the state of safety in british columbia's remote off-grid ... · in off-grid communities...

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GRADUATECONSULTINGPROGRAM2017

The State of Safety in British Columbia'sRemoteOff-GridCommunitiesCurrent knowledge, risk assessments, and engagement strategies tomitigatetechnicalsystemsriskinremoteareas.

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CourtneyvanBallegooie,WaiHoChoy,AbhijitPandhariandIdoRefaelipreparedthisstudyaspartofthe2017GraduateConsultingProgramorganizedbytheGraduateManagementConsultingAssociation(GMCA),astudentassociationintheUniversityofBritishColumbia,incollaborationwiththeBCSafetyAuthority.

Formoreinformationaboutthisproject,pleasecontact:GraduateConsultingProgramWaiHoChoy-ProgramLead,GraduateConsultingProgram,DirectorofCommunications,GMCAUBCEmail:[email protected]/AuthorsCourtneyvanBallegooie-GraduatestudentconsultantEmail:[email protected]:choywaiho1@gmail.comAbhijitPandhari-GraduatestudentconsultantEmail:abhijitpandhari@gmail.comIdoRefaeli-GraduatestudentconsultantEmail:[email protected]

DISCLAIMERBytheGraduateManagementConsultingAssociationofUBC,GraduateConsultingProgramandtheprojectteam.Theinformationandviewssetoutinthispublicationarethoseoftheauthor(s)anddonotnecessarilyreflecttheofficialopinionoftheAssociationorProgram.TheAssociation,Programandauthor(s)donotguaranteetheaccuracyofthedataincludedinthisstudy.NeithertheAssociation,Program,author(s)noranypersonactingontheirbehalfmaybeheldresponsibleorliablefortheuse,whichmaybemadeoftheinformationandrecommendationscontainedtherein.©GraduateConsultingProgram,2017.Allrightsreserved.Reproductionisauthorizedprovidedthesourceisacknowledged.

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AcknowledgmentsWewanttotakethischancetothankourconsultantmentorHeSongSunandourdatasciencementorGiulio Valentino Dalla Riva for their continuedmentorship throughout the program. Their guidance indefiningourproblemstatementandonfindingandorganizingdatasourceshashelpedusfocusontheimportantpartsofourprojectandhelpedusthinkinmorecreativeways.We alsowanted to thank our graduate advisor Jacqui Brinkman for her continued support of theGCPprogram and for helping us troubleshoot the challenges faced during the creation of this probonoconsultingprogram.WearealsoverygratefulforthecontinuedsupportfromourDeanofGraduateStudiesDr. Susan Porter and our UBC President Dr. Santa Ono for sponsoring this first project and for theencouragementthatweneededtobringthisprojectfromideationtoitssuccessfulexecution.Lastbutmost importantly,wewanttothankSoyeanandherteamincludingDoris,Abraham,Jeff,Anja,Frank,Bo,SueandGinawhohavewholeheartedlycontributedtheirtime,enthusiasmandencouragementintothisproject.Wecouldnothavedonethiswithoutyouandweareverygratefultohavesuchanopen-mindedandapproachableclientthatissupportiveoftheyoungtalenthereinBC.

Whoarewe?TheGMCAGraduateConsultingProgramisauniqueopportunityforgraduatestudentsandpostdoctoralfellowstoapplytheircriticalthinkingandcommunicationskillsbysolvingreal-lifebusinessproblemsforcompanies, government agencies and nonprofit organizations in British Columbia. In every project, aselectedteamof5graduatestudentswillbeexposedtoareal-lifebusinessenvironmentwithabusinessclientandwillreceiveaseriesoftrainingsessionsandmentorshipfromlocaladvisors,leadersinindustryandconsultants.Projectstypicallyrunfor3monthsendingwithaclientreportandpresentation.

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TableofContentsTableofcontents 4Listofabbreviations 6Executivesummary 7 1. Introduction:WhystudyBC’sOff-GridCommunities? 82. Problemstatement:HowcanBCSAimproveoff-griddatacollection? 9 3. Timeline 94. Module1:IdentifyingBC’sOff-GridCommunities

1. Abstract 102. Objectives 103. Results

1. 280remotecommunities,54off-grid 11 2. 4keydatacollectionorganizations 123. Diversityofcommunityfeatures 13

4. Moduleconclusion 14

5. Module2:CommunicatingwithBC’sOff-GridCommunities 1. Abstract 152. Objectives 163. Results

1. RadioandTVcoverageinoff-gridcommunities 162. Onlinepresenceofoff-gridcommunities 183. BCSAofficerinterview:casestudyforemployeesurveys 194. Findingsfromasimilarlarge-scalestudyinYukon 20

4. Moduleconclusion 206. Module3:PredictingRiskinOff-GridCommunities

1. Abstract 222. Objectives 223. Results

1. Higherriskofinjuriesinruralcommunities 232. Communityfeatureswithpredictivepower 233. Existingmodelsforassessinginjuryrisk 24

4. Moduleconclusion 25

7. Reportconclusions 268. Futuredirections 279. Methods

1. Module1methods:findingcommunities 292. Module2methods:comparingcommunicationchannels 323. Module3methods:riskpredictionmodels 34

10. References 36

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11. Appendix(Module1)A. Listofoff-gridcommunities 41B. Listofdatasourcescollectingdataonremotecommunities 43C. Listofcommunityfeatures 44

12. Appendix(Module2)D. RadioandTVdata(externalfilebyIdoRefaeli) 45E. Safetyofficersurveydesign,transcriptandnotes 45F. Listofcommunitywebsitesandsocialmedia 50G. Photosofunsafeinstallationfromoff-gridtechnicalinstaller 55H. SummaryofYukonrenewableenergystudy 57I. Keycontacts 61

13. Appendix(Module3)J. Causesofaccidentaldeathsinruralandurbansettings 62K. Injuryriskfactors 63L. Socioeconomicstatusindices 63M. Socioeconomicstatusindicesandassociatedfactors 64N. Modelsofinjuryrisk 65

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ListofAbbreviations

AANDC AboriginalAffairsandNorthernDevelopmentCanadanowIndigenousandAboriginalsCanada,INAC

BCSA BritishColumbiaSafetyAuthority NowTechnicalSafetyBCCensus CensusCanadaNRCan NaturalResourcesCanadaRCCBC RuralCoordinationCentreofBritishColumbia

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ExecutivesummaryKeepingpeoplesafeathome,especiallyinremoteoff-gridcommunities,isanongoingchallengefortheBCSafetyAuthority(BCSA).Residentsinoff-gridcommunitiesofteninstallequipmentintheirhomessuchaspropanetanks,dieselgenerators,electricalwiringandgasstoveswithoutpropertraining,guidanceorhelpfromlicensedcontractors.Whilethiscanbeaconvenientandcost-savingoption,unregulatedequipmentoftenendsupinastateofdisrepairoraremissingthepropersafetyfeatures.Therecentdeathsofa familyof4 inanoff-gridcommunity inAshcroft,BC,highlightsthisdeep-rootedproblemofsafetyawarenessandcomplianceinoff-gridcommunities.Inthisparticularcase,theownersofthe home installed a water heater in their home without proper ventilation and a carbon monoxidedetector,whichledtoafatalbuildupofcarbonmonoxideinsidethehome.OurfirstmeetingwiththeResearch&AnalyticsdepartmentofBCSArevealedthatthereisalackofdatainternallywith regards to the stateof remote communities inBC;particularly those livingoff-grid.Ourchallenge was thus to collect information about these communities that could be used to improvecommunicationwiththecommunitiesandtoprioritizecommunitiesbasedontheirsafetyrisks.Duringthespanof3months,wetraversednumerouspublicdatabasesandreportstocollectalistof280remote communities in BC, 54 of which have been identified as off-grid communities. From thosecommunities, we collected additional information from each community including topics such ascommunitylocation,transportationaccess,communications,housing,energyuse,socioeconomicinfoandhealthnetworks.Duringthissearch,weidentified4keyorganizations,CensusCanada,NRCan,RCCBCandINACthatprovidethemajorityofdataonremotecommunitiesinBC.Next,ouranalysisof communicationchannels revealed thatmany remotecommunitieshaveanonlinepresence intheformofcommunitywebsitesandFacebookgroupsalongsidemoretraditionalchannelssuchasradioandTV.WealsodesignedandconductedaninternalinterviewwithaBCSASafetyofficerinthe Kamloops region and an external interview with an off-grid community technical expert. Bothinterviewsresulted innew insights intoenergyuse,safetyawareness, safety issuesandkeycontacts inthosecommunities.Lastly,we looked into existing risk predictionmodels to predict the relative risk of safety incidents forcommunities.WefoundthatinBC,therewereanumberofriskpredictionmodelsinhealthcareliteraturethat tapped into socioeconomic and geographical features to identify communitieswith higher risk ofinjury.Asofthetimeofwriting,wearestill testingthesemodelsonourdatabutpreliminarydata(notshowninthisreport)identifiedcertainoff-gridcommunitiesincludingAshcroftBCascommunitiesathighersafetyrisk.Giventhepotentialapplicationsofthedatahighlightedinthisreport,werecommendthatBCSApursuethe creation of a remote community database using the data sources and communication channelsdescribed in this report and to apply the information gained into improving safety outcomes in ourprovince’sremotecommunities.

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Introduction

WhatareRemoteOff-GridCommunities?The term “Off-Grid communities” and “Remote communities” are often used interchangeably and aredefined by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) as communities that are not connected to the NorthAmericanelectricgridnortothepipednaturalgasnetwork,arepermanentorlong-term(>5years)andhaveatleast10permanentdwellings.Inreality,manyofthesecommunitiesalsodrilltheirownwells,buildtheirownroadsandsheds,hookupelectrical generators, electricalwiring and sewage plumbing, and install other equipment that insulatethemallyearroundfromthenaturalelements.Ontopofthat,theseutilitiesrequiretheirownsafetycheckssuchassmokeandgasdetectors,electricalfusesandfiresprinklersinadditiontoroutinemaintenanceandproperinstallation.Inthecity,thesesafetychecksarewellintegratedintoeveryhome,strictlyenforcedbylocalgovernmentandroutinelycheckedbylicensedcontractors.Inoff-gridcommunitieshowever,thesesafetychecksarealmostnon-existentandthereisa lackofawarenessandurgencyaboutsafetyathome.Thereisalsoageneralresistancefromthecommunitytowardsrelativelyexpensiveandinaccessiblelicensedcontractorsandtowardsregulationsingeneral.WhyStudyRemoteOff-GridCommunitiesinBC?Thisconsultingprojectwasinitiatedinresponsetounresolvedhomeaccidentsinremoteoff-gridhomes,one of whichmade headlines as a family of four in Ashcroft, BC passed away from carbonmonoxidepoisoningduetoanunregulated,self-installedwaterheater.Althoughthecausesofthepoisoningwereidentifiedandsafetyrecommendationsweremade,thisincidenthighlightedthelackofsafetyregulationand awareness in remote off-grid communities in BC. The key task now for the province and otherstakeholdersistopreventfurthersafetyaccidentsathome.Our client, the BC Safety Authority (BCSA), plays an important role in that regard as they are theorganizationmandatedtooverseethesafeinstallationandoperationoftechnicalsystemsandequipmentincluding utilities at home. As BCSA has limited data on off-grid communities, our task was to collectinformationaboutthesecommunitiesthatcouldhelpthemunderstandsafetyrisksandimprovetwo-waycommunicationwithoff-gridcommunities.

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ObjectivesWhatisthegoalofthisproject?OurgoalforthisprojectistobuildadatacollectionframeworkthatallowsBCSAtocollectinformationonBC’sremoteoff-gridcommunitiesthatcanbeusedto1)identifyoff-gridcommunities2)identifyeffectivechannelsofcommunicationand3)predictresidentialsafetyrisksofcommunities.

TimelineWhatdidwedo?Weused the firstmonthof June toassign teamrolesandobjectives,bring in twoconsultinganddatasciencementorsandtodefinethescopeoftheproblemwithSoyeanKim,whoistheLeaderoftheResearch& Analytics department of BCSA. We spent the second month of July collecting data on off-gridcommunities via literature and database searching, information requests and interviews with remotecommunityexperts.InthethirdmonthofAugust,weanalyzedtheinformationwecollectedandcameupwith recommendations thatwould improve long termdata collectionand communicationwithoff-gridcommunities.Throughoutthethree-monthproject,theprojectteammetatleastonceaweekfor2hours.WealsometwithourBCSAclient(~2meetings/month)andmentors(~2mentors/month)toupdatethemregularlyonourprogressandtogettheirfeedbackonthedirectionofourwork.

