katharine Haynes and Mel Taylor} } @article {bnh-5042, title = {Driving into floodwater: A systematic review of risks, behaviour and mitigation}, journal = {International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction}, volume = {31}, year = {2018}, month = {10/2018}, pages = {10}, chapter = {953}, abstract = {

This systematic review summarises the findings of research focused on the risks associated with driving into floodwater. The review aims to compare and document the magnitude of the problem internationally; identifying the risk factors; exploring the application of theories and presence of theoretical models to explain people{\textquoteright}s risky behaviour; and documenting the intervention strategies utilised or proposed. Literature were searched from a number of databases (e.g. PsycInfo, ScienceDirect, Informit) for publication dates to 31 August 2017, then assessed based on their titles, abstracts and full texts and finally 24 articles were selected. This review compares flood fatality data from four countries (Australia, United States, Greece, and Sweden), groups identified risk factors from these selected studies into seven categories, and proposes a holistic integrated intervention model. The results of the review indicate that studies were predominantly conducted in Australia (10 studies) and USA (7 studies). People{\textquoteright}s decisions to drive into, or turn back from, floodwater are identified as a consequence of both their risk perception and the combined impact of all other factors (e.g. individual, social, environmental etc.) that interdependently contribute to shape decision-making, The theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was the only theory that has been utilised within the literature to understand drivers{\textquoteright} willingness to take risks. Improving people{\textquoteright}s decision-making through educational initiatives, advanced structural mechanisms, regulating existing edicts, and regularly evaluating the effectiveness of current strategies are identified as the best approaches to addressing the challenges in this area. Findings suggest that future studies require data and analysis from a larger range of countries, more comparative analyses within and between countries, an exploration of the relationship between risk factors and their relative level of influence and a greater application of behavioural and decision making theories.

}, keywords = {Behavioural theories, Driving, Drowning, Fatalities, Flood, Risk factors, Risk mitigation measures, Risk perception, Vehicles}, doi = {10.1016/j.ijdrr.2018.07.007}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212420918300323}, author = {Mel Taylor and Katharine Haynes and Mozumdar Arifa Ahmed} }