2016 – When is a Hazard not a Hazard? A Review of Fatality Factors for Dambreak Consequence Assessments.

Peter Woodman, Andrew Northfield, Hench Wang

Current empirical approaches assume different fatality factors for the ‘fail’ and ‘no fail’ scenarios even when the same hazard is experienced by a property. This approach can lead to some inconsistencies particularly for small dams and retarding basins. This paper looks at the base data behind the current fatality factors and explores possible alternatives to the current approach. The paper will rely on a number of examples from a recent investigation undertaken by GHD for Melbourne Water on a number of their retarding basins.