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MODULE1:FINDINGOFF-GRIDCOMMUNITIES

Module1:FindingOff-GridCommunitiesAbstractTounderstandthestateofsafetyinoff-gridcommunities,thefirsttaskistolocatethesecommunities.Inurban areas, this task is easier as there are relatively clear and consistent records of homes andhomeowners.Inremoteareashowever,trackingcommunitiespresentsmanychallengesincludingalackof official home addresses and records, frequentmovement and changes in communities andoften, adesirebycommunitiestobe“freefromthepryingeyeofthe(governmentandsocial)system”.Inthismodule,wetapintopublicly-availableinformationtocollectexistinginformationaboutremoteoff-gridcommunitiesinBC.OurresearchoverthepastmonthshaveshownthattherearekeyorganizationssuchastheCanadianCensus(Census),NaturalResourcesCanada(NRCAN),AboriginalAffairsandNorthernDevelopmentCanada(AANDC;nowINAC)andtheRuralCoordinationCentreofBC(RCCBC)thathaveandarestill collectingdataonremotecommunities.Thedataacross theseorganizationscansometimesbeinconsistentandinaccurateascommunitiesandprioritieschangeovertime.However,wehavefoundthattheycontributeasignificantbreadthofinformationincludingtopicssuchasenergyuse,housing,education,welfareandhealththatstronglyinfluenceresidentialsafetyoutcomesinremotecommunities.Insummary,herewehave:

1. Compiledalistofapproximately280remotecommunitiesinBC;54ofwhichwehaveidentifiedasoff-grid

2. Identifiedkeyorganizationsthatcontributedataonremoteoff-gridcommunities3. Collectedarangeofsocioeconomical,geographicalandenergy-relatedcommunitydata4. Providedrecommendationstobuildonthedatacollectedduringthisproject5. Describedourapproachincollectingthedata

Overall,we found that the value of the datawasworth the effort thatwas put into its collection andpreparation. Combinedwith the increasing supply ofOpenData and support for data-driven decision-makinginourprovince,webelievethatthisistherightstepforwardforBCSA.

1.1 Objectives

Inorder toplan foranyprojects catering tooff-grid communities,BCSAneeds to first findand

understandthestateofoff-gridcommunitiesinBC.Ourworkinthisfirstmoduleaddressesthe“whoandwhere?”questions:Whoaretheoff-gridcommunitiesinBritishColumbiaandwherearethey?Todothis,BCSArequires:

• areliablelistofoff-gridcommunitiesandtheircommunityfeaturesand• adatacollectionstrategytoupdateorre-createthatlist

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1.2Results

1.2.1 There are approximately 280 remote communities in BC, 54 of which areidentifiedasoff-gridcommunities

Figure1.Mapof54remoteoff-gridcommunities(outof280remotecommunities)Ourdatacollectioneffortsshowedthereareapproximately280remotecommunitiesinBCthatarelistedonpublicly-availabledatasets.Fromthese280communities,wehaveidentified54off-gridcommunities(AppendixA) that relyonalternativeenergy sources topower theirhomesandhavemapped themonFigure1.AsBCSAisinterestedinimprovingresidentialsafetyinoff-gridcommunities,werecommendusingthissetof54communitiesasastartingpointforfurtherwork.

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1.2.2 AANDC (INAC), NRCan and RCCBC are the main sources to obtain lists ofremoteoff-gridcommunitiesinBC.

Figure2.NumberofcommunitiesfromeachdatasetOurcommunitydatawassourcedpurely frompublicly-available informationandduringoursearch,wetraversed numerouswebsites and database portals, finally settlingwith a few (Appendix B).With thatexperience,wefoundthatAANDC,NRCanandRCCBCwerethemostreliableandcomprehensivesourcestoobtainlistsofremoteoff-gridcommunities.Thereliabilityofthesedatasourcescomefrom:

• theirnatureasgovernmentauthoritiesorgovernment-affiliatedorganizations• theirsignificantnumberofyearsofresearchintoremoteareasinBC• AANDC,NRCanandRCCBChaveongoingdatacollectiononremotecommunitiesthatareusedto

powertwointeractivedataportalscalled:o ‘AtlasofCanada:RemoteCommunitiesEnergyDatabase’ando ‘RCCBCCommunityMap’

Thesedatasourcesarealsodeemedcomprehensivebecause:

• Theyhavethelargestlistofremotecommunities(Figure2)• Their data specifically includes energyusage and community energyprojects; two factors that

influenceresidentialsafetyoutcomes(AppendixC)Thus,werecommendusingthedatasetsfromtheseorganizationsasastartingpointforthecreationorvalidationofanyremotecommunitydatabaseatBCSA.

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1.2.3Publicdatabasesprovideadiverseselectionofcommunityinformation

Feature Examples Potentialusecase

Communityname VenablesValley,Chenahkint AllowsBCSAtoidentifycommunitiesaccurately

Lat,Lngcoordinates52.46667(lat),-125.3167(lng)

Allows BCSA to find communities and allocatemanpower

MainPowerSource Diesel,Hydro,Solar AllowsBCSAtodeterminethepossiblehazards

Majorfuelsource Diesel,Propane,Wood AllowsBCSAtodeterminethepossiblehazards

Agedistribution(0-14,15-64and64+)

11.8%,29.4%,7.7% Allows BCSA to determine communication andeducationstrategies

Landarea 25,000(sqft) AllowsBCSAtoallocatemanpowerandresources

Population 10,100,3400 AllowsBCSAtoallocatemanpowerandresources

Typesofdwelling Singledetached,mobile AllowsBCSAtodeterminethepossiblehazards

Averageincome $10,432-$25,797 AllowsBCSAtodeterminethepossiblehazards

Aboriginalstatus Aboriginal,Non-aboriginal Allows BCSA to determine communicationstrategies

Education Trades, High school, Diploma,Degree

Allows BCSA to determine communicationstrategies

Communitywebsites https://www.heiltsuknation.ca/ AllowsBCSAtocontactcommunityrepresentatives

Table1:Possibleusecasesofcommunityfeatures.WhenthecommunityfeaturesfromtheCanadianCensuswascombinedwiththedataweextractedfromAANDC,NRCan,RCCBCandotheronlinedatasources,wefoundadiverseselectionofcommunityfeatures(AppendixC)broadlydividedinto5categories:

• Geographicalinfo–lat,lngcoordinates,region,roadaccess• Communications–communitywebsites• Housinginfo–typesofdwelling• Energyuse–energysupply/demand,fossilfuels,renewableenergy• Socioeconomicinfo–aboriginalstatus,education,age,income,population• Healthinfo–accesstohospitals,doctors,medicaloutreachprograms

Table 1 shows a subset of these features and their possible use cases. The breadth and relevance ofinformationmakesthecasethatpublicly-availablecommunityinformationisvaluabledatathatcanbeusedfordecision-makingatBCSA.

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1.3ModuleConclusions&FutureRecommendationsCollecting data on off-grid communities is only the first step in understanding residential safety. Ascommunitiesandprioritieschange,thereisaneedtoupdateandexpandthebreadthanddepthofthecommunitydatacollected.Thus,theaimofthismodulehasbeentofirst,provideaglimpseintothecurrentstateofknowledgeregardingremoteoff-gridcommunitiesandsecondly,toprovideaframeworkforwhichtobegindesigningarobustdatapipeline.Wehaveseen,inthismodule,thattherearekeyorganizationsthatperformthemajorityofresearchandoutreachwork in off-grid communities including the Census, AANDC, NRCan and RCCBC. The types ofcommunity features collected from these sources often reflect the focus of their work. For example,AANDC’s focuson Indigenouscommunitywelfare,NRCan’s focusonenergyandresourcesandRCCBC’sfocusonruralBChealthstronglyinfluencethetypeofdatatheycollect.DependingonBCSA’sresearchinterest,thereistheoptionoftappingintoothersectors inBCincludingeconomicplanninggroups,wildfirepreventiongroupsandenvironmentalgroupsasvaluabledatasources.Followingthatlineofthought,wealsorealizedthereisapotentialtotapintotheinformationheldbylocalenergyandtelecomcompaniessuchasBCHydroandTelus.Asthesecompaniesareactivelyexpandinginto remote areas, they may uncover more information about the needs and concerns of remotecommunitiesinBCcurrentlyunavailableasOpenData.Wehavealsodiscoveredthatdataacrossprojects(evenwithinthesameorganization)canbeinconsistentbothintermsofformatanddatavaluespresented.Thus,thereisarealneedtocommunicatewiththesedata-gathering organizations to understand how their data collection is performed and to collect datadirectlyfromtheseorganizationswiththeirguidance.Finally,intermsofdataaccess,weareseeinganincreaseinthevolumeandtypesofdatafromopendataportalssuchasDataBC,theNRCanRemoteCommunitiesEnergyDatabaseandmunicipalopendataportalsthat complement traditional data sources such as theCanadianCensus.Data is also increasingly beingdelivered in a more consistent format with the adoption of Open Data Portal software such as theComprehensiveKerbalArchiveNetwork(CKAN)bygovernmentsacrosstheworld(BCDataCatalogue,CityofSurreyOpenDataCatalogueinBC).Inconclusion,webelievethatthevalueofremoteoff-gridcommunitydata,ourdemonstrationthatitcanbe collected and the impeccable timing of the Open Data movement make a strong case for furtherdevelopmentofthisprojectinBCSA.

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MODULE2:COMMUNICATINGWITHOFF-GRIDCOMMUNITIES

Module2:CommunicatingwithBC’sOff-GridCommunities

AbstractBydefinition,off-gridcommunitiesaresituatedinremoteregionsofBC1.Consequently,BCSA’sabilitytocommunicatewithandtodisseminateinformationtothesecommunitiesislimited,andmakes(1)raisingsafetyawarenessand(2)implementingsafetymeasuresinthesecommunitiesachallengingtask.Inthismodule,wereportfindingsthatwerederivedfromdirectrelationswithmembersofoff-gridcommunities,BCSASafetyOfficers,orthird-parties.

TheworkpresentedhereaimstoenrichBCSA’sunderstandingofthevariouscommunicationschannelsthatcanbeofusetotheorganizationforcommunicatingwith(andobtaininginformationabout)off-gridcommunities.Wepresentdataonchannelssuchas radio, televisionandsocialmedia.WealsoprovideinsightsfromasurveyadministeredtoaBCSAsafetyofficer,andexplainindetailhowBCSAcanuseoursurveying method to gather other useful insights from its remaining safety officer employees. OurinteractionswithBCSA’ssafetyofficersandthird-partyexpertsworkingwithoff-gridcommunities inBCsuggestthatoff-gridresidentsarereluctanttocommunicatewithsafetyauthorities.ThisaddsalayerofcomplexitytothechallengesfacebyBCSAwhenattemptingtopenetratethesecommunitiestoenforceprovinciallaw.Tothisend,wehaveexploredhowBCSAisperceivedbymembersofoff-gridcommunities,andrecommendthatfutureresourcesbeputintostrategiesthathelpfacilitatecooperativeinteractionswiththesepopulations.

ThismoduleidentifiesthedifferentresourcesthatBCSAcanutilizetoengageoff-gridresidentsinordertoadvancetheirgoalsofraisingsafetyawarenessandimplementingsafetymeasures.

Briefly,ourfindingsindicatethat:

1. TherearemultiplechannelsBCSAcanusetocommunicatewiththeiroff-gridconstituency,suchasradioandtelevision,socialmedia,communitycenters,aswellasthroughcollegialrelationshipsformedbetweenitssafetyofficersandoff-gridresidents.

2. Usingsurveyingmethods,BCSAcanefficientlygatherinformationspecifictoeachcommunityitwants toengage.This informationcanprovide insights into thestrategiesBCSAcanemploy tobringaboutlastingchangewithinthatcommunity.

3. BCSAanditsmandateisoftenperceivedincorrectlybyoff-gridresidents,andeffortstocorrectthesemisconceptionswouldhelpBCSAwithitspublicrelations.

4. Thirdpartyorganizations(suchascontractors,etc.)areausefulresourcefromwhichtocollectinformationrelevanttothestateofsafetywithinanoff-gridcommunity.

5. Ofthe39communitiesthatweevaluatedin-depth(seeModule1),100%ofthemhaveanonlinepresence,consistingofsocialmedia(Facebook)pagesandcommunitywebsites.ThiscanserveasaportalthroughwhichBCSAcanengagethesecommunities.

Overall,theworkpresentedheredescribesthevariouschannelsBCSAcanusetoobtainvaluablequalitativedataonspecificcommunities,andhowthisdatacanbeusedtodriveactionandaffectsustainablechange.

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2.1Objectives

InordertoimplementsafetymeasuresinBC’soff-gridcommunities,BCSAneedstohaveanexplicitmeansofcommunicationwithindividualsfromtheseareas.Ourworkinthepreviousmodulesaddressedthe“who?”question:Wherearetheoff-gridcommunitiesinBritishColumbiasituated,andwhichonesareathighriskoftechnicalincidents?Weidentifiedallthecommunitiesbynameandgeographicalregion,andprovidedariskanalysis foreachof thosecommunitiesdrivenbydemographicdata.Thenextstep is toanswerthe“how?”question:HowcanBCSAtakeactionstomitigatethetechnicalsystemsrisksassociatedwiththesecommunities?Todothis,BCSArequires(1)areliablelineofcommunicationwiththeiroff-gridconstituency,and(2)astrategytoimplementappropriatesafetymeasureswithinthisconstituency.

Off-gridcommunitiesareheterogeneous in their cultureand lifestyles,andhence, the strategy

usedtoengageandimplementeachcommunitywillvaryslightly.Thepurposeofthismoduleistoaddresshowthesedifferentoff-gridcommunities,eachwiththeirowncultures,lifestyles,andwithvaryingdegreesoftechnicalsafetyexpertiseandreceptivenesstoauthoritycanbeengagedtoincreasethesafetyoftheirtechnicalsystems.

