Trial

Riskko

Riskko is an online risk calculator that provides a rapid assessment of the risk to people and objects exposed to various natural hazard processes. By calculating the risk before and after protective measures, the effectiveness of these measures can be assessed, and their cost-effectiveness determined. The application can be accessed on the website https://riskko.ch/ and is provided by the Swiss cantons of Vaud, Ticino, Fribourg and Jura.

Riskko is particularly well suited for rapid estimates of natural risks:

All natural hazard processes can be represented
Availability of different types of exposed objects
Testing the effectiveness of protective measures
Benefit/cost ratio of measures

Features

Online risk calculation

Riskko is a web application for calculating the risks associated with natural hazards and for assessing the cost-effectiveness of protective measures. The application can be accessed on the website https://riskko.ch/ without any installation or creation of a user account.

Different hazard processes

Riskko can be used to calculate risks for various hazard processes:
- Rockfalls
- Rock avalanches
- Spontaneous superficial landslides
- Permanent deep-seated landslides
- Snow avalanches
- Debris flows
- Static or dynamic floods
- Bank erosion

Scientific statements

Riskko is based on the concepts, risk equations and standard values of EconoMe 5.1 provided by the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and on the Valdorisk 2.1 tool developed at the University of Lausanne, which is replaced by Riskko.

Variety of asset types and protective measures

The lists of different types of exposed assets (buildings, roads, railways, etc.) and protective measures (nets, dams, on-site measures, etc.) are based on the assets and measures in EconoMe 5.1.

Calculation of natural risks in Switzerland and other countries

Although Riskko uses parameters and values predefined for Switzerland in the EconoMe 5.1 tool of the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), the risk calculator can also be used for projects in other countries by manually adapting the various parameters, in particular the monetary values of the assets or protection measures, to the country-specific requirements.

Trial

Specifications

Standard or user-defined parameters

In Riskko, the user can choose between default parameters based on the standard values of EconoMe 5.1, or a manual configuration allowing values to be adjusted to the project’s specific requirements, in particular for the exposure, vulnerability and lethality parameters or the spatial occurrence probabilities.

Simple, logical interface

Riskko uses an interface divided into sections which must be completed one after the other, but it is possible to return to a previous section and make amendments. The Riskko application is available in several languages (French, Italian and German).

Comprehensive summary report

The summary report generated automatically at the end of the risk analysis contains the results of the risk analysis (monetary risk, human risk, individual risk) before and after protective measures, as well as all the parameters used. This report can be exported as a PDF document.

Data export and import

Riskko automatically saves all changes made to a project as long as the browser session remains open, but no data is stored on the servers hosting Riskko. For backup and archiving purposes, all the parameters and data of a project can be exported in a file in JSON format. Later, it is possible to re-import this file to modify the project.

Similarities and differences between Riskko and EconoMe 5.1

The equations used in Riskko are taken from the EconoMe equation collection and the parameters and standard values correspond to version 5.1 of EconoMe (as of November 2023). Some simplifications in the equations in Riskko may lead to differences with EconoMe results:
– Human risk for rail traffic: the calculation of human risk related to rail traffic is currently not implemented in Riskko, as the use of EconoMe is systematically required in Switzerland for any project involving rail lines. However, it is still possible to calculate the material risk for fixed railway assets (railway tracks, engineering structures, etc.).
– Risk for fixed objects: the parameter “protection factor of the fixed object (building, special object)” available in EconoMe is fixed at 0 in Riskko and can currently not be modified by the user.
– Road traffic risk: the “probability of preventive road closure” and “probability of occurrence of an event in the road zone” parameters available in EconoMe are set to 0 and 1, respectively, in Riskko and can currently not be modified by the user. The “probability of remote alert” parameter is set to 0.5, which is the default value in EconoMe 5.1 for roads without an alert system.