Abstract
In Hokkaido, clearing snow from roofs results in a large number of accidents involving people, every time there is a heavy snowfall. The numbers have not decreased since the heavy snowfall of Heisei 18 (2006), suggesting that the promotion of countermeasures initiated against accidents at the time has been ineffective. In this study, the authors investigated conditions of snow removal around Iwamizawa City where heavy snowfall occurred in 2012. In addition, we tried to plot fragility curves for accidents involving people in Hokkaido, and analyzed the effectiveness of measures against snow damage. In the investigation, it was found that some individuals had climbed onto roofs in order to clear snow overflowing from flat roofs designed to prevent snow from sliding off. Furthermore, the heavier the snowfall, the higher the incidence of dangerous attempts at snow clearance. Following the investigation, the performance of 14 regions in Hokkaido in tackling snow damage was analyzed based on fragility curves for accidents involving people. As a result, it became clear that increases in the number of accidents each year were heavily influenced by not only the frequency of snow clearance and depth of snow but also the percentage of elderly in the population.