2.2Results2.2.1 Radio and television communications channels are an effective means ofdisseminating information within both aboriginal and non-aboriginal remotecommunitiesinBritishColumbia.Ofallthemodesusedtocommunicateinformation,radioisperhapsthemostwell-established.Specifically,inruralcommunities,radiohasbeenshowntobeaneffectivemeansofrelayinginformation.Intheirbooktitled“RadioforEducationandDevelopment”,JamisonandMcAnanystatethat“theadventofinexpensiveradio receivers has opened up the use of radio for education and development by increasing quality,effectivenessandaccess,whilereducingorcontainingcostsoftransmittingmessages.”Buildingonthis,wehypothesizedthatresidentsofoff-gridcommunitiesinCanadausetheradioasamediumforconsuminginformation.ItisimportanttomentionthatwewereunabletoacquiredataontheprevalenceofradiouseinBC’soff-grid communities, as, to thebestofour knowledge, this information isnot readily availablethroughanygovernmentstatisticsreports.However,weobtaineddataontheprevalenceofradiouseinoff-gridcommunities intheYukonTerritories(AppendixH):57.6%ofoff-gridsurveyrespondentsstatedthattheyownaradio.WhilethisdataisnotspecifictoBC,wepresumethattheadoptionrateofhouse-holdradiosystemsinoff-gridBCwillnotvarygreatlyfromthisestimate,giventhatmanyoftheoff-gridcommunitiesinBCresidearelativelyshortdistancefromotherlargertownsorcitiesincomparisontotheYukon; it is likely that radio station coverage will encompass nearby off-grid communities. We havecompiledalistofalltheradiostationswhosefrequencyencompassesregionsoccupiedbyoff-gridresidentsinBC,andthisinformationisprovidedindetailinAppendixDinthesupplementarydocuments.

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Figure3:PopularradiostationsinasubsetofBC’sremotecommunities.

Wenextquantifiedwhichoftheradiostationswerethemostprevalentinaboriginalandnon-aboriginalcommunities,andfoundthat‘CanadianFirstNationsRadio’(CFNR)and‘CBCRadioOne’aremostprevalentinaboriginalandnon-aboriginalcommunities,respectively(Figure3).Wethereforesuggestthat,shouldBCSAwishtopurchaseadvertisingspaceinanyoftheradiostationsdescribedinAppendixD,itwouldbemosteffectivetotransmitadsthroughCBCRadioOnefornon-aboriginalcommunitiesandthroughCFNRforaboriginalcommunities.Television isalsoawidely-acceptedplatformfor relaying informationto thepublic.Similar toour radiodata,wewereunabletoobtaindataontheprevalenceoftelevisionsystemsinoff-gridcommunitiesinBC.However,thesamereportpublishedbytheYukonBureauofStatistics(AppendixH)showsthat78.8%ofoff-gridrespondentsintheYukonTerritoriesstatedthattheyownatelevisionintheirhome.Whilethisdata isnotconclusiveregardingBC’stelevisionadoptionrate inoff-gridcommunities,wepresumethatsimilarestimatesapply.Byvirtueofthewaystelevisionserviceprovidersdobusiness,itisdifficulttoobtaindataonwhichtelevisionchannelsarebroadcastinoff-gridcommunities;Thecontractbetweenthetelevisionserviceproviderandthe individualwilldetermine thebundleofchannelsprovided.Therefore,wewereunable toacquireaconsistent data set for off-grid BC, as the channels may vary greatly for each household. We thusrecommend, should BCSA wish to purchase television advertising space, that it do so in basic cablechannels.Thiswillmaximizeadpenetrationinoff-gridcommunitiesbecausebasiccabletelevisionbundlesaresignificantlycheaperthanthosewithspecialtychannels.Owingtothesocioeconomicstatusofmanyofthese communities, it is highly probable that basic cable bundles are most prevalent in these areas.Moreover,witheachupgradeonthetelevisionbundle,thebasiccablechannelsalwaysremain,regardlessofthebundle.

35 9 13 19

100

25.7 37.154.3

TOTALCOMMUNITIESLISTED

CBCRADIOONE CANADIANFIRSTNATIONSRADIO

(CFNR)

RADIODATAUNAVAILABLE

FrequencyofPopularRadioStationsinRemoteCommunitiesofBC

n %Communities

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2.2.2Surveyingsafetyofficersisavaluabletooltouncoverinformationonthestateofsafetyofanoff-gridcommunity,thekeypointsofcontactforthatcommunity,andthepotentialengagementstrategiesforthatcommunity.Weadministeredasurvey(AppendixE)toGinaMcPherson,aBCSAsafetyofficerintheKamloopsregionwho specializes in gas andelectrical systems. The goal of thiswas to testwhether thespecificquestionswedesignedareusefulingatheringinformationonoff-gridcommunities.SurveyDesignandRationaleThissurveyaimstohelpBCSAcollectanecdotalinformationregardingthecurrentstateofsafetyinspecificoff-grid communities present under the jurisdictions of relevant Safety Officers. By virtue of thismethodology, information on off-grid communities for which BCSA does not have a Safety Officerrepresentativewill notbe gathered, and results shouldbe interpretedaccordingly;Any generalizationsaboutthestateoftheoff-gridecosystemasawholeshouldbemadewiththeappropriatecaveats,asthissurveywillnotexhibit100%penetrance,andisqualitativebynature.ThissurveyisdesignedtobedistributedbyBCSAtoitsSafetyOfficersinorderto:

1. gatherspecificanecdotalinformation(thatisnotlegallybinding)onthecurrentstateofsafetyofspecificoff-gridcommunities

2. identifypointsofcontact(keyindividuals,communitycenters,bulletinboards,communityleaders,etc)thatBCSAcaninteractwith

3. elucidate potential strategies for engagement (e.g. educational outreach) that can affectsustainablechangewithinaspecificcommunity.

ThissurveyreliesontheassumptionthatBCSASafetyOfficershaveaccumulatedanecdotalobservationson the off-grid communities they are assigned to. Although these anecdotal observations may beincompleteBCSAwouldnonethelessfindthis informationusefulwhendecidinghowbesttoallocate itsresourcestowardseachcommunity.Thefollowingkeyinsightsweregatheredfromthesurvey:

1. Off-grid residents don’t understand what they don’t know – educational strategies can helpmitigatethis.

2. Itisvaluabletoexplaintooff-gridresidentswhycomplyingwiththerulesandregulationsisintheirbestinterest,andthattheirvisionofself-actualizationdoes,infact,alignwithBCSA’smissions.

3. Off-gridcommunitieshavecommunity/publicbuildingswheremanyresidentsgatherforavarietyof functions. This can serve as a medium through which to disseminate information to thosecommunities

4. Interviewingsafetyofficersregardingkeypersonneltheyhaveinteractedwithinacommunitycanidentifyspecificindividuals(residents,third-parties,etc)throughwhichBCSAcanrelayinformationtothatcommunityorgatherinformationaboutthatcommunity.

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Weshowthatsafetyofficerspossesshighlyspecificknowledgewithrespecttothecommunitiesthateachofthemoversees.Consequently,werecommendthatthissurveybeusedtogatherinformationfromothersafetyofficerswhoareindirectcontactwithoff-gridcommunities.ThedatagatheredfromsafetyofficersviasurveyswillallowBCSAtotapintoalargepoolofinformationthatitcanusetotailoritsactionsinacommunity-specificmanner.PleaseturntoAppendixEforkeyinsightsandasummarizedtranscriptofthesafetyofficersurvey.2.2.3Ofthe39communitiesweassessed,100%ofthemhaveanonlinepresenceandthiscanbeusedasaneffectivewaytocontactremotecommunities.Today, the internet represents an invaluable platform for people to share information and engage indiscussions.Wethereforehypothesizedthatthesubsetof39remotecommunitiesdescribedinModule1mayhaveanonlinepresenceintheformofsocialmedia(Facebook)groups,communitywebsites,orboth.Totestthis,we:

1. performedagooglesearchusingthenameofeachcommunityasthesearchterm,and2. performedaFacebooksearchusingthenameofeachcommunityasthesearchterm.

WegatheredatleastoneURLlinkingtoeitherthenameofaFacebookgroup,communitywebsite,oronlineforumforeachofthe39communities(AppendixF).Thissuggeststhatthereisarobustpresenceofoff-gridcommunitiesontheinternet.Furthersearchesneedtobedoneto investigatewhetherthisfindingholdstruefortherestofBC’soff-gridcommunities.Next,wehypothesize thatFacebookgroupscouldserveasaneffectiveportal throughwhichBCSAcancommunicatewithoff-gridresidentsorotherthird-partiesassociatedwiththeoff-gridecosystem.Totestthis,webeganacase-studyinwhichweattemptedtocontactanadministratoroftheFacebookgroup“BCOff-GridLiving”bywayofinitiatingaFacebookmessagethread.Thepurposeofthisconversationwastomakecontactwithamemberofthisonlinecommunityandtoaskquestionsregardingthestateofsafetyof the off-grid communities associatedwith this online forum.Mr. Graig Pearen, administrator of thisFacebookgroup,repliedtothemessageandweengagedinadiscussionaboutthetechnicalinstallationspresentinthesecommunitiesthatviolatesafetylegislation.ToquoteMr.Pearen:

“Alotofoff-gridpeoplethinktheelectricalcodeonlyappliestogrid(BCHydro)customers.Othersdon'twanttohaveanythingtodowithpermitsorinspectionsofanykindandare"doityourself"peoplewhoneverhireatradesman.EverytimeIgetthechance,Iexplainthattheelectricalcodeisasafetycodeandthatitistheminimumrequired,notsomethingtostrivefor.”

To complement thisdiscussion,Mr.Pearen sentus12photos, eachof themshowingexactlyhowandwheresafetynormswerebeingviolated(AppendixG).WebelievethisdatatobeusefulforBCSAbecauseweabletoidentifyviathismethodimportantdataregardingtheprominenttechnicalsafetyriskswithincommunitiesinthePrinceGeorgeareaandthedifferentmethodstheyusetogenerateenergy–justsomeofthemanypotentialdatapointsthatcanbegatheredthroughonlineoutreach.Takentogether,theGoogleandFacebooksearchdata,aswellasthecase-studyweemployedshowthat:

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• Off-gridcommunitiesareactiveonline,andthatitispossibletocontactthemandcollectvaluableinformation.

• Thisinformationcanbeusedtoestimatethemajortechnicalsafetyrisksassociatedwithanoff-gridcommunity.

2.2.4InsightsfromtheProject“Off-gridlivingintheYukon”WeidentifiedagovernmentcensusreportpublishedbytheYukonBureauofStatisticsonthestateofoff-gridlivingintheYukonTerritories.Tothebestofourknowledge,thisreportisthefirstofitskindtogatherin-depthdataonthestateofoff-gridlivinginCanada.TheYukonBureauofStatisticsreportwasusedtomakeassumptionsonthestateofremotelivinginBCandhasbeenreferencedthroughoutourreport.Wehaveprovided a detailed summaryof the report inAppendixH. For the full report, please consult thesupplementarydocuments.BecausethisreportandhelpedfacilitatecarefuldecisionmakingbytheYukongovernment, we recommend that a similar census be conducted on the state of off-grid living in BC.WhetherthisisunderthepurviewofBCSAorotherauthoritiesisoutsidethescopeofthisdocument.

2.3Conclusions&FutureRecommendationsThisreporthashighlightedsomeofthetoolsandresourcesBCSAcanutilizetocommunicatewithitsoff-gridconstituency:

1. Radioandtelevisionnetworks;2. Internalsurveyingofsafetyofficers;3. Socialmediaandcommunitywebsites.

Wereport that radioandtelevisionareaneffectivemeansofdisseminating informationto theoff-gridsector, though future studies into the prevalence of these systems in remote households needs to beperformed.Ourlackofdefinitiveknowledgeontheprevalenceofradiocommunicationschannelsinoff-gridcommunitiesisalimitationofthisportionofthestudy.However,becauseitisevidentthatcallsignsforthechannelsCBCRadioOneandCFNRlocalizetoremoteareas,itislogicaltopresumethattheyarewidelylistenedtoinremoteareasofBC.Based on the breadth of information gathered from the safety officer survey we administered, werecommendthatBCSAcarryoutaninternalsurveyinginitiativetogathermoreinformationaboutBC’soff-gridecosystembyreplicatingourapproachwithitsremainingsafetyofficers.Thedatagatheredfromthesesurveyscanbeusedtomakeinformeddecisionsanddriveaction.Alimitationofthisapproachis that it isqualitativebynature;Becauseonlyonesafetyofficer isassignedtoasinglearea inBC, it isimpossible to generate an “average” image of a remote community with quantitative confidence.Additionally,theinformationgatheredfromsafetyofficersisinherentlysubjective.However,itisalsoafactthat safetyofficers are trained individualswithdomain-specific knowledge and the capacity to identifyprominentissuesaffectingtheoff-gridcommunitiestheyserve.Assuch,theanecdotalobservationssafety

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officersmake about their constituencieswould still be valuable for BCSA’s leaders, and can help driveactionabledecision-making.WealsorecommendthatBCSAbolsteritsonlineeffortsinthefuture.Inthisreport,weshowthat100%ofthe 39 communities we evaluated have a presence online (Facebook, websites, etc.). By manuallycontacting a third-party technical installations contractorwho is an administrator of a Facebook grouppertainingtothePrinceGeorgearea,wewereabletocollectvaluableinformationonthestateofsafetyofcommunitiesinthatarea.Thisshowsthatonlinecommunicationsmethodsarevaluabletoolsforengagingoff-gridresidents.Onepotentialchallengetoengagingresidentsviaonlinechannelsisthatsomemaynotbereceptivetointeractingwithauthority.However,giventhehighnumbersofindividualsonecaninteractwithonline,itislikelythatatleastoneorafewindividualswillbereceptivewithineachcommunity.Further,byemployingmethodssuchasA/B-testingspecificresearchquestionsand/orgeo-fencing,BCSAcanlearnmoreaboutBC’soff-gridecosystem.Thisapproachisrelativelycheap,requiringonlyacomputerandthepurchaseonlinesurveyingrights.

