Carlyn Muir

Physical bushfire preparation over time in Victoria, Australia

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the level of physical preparation for bushfire among Victorian residents in established high risk bushfire locations, and to assess whether these levels of preparation changed over time. Design/methodology/approach Data were analysed from a telephone survey among Victorian residents (n=614-629) living in high risk bushfire locations over a three-year period (2012-2014). The survey measured residents’ bushfire awareness, knowledge, planning, preparation and engagement with bushfire services. This paper focusses on the extent to which respondents undertook physical preparatory bushfire activities over the three-year period using: first, principal components analysis to generate a single preparation variable by identifying a smaller number of uncorrelated variables (or principal components) from a larger set of data, second, analysis of variance to assess differences in preparation scores between years, and third, Tukey’s honest significant difference test to confirm where the differences occurred between groups. Findings Results indicated only moderate levels of physical preparation for bushfires amongst respondents. The activities that respondents rated the lowest were: “having protective covers for windows” and “having firefighting equipment to protect the house”. A significant difference in total preparation scores over time was observed, F(2, 1,715)=6.159, p<0.005, with lower scores in 2012 compared with 2013 and 2014 scores. Social implications This study found some marginal improvements in levels of physical bushfire preparation from 2012 to 2014. However, the results indicate only moderate levels of preparation overall, despite respondents living in established high risk locations. Originality/value This study provides evidence for the current levels of preparedness in high risk bushfire communities, and emphasises the need for future initiatives to focus on specific bushfire preparation activities but also to consider the broader range of interventions that are likely to contribute to desired safety outcomes.

Evolution of a holistic systems approach to planning and managing road safety: the Victorian case study, 1970–2015

Background The Victorian Safe System approach to road safety slowly evolved from a combination of the Swedish Vision Zero philosophy and the Sustainable Safety model developed by the Dutch. The Safe System approach reframes the way in which road safety is viewed and managed. Methods This paper presents a case study of the institutional change required to underpin the transformation to a holistic approach to planning and managing road safety in Victoria, Australia. Results The adoption and implementation of a Safe System approach require strong institutional leadership and close cooperation among all the key agencies involved, and Victoria was fortunate in that it had a long history of strong interagency mechanisms in place. However, the challenges in the implementation of the Safe System strategy in Victoria are generally neither technical nor scientific; they are predominantly social and political. While many governments purport to develop strategies based on Safe System thinking, on-the-ground action still very much depends on what politicians perceive to be publicly acceptable, and Victoria is no exception. Conclusions This is a case study of the complexity of institutional change and is presented in the hope that the lessons may prove useful for others seeking to adopt more holistic planning and management of road safety. There is still much work to be done in Victoria, but the institutional cultural shift has taken root. Ongoing efforts must be continued to achieve alert and compliant road users; however, major underpinning benefits will be achieved through focusing on road network safety improvements (achieving forgiving infrastructure, such as wire rope barriers) in conjunction with reviews of posted speed limits (to be set in response to the level of protection offered by the road infrastructure) and by the progressive introduction into the fleet of modern vehicle safety features.

Developing Australia’s Highway Safety Professionals: What Can the United States Learn?

Highway safety is a complex issue that requires the combined skills of many different types of professionals, including engineers, public administrators, first responders, and public health officials. Although the United States and Australia are culturally similar countries with high levels of motor vehicle use, for historical reasons Australia has typically reached road safety milestones earlier than the United States has. Although a few American universities offer classes on road safety, current U.S. offerings predominantly consist of professional development short courses (often with a programmatic focus). In addition to professional development courses, some undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Australian universities offer electives on the principles of road safety engineering and methods for influencing road user behavior. This coursework can be viewed as part of a wider effort to implement scientifically validated methods and the safe system approach recommended by the International Transport Forum of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Deeper integration of highway safety principles into the undergraduate curriculum could assist both countries’ students in developing the leadership skills necessary to achieve higher levels of safety performance.

Development and Application of a Scale to Measure Station Design Quality for Personal Safety

Crime on public transport is a major concern for society and authorities, and many security measures have been adopted in public transport facilities, like stations, to reduce crime and improve the perception of passenger safety. However, a scale to measure the design quality of public transport facilities on the basis of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) principles has not yet been developed. This paper presents the results of a research program to develop a unified measure of the overall design quality of train stations in terms of the main elements of CPTED: surveillance, access control or target hardening (deterring access to potential targets; a term used in the security industry), maintenance, territoriality, and activity support. In this study, a scale has been developed and applied to four stations in suburban Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The scores illustrate the overall station design quality and highlight elements of the stations that could be improved to enhance safety. Areas for future research and implications for practice are explored.