Report Guidelines

A few considerations…

The Australian Climbing Accident Register is composed primarily from self-reported incidents. We thank each climber who has taken the time to make a submission and offer the following guidelines to assist in compiling reports.

Each report is comprised of three segments:

Statistical Input
Raw data to assist in the identification of trends and the predominance of hazards. This includes fields such as date and time, style of climbing, primary and contributing causes, etc.

Incident Report
A word picture which provides a factual description of the accident. See below for tips on how to compile this section.

Analysis
An attempt to eke some meaning out of the accident by analysing the primary and secondary causes and suggesting mitigation strategies.

When writing the incident report, consider the following:

Be Concise
Try to be economical with your words. Most incidents, including the analysis, can be told within 500 to 1000 words if trimmed of fat. 

Be Specific
Don’t allude to ideas or make assumptions which the reader may not be aware of. Write directly about the incident at hand, using technical terminology rather than slang.

Be Accurate
Do your best to tell the story as it happened without speculation or omissions. If you’re unsure of the causes of an event, say so. If you feel that embarrassment might lower your capacity for honesty, remember that your report is anonymous.

Be Analytical
Do your best to make a dispassionate assessment of the incident and identification of the primary and secondary causes of the event. Furthermore, an attempt should be made to suggest mitigating techniques or procedures might help avoid such incidents in the future. You may wish to correspond with or delegate this task to the moderators of ACAR.

If you have further questions about reporting and the ACAR database, please consult the Frequently Asked Questions page.