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MODULE3:PREDICTINGRISKINOFF-GRIDCOMMUNITIES

Module3:IdentifyingRiskinOff-GridCommunitiesAbstractAfter recent off-grid community incidences in Kennedy Lake and Ashcroft, BCSA has voiced concernregardingthestateofsafetyinruraloff-gridcommunities.Off-gridcommunitiesareofficiallydefinedascommunities that are not connected to theNorth American electric grid nor to the piped natural gasnetwork.Inreality,thesecommunitiesdrilltheirownwells,hookupelectricaldieselgenerators,electricalwiring,sewageplumbing,buildtheirownroads,buildtheirownhomesandinsulatefromtheelements.Ontopof that, theseutilitiesneed tohave theirown safetyequipment suchas smokeandgasdetectors,electricalfuses,firesprinklersinadditiontoroutinemaintenanceandproperinstallation.Inthecity,theseutilitiesarewellintegratedintoeveryhome,strictlyenforcedandroutinelycheckedbylicensedcontractors.Inoff-gridcommunities,however,thesesystemsarealmostnon-existentandthereis a general resistance from the community towards relatively expensive and inaccessible licensedcontractorsandtowardsregulations.Indeed, rural communities have been shown to have a higher chance of accidental injury and injurymortality thantheirurbancounterpart.42,43 It isourgoal thentodeterminewhichoff-gridcommunitieshavethehighestriskofinjury.Inordertodoso,wepresent,inthismodule,boththefactorsthatputacommunityatriskforinjuryandexistingmethodstomodelacommunity’sriskforinjury.Wehaveidentifiedamultitudeoffactorswiththemostcommonbeingacommunity’seducationlevel,incomelevel,aboriginalstatus,socioeconomicstatus,employment/unemploymentrates,degreeofrurality,andthequalityandaccesstotraumaandhealthcareservices.Wehaveadditionallyprovidedalistof4riskpredictionmodelswithwhichBCSAcanuseasaframeworktodesigntheirowncommunityriskassessmentmodel.3.1Objectives Inordertoconstructamodeltoidentifytheriskofinjuryinoff-gridcommunities,BCSAmustfirstunderstandwhatfactorsareusedtoassessriskinoff-gridcommunities.Ourworkinthisfirsttwomodulesaddressesthe“who,where,andhow?”Thismoduleanswersthequestion“What”.Whatfactorsputanoff-grid community at risk andwhatmethods can be used tomodel this? To be able to answer thesequestions,BCSArequiresestablishedfactorsrelatedtoinjuryriskandmethods,whichhavebeenvalidated,tomodelthis.

Toensurethatthefactorsandmodelshavearebothestablishedandvalidated,thismoduleaimsto locatemultiple quality papers that use factors established by research and have been validated bysourcessuchastraumarecords,primarycareproviders,andhealthinsuranceclaims.Thisdatacanthenbecompiledandusedtodeterminetheriskofinjuryforeachofthecommunities.

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3.2Results3.2.1ThereisaconfirmedriskdifferencebetweenruralandurbancommunitiesWefirstsoughttoseeiftherewasadifferenceinsafetyriskbetweenruralversusurbancommunitiesandfoundatimeseriesanalysisthatwasperformedfrom1999to2006ofoveronemillioninjurydeathsacrossoverthreethousandUnitedStatescounties.Injurymortalitywasfoundtoincreasewithincreasingruralityand,afteradjustment,hadapproximatelya1.22timeshigherlikelihoodofinjurydeathwhencomparingthemostruraltothemosturbancommunity.Althoughmotorvehicleaccidentsareseentocontributethemosttotheriskofinjuryand/ordeathinruralcommunities, factors within BCSA’s purview are seen to have an increase in risk injury death in ruralcommunitiesaswell, includingsuffocationandmachineryaccidents (Appendix J).42,43By identifyingandunderstandingtheincreasedmechanismsofriskwithinruralcommunities,BCSAwillbeabletodeterminewhichmechanismstoemphasizewhendisseminatingsafetyinformationtothecommunities.

3.2.2Thereare33communityfeaturesand9socioeconomicstatusindicesthathavebeenpreviouslyusedinriskpredictionmodelsinBC;mostlyforhealthcareTounderstandwhatinformationcouldbeusedtopredictthesafetyriskofaBCremotecommunity,weexaminedpastriskpredictionworkinBC.Interestingly,thoughnotsurprising,themajorityofcommunityriskstudiesweredesignedforthehealthcaresystemineffortstoallocatemedicalresourcesandmanpoweracrossruralBC.Fromthesestudies,wefound33communityfeaturesand9socioeconomicstatusindicesthathavebeenpreviouslyusedtoidentifycommunitiesthatareathigherriskofinjuriesandhavehigherdemandformedicalresources.Themostcommonlystudiedpredictivecommunityriskinjuryfeaturesinclude:

• Education level, income level, race, ethnicity, and/or Aboriginal status, socioeconomic status,employmentand/orunemploymentratioandrates,rurality,andqualityandaccesstotraumaandhealthcareservices

AfulllistoffeaturescanbefoundinAppendixK.Additionally,socioeconomicstatus(SES)canbemeasuredbyanumberofindicesasshowninAppendixL37-40,44-46,48.Thesecommunityfeaturesandindicescontainapredictivepowerforriskinjuryinoff-gridcommunities’andmayaidBCSAinconstructingtheirownriskinjurymodel.

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3.2.2RiskInjuryPredictiveModelsRemarkably,fourqualitypaperswereidentifiedtomodelriskinjurywhichwerecreatedandbasedondatafoundinBritishColumbia.AppendixNsummarizesthesepapersandtheirpossibleuse.Each of the models will produce a relative risk injury score that can be used by BCSA to take intoconsiderationwhenallocatingresourcesforcommunities.Communitieswithahigherriskinjuryscorewillbemorelikelytohaveaninjuryoccurringinthatcommunity.Eachmodelhasitsownlimitationsandshouldbe examined in detail before use; however, a description of each is provided in Appendix N to aid inunderstandingtheparametersofallthemodel.Nomodelisconsideredbetterthananotherandeachhasitsownprosandcons.Majorconsiderationsarewithregardstowhatinformationisavailablefromthecommunities.Forexample,the“RISCResearchProject”paperonlyrequirestwoparametersfromthecommunities,theirlocationandAboriginalstatus.Therefore,communitiesinasimilarlocationandwithasimilarAboriginalstatuswillbegiven the same risk injury likelihood without taking other factors, such as education, SES, etc. intoconsideration.However,ifacommunitycontainslittleinformation,thiscouldbeusedasanestimateuntilmore information is found and amore community specificmodel can be applied. Therefore, it is ourrecommendationthatBCSAconsiderswhichandhowmuchcommunityrelevantinformationisavailablewhenapplyinganyofthemodels.ThisshouldadditionallybetakenintoconsiderationifBCSAproceedsintheconstructionoftheirownriskinjurymodel.

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3.3ModuleConclusions&FutureRecommendations

Identifyingfactorsofriskinjuryisthefirststepinunderstandingwhyruralcommunitieshaveahigherrateofriskinjurycomparedtotheirurbancounterpart.Ascommunities’change,sotoodotheirfeaturesand,therefore, their level of risk. Consequently, it is imperative to keep updated information on thecommunities found in module one. Therefore, the aim of this module is to first, identify communityfactors/featuresthatputoff-gridcommunitiesatriskforinjuryandsecondly,toprovideoptionstoBCSAinwaystomodelthecommunity’sinjuryriskassessment.Inthismodule,itisrecognizedthatthereareanumberoffactorsandgraphicalmodelingmethodsthatcanbe used to determine and display community injury risk. Each model has their advantages anddisadvantageswheremanytimessimplicitymaybeusedduetothelackofinformationonthecommunities.Forexample,theRISCresearchprojectbasesitsriskanalysisaccordingtothecommunity’slocationwithinahealthservicedeliveryarea(HSDA).Theseareascanspanoverlargeregionsoflandandmaydecreasetheaccuracyofthemodelforanindividualcommunitybutalsocreatesamodelwhichiseasytouseandrequireslittledataregardingtheactualcommunity.2There is theopportunityofdrawingon sectors inBC including theprimaryhealthcare systemdata,BCTraumaRegistry,WorkSafeBC insuranceclaims,BCCoroner’soffice,andothervaluabledatasources ifBCSAwishestocreatetheirownriskinjurymodelandvalidateit.However,wealsorecognizethedifficultyof building one’s own model and have identified a health geographer professor who has stated herwillingnesstohelpshouldamodelwishedtobepursued.1,11,5Lastly, we have also seen in thismodule that the ranking of features “deemed” to be themost/leastimportantindeterminingriskinjuryvariesacrosspapers(evenwithinpaperspublishedusinghealthdatainBritishColumbia)andcanbeinconsistent.Duetothisdiscrepancy,thereisaneedtofurtherresearchandunderstandhoweachfactorimpactsinjuryriskandtheirmagnitudeofimpactwithregardstooff-gridcommunitiesinBritishColumbia.Toconclude,thismodelhashighlightedpotentialinjuryriskfactorsandmethodstousethemtopredictcommunitiesatrisk.

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ReportConclusionsInthisreport,wehaveidentifiedandextensivelycharacterizedBC’soff-gridcommunities,providingmulti-demographicdatathatcanbeusedinrisk-predictionapplications.Next,weidentifiedmanyoftherelevantcommunications channelsBCSAcanuse to relay informationandengagewith itsoff-grid constituency.Takentogether,Modules1and3describeaframeworkthat,whenimplemented,canbeusedto(1)identifyand(2)predictrisk,inoff-gridcommunities.Oncecommunitieshavebeenprioritizedforrisk,thevariouscommunicationmethodsdescribedinModule2canbeusedto(3)engagewiththosecommunities.Whilefuturework iswarranted toperfect this framework, theworkdescribedhereinprovidesBCSAwith thecurrent knowledge available on its off-grid constituency and the toolswithwhich to refine its off-gridresearcheffortsandengagements.WehopethatthefindingsofthisprojectwillbeofusetoBCSAandwesincerelythankSoyeanKimandtherestofBCSAforthisincredibleopportunity.ModulesataglanceIn Module 1, we identified approximately 280 remote communities in BC that are listed on publicly-available datasets. From these 280 communities, we mapped 54 off-grid communities that rely onalternativeenergysourcestopowertheirhomes.AsBCSAisinterestedinimprovingresidentialsafetyinoff-gridcommunities,werecommendusingthissetof54communitiesasastartingpointforfurtherwork.Next,weelucidated3methodsof communicatingwithBC’s remote communities.Radioand televisioncommunicationspresentausefulmediumthroughwhichtopassinformationontoremotecommunities.Furthermore,ourhypothesesaboutthepresenceofremotecommunitiesonsocialmediaweresupportedbyfindingsthatindicate100%ofthe39remotecommunitiesweanalyzedhaveanonlinepresenceintheformofFacebookgroupsand/orwebsites.Furthermore,surveyingsafetyofficersprovestobeaneffectivemeansofobtainingvaluable informationon the stateof safety, keypointsof contactandengagementmethods for specific communities.We recommend BCSA expand on these socialmedia and surveyingstrategies to increase their knowledge of their remote constituency in order to makemore informeddecisionsandaffectlastingchange.InModule3,wepresentapotentialapplicationforthedemographicdatacollectedfromModule1(andpotential data that can be collected by the methods described in Module 2). We found existing riskpredictionmodelsthatwereabletoquantifytherelativeinjuryriskofspecificcommunitiesusingsomeofthedemographicalinformationwehavecollected.ThisallowsBCSAtobincommunitiesintorelativeriskgroupssothatitcanprioritizeitsresourceallocations,enablingittoengagethecommunitieswhowillbemostpositivelyimpacted.

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FutureDirectionsInordertobuildontheworkhere,werecommendthatBCSAcontinuouslyupdatethedatabasewehavegeneratedinModule1usingthemethodsdescribedinbothModules1and2.Whiletheresearchmethodsoutlined inModule 1 allowBCSA to gather public data on each community, themethods described inModule2allowittogathertailoredinformationoneachcommunity.ThesecomplementaryresearchtoolsallowBCSAtogatherbothstatisticallysignificantandpersonalizeddataoneachcommunity,makingforacomprehensiveunderstandingofeachremotecommunity.WealsorecommendthatBCSAfacilitate furtherresearchthroughsocialmediaandsurveyingefforts inorder to acquire information on the specifics of each community. Asmentioned inModule 2, remotecommunities are quite heterogeneous in their culture and demographics, and hence, acquiring‘personalized’dataforeachcommunitywillgiveBCSAamoregranularpictureofeachcommunitythatisnotrepresentedbyany’macroscopic’government-ledcensus.Specifically,wearereferringtoinformationabout community centers, key contacts and leaders within each community, and which engagementstrategieswillbemostefficaciousinthatcommunityasisperceivedbytherelevantsafetyofficer.

