Following a fatal carbon monoxide incident in a remote off-grid community near Ashcroft, BC, caused by an incorrectly-installed hot water heater, Technical Safety BC worked with graduate students on a research project to gain insights into the approximately 280 remote communities in BC, 54 of which are considered off-grid.
 

The work was conducted by Courtney van Ballegooie, Wai Ho Choy, Abhijit Pandhari and Ido Refaeli, members of the 2017 Graduate Consulting Program, which was organized by the Graduate Management Consulting Association (GMCA) at the University of British Columbia.

Over the span of three months, the group used public databases and reports to collect a list of 280 remote communities in BC, 54 of which have been identified as off-grid communities. The team then looked at communication channels that could help reach these communities, as well as risk prediction models to predict the relative risk of safety incidents for communities.

It’s hoped the information gathered will help us improve outreach activities for those areas to inspire local safety leadership and better safety outcomes.