Risk management in mountainous areas. A systematic overview

In contemporary society, safety has become an essential priority, and consequently it is usually only the ‘negative’ aspects of situations involving the risk of hazards that are emphasized, being viewed as a potential loss, to the detriment of a ‘positive’ vision of such situations, by which when individuals confront the risk of hazards they do so in order to achieve something that can bring them a specific benefit. This implies a moral vision in our society that stigmatizes mountaineers as a group and condemns exposure to hazards, and according to which, should an accident occur, culprits are quickly sought and responsibility is not slow to be attributed. To simplify, it can be stated that the identification and punishment of those accused of breaking rules constitutes an essential aspect of a search for safety in our society, in the same way that we can observe an increasing concern with health and the increasing prominence of insurance provisions, which are ultimately the clearest indicators of current behaviour in terms of safety and the limiting of hazard risks.

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