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MethodsThefollowingpagesdescribethemethodusedtoproducetheresultsinModule1,2and3respectively.

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Module1methods1.4.1SummaryofmethodsInsummary,wehaveidentifieddatasourcesonoff-gridcommunitiesfrompublicly-availablesourcesusingsimpletoolssuchasthegooglesearchengine.WehavethenextractedandcleanedthedatawiththehelpofdatamanipulationtoolssuchasExcel,R,TabulaandWebscraper.io.Whileourmethodsherearefarfromanautomateddatapipeline, itdescribes the logicbehindeachstepthatcouldbeautomated inafutureproject.Finally, it is important tonote thata lotof thework in identifyingreliabledatasources,identifyingsimilarcommunitiesanddatacleaningstillrequireshumaninput.

Figure4.Summaryofdatacollectionmethod

1.4.2FindinglistsofremotecommunitiesTofindlistsofremoteoff-gridcommunities,weusedthefollowingkeywordsinvariouscombinationsingooglesearchandgooglescholarsearch:

• “BritishColumbia”,“off-grid”,“communities”,“rural”,“remote”Thesearchesyieldedanumberofwebsites,whichwefurtherfilteredforrelevancemanuallyandextractedthedataasdescribedbelow:

• Forinteractivewebsiteswithtabledownloadlinks,wedownloadedthe.csvor.xlsfiles.• ForwebsiteswithPDFreports,weusedTabulatoextracttablesofcommunities.• Forwebsiteswithoutatabledownloadlink,weusedwebscraper.ioormanualcopyingtocollect

communitynamesandinformation.1.4.3CheckingOff-gridstatusDependingonthecombinationofthesearchtermsin1.2.1,notalldatasetsinoursearchresultswillclearlydescribetheoff-gridstatusoftheircommunities.Tovalidatetheon/off-gridstatusofthesecommunities,weusedthedefinitionprovidedbyNRCanthat:

1)IdentifyNamesandLocationsof

RemoteCommunities

2)ValidateOff-GridStatusand

EnergyCharacteristics

3)ExtractOtherCommunityFeaturesofInterest

4)CleanandCompileData

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anoff-gridcommunityis:

• anycommunitynotcurrentlyconnectedtotheNorth-Americanelectricalgridnortothepipednaturalgasnetwork;and

• Isapermanentorlong-term(5yearsormore)settlementwithatleast10dwellings.

andlookedatcommunityfeatureswithineachdatasetthatdescribe:• Energyprovider(s)–i.e.BCHydro,FortisBC,Independentproviders• Mainenergysource–i.e.Grid,Diesel,Alternative• Renewableenergysource(s)–i.e.Solar,Wind,Run-of-the-River,Wasteheat• Populationsize

todetermineifacommunityison/off-grid.Wheretheinformationisunavailableforacommunity,wespecifytheon/off-gridstatusas‘unknown’.1.4.4ExtractingothercommunityfeaturesOncewehadcommunitynamesandtheiron/off-gridstatus,wecollectedothercommunityfeaturesthatcouldassistinpredictingresidentialsafetyrisk(Module3)andimprovingcommunityoutreach(Module2).Thisinformationincluded:

• Geographicalinfo–lat,lngcoordinates,region,roadaccess• Communications–communitywebsites• Housinginfo–typesofdwelling• Energyuse–energysupply/demand,fossilfuels,renewableenergy• Socioeconomicinfo–aboriginalstatus,education,age,income,population• Healthinfo–accesstohospitals,doctors,medicaloutreachprograms

Inthecasewherelatitudeandlongitudecoordinateswereunavailable,weusedtheDataBCgeocoderapportheGoogleMapsGeocodingAPItogeocodethecommunity.1.4.5DatacleaningandcompilingThefinalandmostdifficulttaskistocleanandcompilealltheheterogeneousdatasetsintoastandardizedformatforsimpleanalysisandvisualization.Thechallengesincluded

• Inconsistentnamingofcommunitiesand• Conflictingcommunityfeaturesbetweendatasets

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1.4.5.1FixinginconsistentcommunitynamesDuetothemovementofcommunitiesandre-namingofcommunitiesbygovernmentauthoritiesandthecommunitiesthemselves,manycommunitieshavemultiplenamesand/orhavedifferentspellings.Oftentimes,thelocationnamesandfirstnationnamesarealsousedinterchangeablytodescribeacommunity.Thismakestheprocessofidentifyingduplicatecommunitiesachallenge.Tosolvethatproblem,weusedourownapproach(inthefollowingorder):

• Merge exact (and almost exact) duplicates of communities using the R coding language andLevenshteindistancecalculationi.e.“FortWare”,“FortWare”,“FortWare1”->“FortWare(FortWare1)”

• MergeinexactduplicatesofcommunitiesusingmanualdeduplicationinExcel

i.e.“Gwawaenuk”,“Kwa-wa-aineuk”->“Gwawaenuk,(Kwa-wa-aineuk)”

• IdentifyinginterchangeableduplicatesofcommunitiesbygooglesearchingcommunitiesandusingtheBCGeographicalNamesdatabase.i.e.“BellaBella”,“Waglisla”,“HeiltsukFirstNation”->“BellaBella(Waglisla,HeiltsukFN)”

1.4.5.2ResolvingconflictsincommunityfeaturesbetweendatasetsSomecommunityfeatureswerecommonlyfoundacrossdatasetsincluding‘Populationsize’and‘Energydemand/supply’.Insomecases,however,thesamefeatureonthesamecommunitydonotagreebetweentwoormoredatasets.Thiscanhappenforanumberofreasons:

• Somestudiesareolderandthus,outdated(common)• Thecommunitylevelbeingstudiedisdifferentbetweenstudies(i.e.BlockvsVillagevsCensusDA)

(common)• Somestudieshavedifferentmethodsformeasurement

Iftheconflictiscausedbyanolderstudy,weresolvedtheconflictbykeepingthevaluefromthenewerstudy.Forothercaseshowever,wedidnotmergetheconflictingdatasets.Instead,wekepttheidenticalfeaturesseparatebyaddingasuffixtothefeaturenamedenotingthedatasource’sabbreviatedname.i.e.‘Energydemand’featuresfromaNRCan2011paperwillberenamedto‘Energydemand_NRCAN2011’.Therationalehereisthatwewantedtoleaveittotheuserofourdatatodecidewhichfeaturetokeepbasedonandtherelevanceofthedatasourcetothescopeandinterestsoftheiranalysis.

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Module2methods2.4.1RadiocommunicationsdataThe following websites were accessed in order to identify those radio stations whose coverageencompassesgeographicalregionsinBCwhereoff-gridcommunitiesreside:

1. http://www.canadianradiodirectory.com/2. https://radio-locator.com/

ThecommunitiesoutlinedinModule1wereenteredbynameintothesearchfunction.Thenames,callsignsandfrequenciesofstationsthatcoveroff-gridregionswerethentabulated(AppendixD).2.4.2SurveyingtheSafetyOfficersThepurposeofthissurveywastodesignasetofquestionsthat,whenansweredbysafetyofficers,basedontheiranecdotalexperienceswouldyieldvaluableinformationtoBCSAonthestateofsafetyofoff-gridcommunitiesandwoulduncoverkeypointsofcontactthroughwhichBCSAcanengageeachcommunity.Thesurveyconsistedofthefollowingsections:

1. SafetyOfficeridentification2. Awareness3. Community-specifictechnicalsystemsinformation4. Pointsofcontactandcommunityengagement5. Othersalientinformation

Inthefirstsection,thesafetyofficerprovidedtheirnameandjurisdiction,fordocumentationpurposes.Inthe second, the safety officer was asked a series of questions to help identify how many off-gridcommunitiestheyareawareofwhichexistintheirjurisdiction,andwheretheyare.(Note:foracompletelistofthesurveyquestionsseeAppendixE).Inthethirdsection,thesafetyofficerwasaskedaseriesofquestions regarding thecurrent stateof safety in thecommunityof interest. In the fourth section, therespondentwas asked a series of questions about any community leaders, key personnel, communitybulletins,communitybuildings,publicevents,etc,thatwouldbereceptivetoengagementfromBCSAinordertoimprovethestateofsafetyintheircommunity.Inthefifthandfinalsection,thesafetyofficerwaspromptedby the survey administrators to, in “free-form”, describe anyother information theybelievewouldbeusefulforBCSAtoachievetheirgoalofimprovingthestateofsafetyinoff-gridcommunities.Inthecaseofthesurveydescribedinthismodule,GinaMcPherson(Kamloopsregion)wasthesafetyofficerrespondent,andthecommunityofinterestwastheVenablesValley(HareKrishna)community.

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2.2.3SocialMediaandCommunityPresenceDataForthe39off-gridcommunitiesdescribedinModule1,manyhaveanonlinepresenceintheformofsocialmedia(Facebook)groups,communitywebsites,orboth.Totestthiswe:

3. performedagooglesearchusingthenameofeachcommunityasthesearchterm,and4. performedaFacebooksearchusingthenameofeachcommunityasthesearchterm.

2.2.4Off-gridlivingintheYukonThisportionof themoduledescribesworkdonebytheYukonBureauofStatistics incollaborationwithYukon Energy Solution Center (ESC) and Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). It was targeted towardsimproving the reliability, cost effectiveness and social andenvironmental advantagesof the renewableenergytechnologiesandsystemssothatrenewableenergiesbecomethepreferredenergyoptionforthepeoplewholiveofftheelectricalgrid.WefollowedupwiththeresearchersatESCandYukonBureauofStatistics (YBS) which yielded interesting insights on how similar work could be conducted in BritishColumbia.http://emrlibrary.gov.yk.ca/energy/living_offgrid.pdf

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Module3methods3.4.1SummaryofmethodsHere, we have identified a number of features and models that could be used to assess off-gridcommunitiesriskinjuryinBritishColumbia.Wethenvalidatedandconfirmedthequalityofthefactorsandmodels foundwithin thepapers toensure thatBCSAwouldbeconfident inutilizingmodelsbackedbyevidence.Fromthosepapers,weextractedtheinjuryriskfeaturesandidentifiedcommunityfeaturesthatwouldhelpBCSAdeterminetheriskinjuryofthecommunities.Lastly,weutilizedoneofthemodelsusingthe37communities identified inmoduleonetoprovideasnapshotvisualizationofrisk injury inBritishColumbia’soff-gridcommunities.

Figure5.Summaryofriskmodelsearchingprocess3.4.1FindingfactorsandmodelsofinjuryriskTofindpotentialfactorsandmodelsofinjuryrisk,weusedthefollowingkeywordsingooglescholarsearchengine:

• “BritishColumbiainjuryrisk”,“off-gridinjuryrisk”,“traumaandinjuryriskinBritishColumbia”,“ruralandremotehealthserviceburden”

AllsearchresultsyieldedwebpageswhichallowedustodownloadPDFacademicpapers,weusedTabulatoextracttableswithinthePDFifneeded.Paperswerethenreadintotality.3.4.2ValidationandqualityconfirmationTovalidate if the factorsandmodelsaccurately represents risk injury, thepapermusthaveoneof thefollowing:

• Bevalidatedthroughareliableexternalsource,suchastraumarecords,primarycareproviders,andhealthinsuranceclaims

• Bebasedonapaperwhichhashadtheirmodelvalidatedthoughmeansmentionedabove• Havefactorsestablishedthroughscientificresearchand/orwithsimilarresultsfoundorcitedin

oneormorepapersAnyofthepapersunabletomeetthesecriteriawerenotusedinthismodule.

Findingfactorsandmodelsofinjuryrisk

Validationandquality

confirmation

Extractinginjuryriskfeatures

Datacleaningandcompiling

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3.4.3ExtractinginjuryriskfeaturesOnce we had compiled over five risk assessment papers, the papers were categorized for whichcommunities they couldbeapplied to. Forexample, someof thepapers foundonly studiedAboriginalcommunities.Theinjuryriskfeatureswerethenextractedandincluded:

• EducationLevel–noeducation,highschool,university,etc.• IncomeLevel–aboveorbelowthenationalpovertyline• AboriginalStatus–AboriginalorNon-Aboriginal• SocioeconomicStatus–aboriginalstatus,education,age,income,population

Thepaperswherethenassessedforthesizeofthepopulationtested,thenumberoffeatureoverlapbetweenpapers,andtheapplicabilityofthepapertoCanada’soff-gridcommunities.Althoughthefirsttwomeasuresareeasilygaged,thelastmeasureofhowwellapaperreflectsCanada’soff-gridcommunitiesismoredifficulttodetermine.Therefore,studieswithinCanada,andevenmoresowithinBritishColumbia,wereregardedasbetterrepresentativesofBritishColumbia’soff-gridcommunities.

3.2.4DatacleaningandcompilingLastly, the data must be cleaned and compiled to combine the diverse risk injury methods into astandardizedformattocomposeoneormoremodelusingtheestablishedriskinjuryfactors.Someofthechallengesthatoccurredwhencleaningandcompilingthedataincluded:

• Informationofthecommunityfeaturesthatwereneededforthemodelcouldnotbefound• Conflictingdegreesofriskwereidentifieddependingonthemodelused

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ReferencesModule1

1. AANDC.(2012).ecoENERGYforAboriginalandNorthernCommunitiesProgram:Off-GridCommunities.Retrievedfrom:https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1314295992771/1314296121126

2. AANDCandNRCan.(2011).StatusofRemote/Off-GridCommunitiesinCanada.Ottawa:AboriginalAffairsandNorthernDevelopmentCanada(AANDC)andNaturalResourcesCanada(NRCan).

3. AdvamegInc.(2017).BritishColumbiaAgglomerations,Cities,Towns,andVillages.Retrievedfrom:http://www.city-data.com/canada/British-Columbia-Index.html

4. BCHydro.(2010).BCHydroPublicPowerLegacyandHeritageContractAct:RemoteCommunitiesRegulation.RetrievedfromBCHydro:https://www.bchydro.com/energy-in-bc/projects/iskut-extension-project/whats-being-done.html.

5. BCHydro.(2016).BCHydro’sServicePlan2017/18–2019/20.BCHydro.RetrievedfromBCHydro:https://www.bchydro.com/content/dam/BCHydro/customer-portal/documents/corporate/regulatory-planning-documents/service-plans/BCHydro-Service-Plan-2017-18-2019-20.pdf

6. BCHydro.(2015).BCHydro’sSystem–TransmissionandGenerations–asofJuly2015.RetrievedfromBCHydro:https://www.bchydro.com/energy-in-bc/projects/iskut-extension-project/whats-being-done.html.

7. BCHydro.(2016).ISKUT:What'shappening.RetrievedfromBCHydro:https://www.bchydro.com/energy-in-bc/projects/iskut-extension-project/whats-being-done.html.

8. BCHydro.(2015).RemoteCommunityElectrificationProgram.RetrievedfromBCHydro:https://www.bchydro.com/energy-in-bc/our_system/remote_community_electrification.html.

9. BCHydro.(2010).RemoteCommunityElectrificationProgram-FirstNationsFinanceCourse.Retrievedfrom:http://www.cleanenergybc.org/media/BC%20Hydro%20-%20Nick%20Hawley.pdf.

10. BCHydro.(2012).RequestforExpressionsofInterest(the“RFEOI”).CleanElectricityProjectsontheNorthGridofHaidaGwaii.BCHydro.

11. BCHydro.(2016).RequestforInputonNon-IntegratedAreaRates,Terms&ConditionsandCustomerService.RetrievedfromBCHydro:https://www.bchydro.com/content/dam/BCHydro/customer-portal/documents/corporate/regulatory-planning-documents/regulatory-matters/tsay-keh-dene-presentation-20161026.pdf

12. BCHydro.(2009).ToadRiverElectrificationProjectApplication,WorkshopSummary.BritishColumbiaUtilityCommission.Vancouver,BC.

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13. BCRuralNetwork.(2017).WelcometoBCRuralNetwork.Retrievedfrom:http://www.bcruralnetwork.ca/

14. Cotton,M.,(2017).RemoteCanadianTownsandCities.Retrievedfrom:http://www.nomadsontheroad.com/2017/05/remote-canadian-towns-and-cities/

15. Ferreras,J.,(2010).GridConnectiontobring“powertothepeople”.Retrievedfrom:https://jesseferreras.wordpress.com/2010/11/20/grid-connection-to-bring-power-to-the-people/

16. FortisBC.(2017).Serviceareas.Retrievedfrom:https://www.fortisbc.com/About/ServiceAreas/Pages/default.aspx

17. FraserBasinCouncil.RemoteCommunitiesinBCthatarenotconnectedtothemajorgasorelectricitynetworks.Retrievedfrom:http://www.fraserbasin.bc.ca/_Library/CCAQ_RCI/rci_communities_list.pdf

18. FuelCellsBulletin.(2010).BellaCoolapioneershydrogenforenergystorageatremotesites.FuelCellsBulletin,Vol.10,6-7.

19. GEA.(2016).Kitasoohydroelectric.RetrievedfromGygaxEngineeringAssociatesLtd:http://www.gea.ca/kitasoo.html.

20. GovernmentofBritishColumbia.(2012).CommunityEnergy&EmissionsInventory.Retrievedfrom:http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/climate-change/data/ceei

21. Hilary.(2014).DirectoryofElectricUtilitiesinBritishColumbia.Retrievedfrom:http://callmepower.ca/en/directory/bc

22. Inglis,L.(2012).BarrierstoRenewableEnergyDevelopmentinBritishColumbia’sRemoteCommunities.Researchproject-SimonFraserUniversity.

23. Karanasios,K.,andParker,P.(2016).“RecentDevelopmentsinRenewableEnergyinRemoteAboriginalCommunities,BritishColumbia,Canada.”PapersinCanadianEconomicDevelopment16(0):65-81.Doi:10.15353/PCED.V1610.70.

24. Kirby,P.(2009).TheAtlinHydroProject-GenerationforGenerations.TakuLandCorporation:Retrievedfrom:https://www.sfu.ca/cstudies/science/resources/1276722268.pdf.

25. Lam,C.LearnaboutemissiontrendsinyourBCcommunity.Retrievedfrom:https://www.bcemissions.ca/

26. NRCan.(2017).TheAtlasofCanada–RemoteCommunitiesEnergyDatabase.Retrievedfrom:http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/climate-change/data/ceei

27. NRCan.(2016).TheFirstCanadianSmartRemoteMicrogrid:HartleyBay,BC.RetrievedfromNaturalResourcesCanada:http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy/offices-labs/canmet/publications/smart-grid/14421.

28. Pelland,S.,Turcotte,D.,Colgate,G.,&Swingler,A.(2012).“NemiahValleyPhotovoltaic-DieselMini-Grid:SystemPerformanceandFuelSavingBasedonOneYearofMonitoredData.”IEEETransactionsonSustainableEnergy,Vol.3(1),167-175.

29. BCHealthyCommunities.(2017).ResourcesforSmall,RuralandRemoteCommunities.Retrievedfrom:http://planh.ca/rural-resource-portal

30. RezaeiM.,andDowlatabadiH.(2015).“Off-grid:communityenergyandthepursuitofself-sufficiencyinBritishColumbia’sremoteandFirstNationscommunities.”LocalEnvironment,Doi:10.1080/13549839.2015.1031730

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31. RuralCoordinationCentreofBC.(2017).CommunityMap.Retrievedfrom:http://rccbc.ca/community-map/

32. SantaMaria,C.,(2015).SixofthemostremoteplacesinCanada(andtheweather).Retrievedfrom:https://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/six-of-the-most-remote-places-to-live-in-canada/57669

33. StatsCan.(2006).2006CensusofPopulation.Retrievedfrom:http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2006/index-eng.cfm

34. StatsCan.(2011).2011CensusofPopulationProgram.Retrievedfrom:http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/index-eng.cfm

35. StatsCan.(2016).CensusProgram.Retrievedfrom:http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/index-eng.cfm

Module2

36. Jamison,DeanT.(1978).“RadioforFormalEducationandDevelopmentCommunication.”2ndEd.SAGEPublications.

Module3

37. Amram,Ofer,NadineSchuurman,NatalieLYanchar,IanPike,MichaelFriger,andDonaldGriesdale.(2015).“UseofGeographicInformationSystemstoAssesstheErrorAssociatedwiththeUseofPlaceofResidenceinInjuryResearch.”InjuryEpidemiology2(1).InjuryEpidemiology:29.doi:10.1186/s40621-015-0059-y.

38. AnneGeorge,M.,RodMcCormick,ChrisE.Lalonde,AndrewJin,andMariannaBrussoni.(2013).“TheRISCResearchProject:InjuryinFirstNationsCommunitiesinBritishColumbia,Canada.”InternationalJournalofCircumpolarHealth72.doi:10.3402/ijch.v72i0.21182.

39. Brussoni,Mariana,AndrewJin,M.AnneGeorge,andChrisE.Lalonde.(2015).“AboriginalCommunity-LevelPredictorsofInjury-RelatedHospitalizationsinBritishColumbia,Canada.”PreventionScience16(4):560–67.doi:10.1007/s11121-014-0503-1.

40. Dixon,MarkA.,andKarenG.Chartier.2008.“AlcoholUsePatternsAmongUrbanandRuralResidentsDemographicandSocialInfluences,”69–77.

41. Heng,D,RWPong,JRPitblado,CLagacé,andMDesmeules.(2005).“SourcesofDataforRuralHealthResearch:DevelopmentofanInventoryofCanadianDatabases.”JournalofAgriculturalSafetyandHealth11(2):219–27.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15931948.

42. Peek-Asa,C,CZwerling,andLStallones.(2004).“AcuteTraumaticInjuriesinRuralPopulations.”AmericanJournalofPublicHealth94(10):1689–93.doi:10.2105/AJPH.94.10.1689.

43. Ruscio,AnnalisaDi,AlexanderKEbralidze,TouatiBenoukraf,LoyalAGoff,JoylonTerragni,MariaEugeniaFigueroa,LorenaLoboDe,etal.(2014).“SafetyinNumbers:AreMajorCitiestheSafestPlaceintheUnitedStates?”503(7476):371–76.doi:10.1038/nature12598.DNMT1-interacting.

44. Schuurman,Nadine,NathanielBell,JamesR.Dunn,andLisaOliver.(2007).“DeprivationIndices,PopulationHealthandGeography:AnEvaluationoftheSpatialEffectivenessofIndicesatMultipleScales.”JournalofUrbanHealth84(4):591–603.doi:10.1007/s11524-

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007-9193-3.45. Schuurman,Nadine,NathanielBell,MoradSHameed,andRichardSimons.(2008).“A

ModelforIdentifyingandRankingNeedforTraumaServiceinNonmetropolitanRegionsBasedonInjuryRiskandAccesstoServices.”TheJournalofTrauma65(1):54–62.doi:10.1097/TA.0b013e31815efe0e.

46. Schuurman,Nadine,MargoLeight,andMyriamBerube.(2008).“AWeb-BasedGraphicalUserInterfaceforEvidence-BasedDecisionMakingforHealthCareAllocationsinRuralAreas.”InternationalJournalofHealthGeographics7(1):49.doi:10.1186/1476-072X-7-49.

47. Schuurman,Nadine,EllenRandall,andMyriamBerube.(2011).“ASpatialDecisionSupportToolforEstimatingPopulationCatchmentstoAidRuralandRemoteHealthServiceAllocationPlanning.”HealthInformaticsJournal17(4):277–93.doi:10.1177/1460458211409806.

48. Simons,Richard,PenelopeBrasher,TraceyTaulu,NasiraLakha,NadineMolnar,NadineCaron,NadineSchuurman,DavidEvans,andMoradHameed.(2010).“APopulation-BasedAnalysisofInjury-RelatedDeathsandAccesstoTraumaCareinRural-RemoteNorthwestBritishColumbia.”TheJournalofTrauma69(1):11–19.doi:10.1097/TA.0b013e3181e17b39.

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AppendixThefollowingpagesdescribetheappendicesreferredtoinModule1,2and3.

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AppendixA:Off-Gridcommunities

CommunityAboriginal(Y/N)

Population(2016Census)

ServedbyBCHydroorOtherEnergyProvider(Y/N)

EnergyType

Shearwater N 100 N HydroandMicrogrid

ActeonSound N 25 N FossilFuel

BobQuinnLake N 17 N FossilFuel

ChristianValley N 1850 N FossilFuel

DruryInlet N 45 N FossilFuel

McNabCamp N 24 N FossilFuel

MeziadinLake N 193 N FossilFuel

Nuchatlaht N 122 N FossilFuel

SecheltCreek N 45 N FossilFuel

TideLake N 125 N FossilFuel

BakerMineCamp N 30 N FossilFuel(Diesel)

CleaghCreek N 23 N FossilFuel(Diesel)

DeadPoint(SimCreek) Y 10 N FossilFuel(Diesel)

Eastgate N 50 N FossilFuel(Diesel)

EricksonGoldMineVillage(TableMountainGoldProject)

N 130 N FossilFuel(Diesel)

GilfordIsland N 541 N FossilFuel(Diesel)

Gwayasdums Y 27 N FossilFuel(Diesel)

Katit Y 90 N FossilFuel(Diesel)

Machmell N 45 N FossilFuel(Diesel)

MosesInlet N 70 N FossilFuel(Diesel)

PittLake N 45 N FossilFuel(Diesel)

Quaee(Quaee7,Tsawataineuk)

Y 78 N FossilFuel(Diesel)

QuatamRiver N 45 N FossilFuel(Diesel)

ScottCove N 45 N FossilFuel(Diesel)

SeymourInlet N 45 N FossilFuel(Diesel)

Sheemahant N 47 N FossilFuel(Diesel)

Timfor N 45 N FossilFuel(Diesel)

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WesternMines(MyraFalls) N 30 N FossilFuel(Diesel)

ChilcoLake1 Y 5 N Hybrid(Diesel&PV)

Lohbiee(Lohbiee3) Y 91 N Hybrid(Diesel&PV)

BearLake4 Y 151 N unknown

BlueberryRiver Y 197 N unknown

ChilcoLake1A Y 25 N unknown

EarlCreek N 25 N unknown

Garden2A Y 5 N unknown

GreenwoodCamp N 64 N unknown

HalfwayRiver(HalfwayRiver168) Y 172 N unknown

Hornet N 30 N unknown

IngenikaSettlement(IngenikaPoint) Y 234 N unknown

NelsonIsland N<2624(SunshineCoastA) N unknown

Nitinat(Ditidaht) Y<1206(CowichanValleyI)

N unknown

OwenBay unknown <2431(StrathconaC)

N unknown

PendletonBay unknown <1,938(Bulkley-NechakoB)

N unknown

QuadraIsland(CapeMudge10)

Y 147 N unknown

ScottyGold N 80 N unknown

Tanakut4 Y 15 N unknown

VenablesValley N 25families N unknown

DoigRiver Y 118 N RenewableEnergy(Hydroelectric)

Kitasoo Y 292 NRenewableEnergy(Hydroelectric)BackupDiesel

DeaseLake N 335 NRenewableEnergy(Run-ofRiver)

BigBar(JesmondCreek) N 133 N FossilFuel(Diesel)

BoulderBay N 45 N FossilFuel(Diesel)

NarrowsInletLoggingDiv N 45 N FossilFuel(Diesel)

PhillipsArm N 45 N FossilFuel(Diesel)

StaveLake N 55 N FossilFuel(Diesel)

Queen’sCove N 10 N unknown

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AppendixB:Communitylistdatasources

Datasource FullreferenceAANDC&NRCan(2012list)

AANDC.(2012).ecoENERGYforAboriginalandNorthernCommunitiesProgram:Off-GridCommunities.https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1314295992771/1314296121126

AANDC&NRCan(2011report,2013database)

NRCan.(2011).StatusofRemote/Off-GridCommunitiesinCanada.Ottawa:AboriginalAffairsandNorthernDevelopmentCanada(AANDC)andNaturalResourcesCanada(NRCan).http://www.NRCan.gc.ca/energy/publications/sciences-technology/renewable/smart-grid/11916

Karanasios&Parker,UWaterlooSEED(2016report)

Karanasios,K.,andParker,P.(2016).“RecentDevelopmentsinRenewableEnergyinRemoteAboriginalCommunities,BritishColumbia,Canada.”PapersinCanadianEconomicDevelopment16(0):65-81.Doi:10.15353/PCED.V1610.70.

FraserBasinCouncil(undated)

FraserBasinCouncil.RemoteCommunitiesinBCthatarenotconnectedtothemajorgasorelectricitynetworks.http://www.fraserbasin.bc.ca/_Library/CCAQ_RCI/rci_communities_list.pdf

RCCBCCommunityMap(ongoing)

RuralCoordinationCentreofBC.(2017).CommunityMap.http://rccbc.ca/community-map/

Inglis,SFUSPP(2012report)

Inglis,L.(2012).BarrierstoRenewableEnergyDevelopmentinBritishColumbia’sRemoteCommunities.Researchproject-SimonFraserUniversity.

Rezaei&Dowlatabadi,UBCIRES(2015report)

RezaeiM.,andDowlatabadiH.(2015).“Off-grid:communityenergyandthepursuitofself-sufficiencyinBritishColumbia’sremoteandFirstNationscommunities.”LocalEnvironment,Doi:10.1080/13549839.2015.1031730

NRCanRemoteCommunitiesEnergyDatabase(ongoing)

NRCan.(2017).TheAtlasofCanada–RemoteCommunitiesEnergyDatabase.http://atlas.gc.ca/rced-bdece/en/index.html

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AppendixC:Featurelistdatasources

DataSource Featurecategories

StatsCan.(2016).CensusProgram.

Housing,Population,Socioeconomicinfo(detailed)

AANDC.(2012).ecoENERGYforAboriginalandNorthernCommunitiesProgram:Off-GridCommunities.

Energyuse,Offgridstatus

AANDCandNRCan.(2011).StatusofRemote/Off-GridCommunitiesinCanada.Ottawa:AboriginalAffairsandNorthernDevelopmentCanada(AANDC)andNaturalResourcesCanada(NRCan).

Aboriginalstatus,Communityenergyprojects,Energyprovider,Energyuse(detailed),Fossilfueluse,Geographicalinfo,Population

Karanasios,K.,andParker,P.(2016).“RecentDevelopmentsinRenewableEnergyinRemoteAboriginalCommunities,BritishColumbia,Canada.”PapersinCanadianEconomicDevelopment16(0):65-81.

Aboriginalstatus,Communityenergyprojects,Energyuse,Population,Renewableenergy

FraserBasinCouncil.RemoteCommunitiesinBCthatarenotconnectedtothemajorgasorelectricitynetworks.

Energyprovider

RuralCoordinationCentreofBC.(2017).CommunityMap.

Geographicalinfo,Healthnetworkinfo(detailed),Socioeconomicinfo

Inglis,L.(2012).BarrierstoRenewableEnergyDevelopmentinBritishColumbia’sRemoteCommunities.Researchproject-SimonFraserUniversity.

Energyuse,Population,Renewableenergy

RezaeiM.,andDowlatabadiH.(2015).“Off-grid:communityenergyandthepursuitofself-sufficiencyinBritishColumbia’sremoteandFirstNationscommunities.”LocalEnvironment

Offgridstatus,Population,Renewableenergy

NRCan.(2017).TheAtlasofCanada–RemoteCommunitiesEnergyDatabase.

Aboriginalstatus,Communityaccess(detailed),Communityenergyprojects,Communitywebsite,Energyprovider(detailed),Energyuse(detailed),Fossilfueluse,Geographicalinfo(detailed),Population

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AppendixD:RadioandTelevisionChannelsToolargetoincludehere.WillbedeliveredasanexternalfilebyIdoRefaeli.

AppendixE:SafetyOfficerSurvey:Design,Methodology,andDetailedTranscriptsAstandardizedcopyofthesurveywasadministeredbyphonebytheGraduateConsultingProgramtoGinaMcPherson(jurisdiction:Kamloopsarea,VenablesValley)inordertotesttheefficacyofthesurvey.Safetyofficerswerepromptedtoanswerallquestionstruthfully,drawingfromanyknowledgetheyhavegatheredbywayofinteractingwitheachcommunity.Surveyresponseswereretrievedandanswersparaphrasedintheresultssectionbelow.Thegoalofthisexercisewastoidentifyquestionsthatwereusefulingatheringinformationfromsafetyofficersregardingthestateofoff-gridcommunitiesintheirjurisdictions.[SurveyTranscriptBelow]Section1:SafetyofficeridentificationBasicInformation:SafetyOfficerIdentificationNameofinterviewee:GinaMcPherson,electricalspecialty(hereafterabbreviatedasGM).Section2:AwarenessWhatoff-gridcommunitiesdoyouoversee?Therearemultipleoff-gridcommunitiesperarea.Goldbridge“center”;Somecommunitieshaveacenter.VenablesvalleyiswithinGMsassignedregion/jurisdiction.Atthispointoftheinterview,GMsuggestedthatavaluablequestiontoaskasafetyofficerwouldbesomethingtotheeffectof“howmanyoff-gridcommunitiesareyouawareofexistinyourarea?”Howmanysafetyofficersaredesignatedtooverseeoff-gridcommunities?Weinspectbasedontherequeststhatcometoourlist.Requestscomeinbasedonthoseworkingwithintheregulatorysystem.Weonlyfindoutafteranincidentcomesupforthosethatarenotintheregulatorysystem–asisthecaseformostoff-gridcommunities.Their inspectionareasaredesignedgeographicallyandarelooselybasedonpopulationdensity.Regulatory system: anybodywhoworkswithin this system is on record. Due to this not beingenough,safetyofficersarenowassignedtoremotecommunities.

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Tosummarize:SomeremotecommunitiesareunderBCSA’aregulatorysystemandareinspectedonlywhentherequestcomes.Forotherremotecommunities,inspectionisdoneonlywhenthereisanincident.Note:contactinformationforthecommunitiesthatareinBCSA’sregulatorysystemisavailablewithBCSA.Surveyingshouldbedonewiththeseresidentsformoreinformation.Section3:Community-specifictechnicalsafetyinformationWhat are themajor safety violationsor safety incidents youusually see?What are themajortechnicalsystemsassociatedwiththeseincidents?Carbonmonoxidepoisoning(asanaside,GMhasanelectricalspecialty),asaresultofincorrectinstallationsofinstanthotwatergassupply.Insights:GMmentionedthatbyaskingsafetyofficerswhatthemostcommoncausesofincidentsare,BCSAcangainawarenessofwhichengagementstrategies(forexample,educational)wouldbemost useful for that community. In the case of the Venables Valley community, and othercommunitieswithsimilarriskfactors,itwouldbeimportanttoimplementsafetymeasuresaimedatreducingtheriskforcarbonmonoxidepoisoning.Thissectionoftheprovesusefulinidentifyingwhichtypesoftechnicalsystemsaremostprominentinaspecificcommunity,andwillhelpBCSAprioritizeengagementstrategiesaimedatthesespecifictechnicalappliances.Whatarethemostcommoncausesof injurythatyousee?Whatarethemajoronesthat firstcometomind?Verysevereincidentsaretheonlyonesheardabout;smallnon-fatalincidentsarenotcontactedabout.ThisisespeciallythecaseforthosecommunitieswhicharenotregisteredwithBCSA.Arepeopleawareofthefactthatthosespecificpracticescausespecificsafetyrelatedincidents?Ifyes,thenwhatisthereasonthattheystillcontinue?Arethereanyeconomical,logisticaloranyotherreasons?Theydon’tknowwhattheydon’tknow---mostpeopleinremotecommunitiesareunawareoftherisks.Thismaybeduetoanumberoffactors:

• Nocomputersnoaccesstoinformationoutsideofcommunities• Theydon’tunderstandthepositionthey’reputtingthemselvesin• Theyarenoteducatedonhowtoinstalltechnicalsystemssafely

It isat thispoint inthediscussionthatGMbroughtupthetopicofeducation.Specifically, thateducationalstrategiesaimedatincreasingresidents’knowledgeabouttechnicalsystemsandhowtoensuresafeinstallationstakeplace.

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Whatarethemainsourcesofenergyinthiscommunity(e.g.propane,diesel,);whatdotheyuseforheating?Whatdotheyuseforcooking?Forelectricity?Propaneandsolar.Somehavegenerators(dieselorgas).Wood-burningforhotwaterheating.Themain source of electricity is diesel generators. Solar is becomingmore affordable/popular/lessmaintenance.“TheydoNOThavetrainingtodothiskindofstuff.”Insights:thispartofthesurveycanhelpidentifywhichtechnicalsystemsaremostprominentineachcommunity.Section4:Community-specificcommunicationschannelsInherewouldgoasetofquestionsaimedatidentifyingkeyindividualswithineachcommunitywithwhomBCSAcanestablishalineofcommunicationwith.Ginawasasked:Doyouhaveanykeypersonnelcontactsthatyouroutinelyinteractwithinthiscommunity?AswiththemostrecentcaseinVenablesValley:theyhadonecentralpersonthatdisseminatedinfotothecommunity.(“Butthat’sonlyforthecommunityweknewabout.”)Insights:Thisisextremelyvaluableinformation–wenowknowthatsafetyofficersinteractwithcommunity representatives routinely. It is, therefore, reasonable to presume that other safetyofficers in BC also have useful points of contact through which BCSA can engage off-gridcommunities.ThisprovesthatthissurveycanbeusedtouncoverkeypersonnelwithwhomBCSAcanestablishaconsistentlineofcommunications.GMmentionedthatmanyresidentsdonothavecellphonesorlandlines.Theymayalsobereluctanttotalk.“Ifit’spossible,it’shugelyvaluabletoestablishastreamofcommunicationwithonekeymemberofthecommunity,”saidGina.IntheVenablesValleycase,theyhadonecontactthathadanemailaddressandworkedinaregionwheretheycancontacthim.Thiswasgreatlybeneficialtothem.Asasafetyofficer,isthereaspecificcommunitymemberthatyouroutinelyinteractwithinthatcommunitytoperformyourtasks?Yes.ContactinformationavailableuponrequestfromGina.Tothebestofyourknowledge,doesthiscommunityhaveapreferredmeansofdisseminatinginformation to its members? For example, churches, temples, religious buildings, communityevents,bulletinboards,orthroughcommunityleaders(pleasenamethemifcanremember),etc.“VenablesValleyhavetheirtemple.Theyalsohaveasecretarythathaseveryone’shomeaddress,aswellasothercontact information.Mostof the residents inVenablesValleydo, in fact,haveemails.”

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Ifthereisaninjury,wheredopeopleinthecommunitygotogethelp?Arethesecommunitiesreceptivetogettinghelp?“Forthemostpart,yes;Others,notsomuch.VenablesValleyisaHareKrishnacommunity.Thismeansthatitsresidentsshareacommonspiritualbond.”GMmentionedthatitwouldbemostproductivetofindonepersonwithinthiscommunitythatcanserveasthepointofcontact.Insights:“Communitiesthathaveastructureareeasiertopenetrate”.Itisatthispointinthesurveythattheconversationdriftedtothetopicofeducation.Wouldeducationalengagementstrategiesbeusefulinyouropinion?“Itwouldworkgreatforsome,butforothersnotsomuch,”saidGina.“Ifyoucouldfindtheleaderofthecommunityandpresenttherighteducation,thatwouldbeuseful.”Whatisitaboutthecommunitythatwouldmakethemreceptive?Somepeoplejustareandsomepeoplejustwanttobeleftalone…Theybasicallyneedtounderstandwhyeducationalservicesareservingtheirbestinterest.”“Expanding on this issue: it’s not just off-grid communities that need this. There are somecommunitiesongridthatneedhelpwitheducationtoo.Whatcomestomind,firstnationsland/indigenous people: they don’t understand that they are required to follow the rules andregulations.”AccordingtoGM,thisisaveryprominentissueinaboriginalreserves.ItisimportantforBCSAtocommunicatetothemthattheywould,infact,savemoneyifgotoperatingpermits.Takehomemessage:beabletoexplaintothemwhytheyneedtocomplywithcertainregulations,andwhythatisintheirbestinterest.“Safety officers are great as the first line of raising awareness,” said Gina. “For example, forpropaneuse, itwouldbeusefulforresidentsto learnfrompropanecompanies(localcompany)howtofilltheirtanks.”“Animportantstepisoutreachingtoruralsuppliersthathelpthemgettheirsupplies”Problem:Ginasaysthatmoreandmorepeoplearestartingtobuytheirpartsonline.Section5:pointsofcontactandcommunityengagementEducationalservices.“informationalkits”–quickpamphlets;Ikeastyle.Easytouse.Lotsofpictures,etc.Ginasaysthiswouldbeuseful.Ortheownerofthegas-stationfillingthepropanetanks.

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Problem:“ifthebookletistellingthemhowtodoregulatedwork,that’saproblem.BecauseBCSAcan’tpromotedoingunregulatedwork.Instead,BCSAwouldhavetopromotethevalueofdoingregulatedwork; the valueofhavingapersonwith the right credentialsdo the jobproperly,orlearninghowtodoitrightyourselfwithapermit.Showthemwhatwouldgowrongiftheydiditunregulated.”“Another potentially useful way to engage a community is by training community leaders as‘designatedsafetypersonnel’forthatcommunity,”saidGina.“Thiswouldbeliketrainingotherpointsofcontact.”“Taking advantage of community bulletin boards, or other places that community residentsfrequent,wouldalsobeagoodstrategy,”saidGina“specificallyforsmallercommunitieswhodonotknowthatBCSAexists.”“OneofthebigchallengesforBCSA,”saidGina,“istellingpeoplewhoweare!”–branding.StrategyrecommendedbyGM:Atthispoint,weaskedGMifshecanrecommendanystrategiesthatwouldworkspecificallyforthe Venables Valley community. She said, “Find out who is a leader/contact person for thecommunity(hasemailphoneetc)andusethemasaportalintothatcommunity.”Free-formsectionIn this section,weaskedGMtomentionanyothersalient information thatshe findswouldbeusefultoaskinthesurvey.ShementionedthatitwouldbeusefulforBCSAtogatherinformationfrom other Safety Officers within jurisdictions that come in direct contact with off-gridcommunities.

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AppendixF:CommunitywebsitesandsocialmediapagesTownName PointofContact link Facebook

AnahimLake AnahimLakeCommunityAssociation(Facebook)Clinic/HealthCare

http://rccbc.ca/anahim-lake/ https://www.facebook.com/Anahim-Lake-Community-Association-291757474269859/

Atlin CommunityWebsiteSchools

http://www.atlinbc.com/http://rccbc.ca/atlin/atlin-general-info/

https://www.facebook.com/places/Things-to-do-in-Atlin-British-Columbia/106068792758236/

BaptisteSmith1B(BaptisteMeadow2)

Cheifs&Council http://inshuckch.com/about/samahquam/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Baptiste-Smith-Indian-Reserve-1B/1506723282966974

BellaBella HeiltsukEconomicDevelopmentCorporation(DaveJephcott)Jorgensencommunityphonenumbers

http://www.macleans.ca/news/bella-bella-the-town-that-solved-suicide/https://www.heiltsuknation.ca/contact/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bella-Bella-BC/330152250407492?ref=br_rs

BellaCoola FacebookGroups https://www.facebook.com/BellaCoolaMusicFestival/https://www.facebook.com/VisitBellaCoola/https://www.facebook.com/groups/1533967326864053/permalink/1797555987171851/

Advertisementboard:https://www.facebook.com/groups/1533967326864053/?ref=br_rs

Douglas/St'at'imc(Douglas8)

DouglasBandOfficeandCommunityevents/NewsFacebookGroup

http://www.xaxtsa.ca/https://www.facebook.com/XaxtsaFirstNation/

https://www.facebook.com/statimchydro/?ref=br_rsandhttps://www.facebook.com/Statimc-Education-Training-453241161441919/?ref=br_rsorhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/1603815236506255/?ref=br_rs

Ehattesaht(Chenahkint)

Cheifs&Council http://ehattesaht.com/chief-and-council/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Ehattesaht/?ref=br_rs

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FinlayRiver(FraserFortGeorgeGdata)

ResourcesandLandsCEO-DannyCaseCommunityPower

http://bcafn.ca/community/kwadacha/http://www.communitypower.ca/2016/08/05/kwadacha-nation/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/210351286018072/(FraserFortGeorgeCommunityAssociation)

Kwadacha(FortWare)

Cheifs&CouncilResoruces&landCEO-DannyCase

http://www.kwadacha.com/contacthttp://bcafn.ca/community/kwadacha/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1479458202298591/?ref=br_rsorhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/10532140565/?ref=br_rsorhttps://www.facebook.com/places/Things-to-do-in-Fort-Ware-British-Columbia/104324529608356/

GoodHopeLake(DeaseRiver)

ElvisFjellner-developmentgeneralmanager&communitywebsite

http://bcafn.ca/community/dease-river/http://www.kaskadenacouncil.com/kaska-nations/dease-river-first-nation

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Good-Hope-Lake/138159129538122orhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/392894707736501/?ref=br_rs

GreenwoodCamp

Newspaper http://www.boundarycreektimes.com/

n/a

GwawaenukTribe(Hopetown)

Schools Schools:HopeSecondary,TwoRiversEducationhttp://www.fvdes.com/node/371,CEBarryIntermediateSchoolhttps://www.facebook.com/cebarryschool/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gwawaenuk-Tribe/279181529202066

HartleyBay(Kulkayu4)

Council&Corporations(land,marine,forestry,fisheries,tourism,planningandmanagement)

http://www.gitgaat.net/contact.html

https://www.facebook.com/places/Things-to-do-in-Hartley-Bay-British-Columbia/107928869230267/

Hesquiaht(RefugeCove6)

Store,Café,FuelDock,andHarbourcontact

http://www.refugecove.com/ https://www.facebook.com/places/Things-to-do-in-Refuge-Cove-British-Columbia/113530168659222/andhttps://www.facebook.com/Hesquiaht/

Iskut/Eddontenajon

Bandcouncil,facebookfeed,andnewsletter

http://iskut.org/ https://www.facebook.com/iskutband/andhttps://www.facebook.com/pages/Eddontenajon-Lake/924204290980786orhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/392894707736501/?ref=br_rs

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Katit TribalManager-RobertDunca

http://www.wuikinuxv.net/ n/a

KennedyLake Contactnewspapersinvolvedinincidentcoverage

http://www.vancouversun.com/Kennedy+Lake/3695896/story.html

https://www.facebook.com/groups/249933538379783/?ref=br_rsorhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/711275982322119/?ref=br_rs

Kitasoo KerrWoodLeidalHydroGenerationcontactExecutiveChiefOfficer-BenRobinson

www.kwl.ca/projects/kitasoo-small-hydro-generation-systemhttp://bcafn.ca/community/kitasoo/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kitasoo-Band-Council/882917048487786orhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/335125879938246/?ref=br_rs

Kluskus(Sundayman'sMeadow)

Adminpointofcontact

http://lhooskuz.com/?page_id=1591

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kluskus-Indian-Reserve-1/822184437893817

Kwicksutaineuk-ah-kwaw-ah-mish(Gwayasdums)

CommunityWebsite http://www.khfn.ca/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/182053179245/orhttps://www.facebook.com/pages/Kwicksutaineuk-Band-Council/507820729423847

LillooetLake Cityhallcontactcommunityfacebook

http://lillooetbc.ca/https://www.facebook.com/visitlillooet/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lillooet-Lake/105484286151474

LowerPost3 Cheifs&Council http://www.kaskadenacouncil.com/kaska-nations/liard-first-nation

n/a

Masset CommunityWebsite&ContactsFacebook

http://massetbc.com/contact/https://www.facebook.com/VillageOfMasset/

https://www.facebook.com/places/Things-to-do-in-Masset-British-Columbia/108270259201355/orhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/305456316220031/?ref=br_rsorhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/212200805469996/?ref=br_rs

NemaiahValley(ChilcoLake&Lohbiee)

Chief(RogerWilliam)&CommunityWebsite

[email protected]://www.xeni.ca/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nemaiah-Valley-British-Columbia/139120246115456?ref=br_rs

PortClements CommunityWebsite http://www.portclements.ca/village-office/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/152718168842/

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QueenCharlotteCity

School(communitycollege)

https://www.nwcc.bc.ca/campus/queen-charlotte-campus

https://www.facebook.com/Village-of-Queen-Charlotte-132877200165045/?ref=search

SeymourArm CommunityAssociation

http://seymourarm.net/contact/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1431774517114522/?ref=br_rs

SimCreek(DeadPoint5)

FirstNationWebsite http://danaxdaxw.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=711d0834bb81f4f5b4fcad2bf06efaa9&

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sim-Creek-Indian-Reserve-5/642971422472219

SkidegateLanding(akaSkidgate1)

Communitywebsiteandeducationcontacts

http://www.skidegate.ca/Pages/contacts.htmlhttp://www.city-data.com/school/sk-aadgaa-naay-elementary-bc.html

https://www.facebook.com/groups/281430868581328/?ref=br_rs

Skookumchuck(Skatin)

Cheifs&Council http://inshuckch.com/about/skatin/

closedgroup:https://www.facebook.com/groups/305163116236412/

TelegraphCreek6A

Schools http://www.sd87.bc.ca/Contact%20Us.php

https://www.facebook.com/groups/392894707736501/?ref=br_rsorhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/2253471009/?ref=br_rs

Tipella EngergyProvider https://www.cclgroup.com/cclinfrastructure/en/home/our-investments-main/cc-l-infrastructure-investments/energy-infrastructure/harrison-hydro-projecthttp://www.innergex.com/en/site/tipella-creek/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tipella/1410941665837949?ref=br_rsorhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/1603815236506255/?ref=br_rs

Tlatlasikwala(HopeIsland1)

Council http://www.tlatlasikwala.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tlatlasikwala-First-Nations/839892532849250?ref=br_rs

ToadRiver CityHall&EducationContact

http://www.northernrockies.ca/EN/main/Communities/toad-river.htmlhttp://www.sd81.bc.ca/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Toad-River-British-Columbia/133590683348366?ref=br_rs

54


Tsawataineuk(Quaee7)

CommunityWebsite&Contacts

http://www.kingcome.ca/ https://www.facebook.com/pages/Quaee-Indian-Reserve-7/949007005195907?ref=br_rs

Uchucklesaht(Elhlateese2)

Cheifs&Council http://www.uchucklesaht.ca/cms.asp?wpID=192

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Uchucklesaht/412481582114072?ref=br_rsorhttps://www.facebook.com/pages/R%C3%A9serve-indienne-Elhlateese-2/991568807549137?rf=1516201865376643

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AppendixG-PhotosofInstallationwhereSafetyNormsarebeingViolatedThissectionshowstheImagesreceivedfromMr.GraigPearen.UnsafeInstallations(Site1):

56


BurntWire:

Junctionblock;unsafeelectricalwiring:

Incorrectboltsizesusedforbatteryconnections,causingleadposttomelt,burningaholeinthecell:

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AppendixH:SummaryofYBSreporton“Off-GridLivingintheYukon”ThisprojectwasincollaborationwithYukonEnergySolutionCenter(ESC)andNaturalResourcesCanada(NRCan).Itwastargetedtowardsimprovingthereliability,costeffectivenessandsocialandenvironmentaladvantagesoftherenewableenergytechnologiesandsystemssothattheybecomethepreferredenergyoptionsforthepeoplewholiveofftheelectricalgrid.Theprojectconsisted of telephonic survey of 254 off-grid owners in Yukon. Even though, the work wastargetedtowardsunderstandingthe“energy”perspective,theresultsfromthesurveycouldbereadilyusefultoBCSAinformulatingthesafetystrategiessince,thesurveythrowsalightonwhatenergyresourcesareusedintheoff-gridhouses.Followingarethefindingsassummarizedinthereportsweprivatelyreceived(someofthefindingsarepublishedintheopenliterature):SummaryReport:In thewinter of 2003, 254 individuals, owning residential property off the electric grid, weresurveyedbytheYukonBureauofStatisticsontheirenergyuseandgeneration..Ofthese,85statedthat the dwelling was their main residence (110 said it was a recreational property and theremaining59indicatedotheruses.Therestofthissummarydealsonlywithmainresidences.Ofthemainresidences:

• Almostall(94%)usetheirdwellingyear-round.• 60%operatedsomekindofbusinessfromtheproperty.• Most(46%)weremorethan5kmfromthegrid.• Ofthoseclosetothegrid(lessthan1km)morethanhalf(58%of19respondents)donot

intendtoconnect.Ofthosefurtheraway,40%saidtheywouldwanttoconnectifitwereavailable,another30%statedthatitdepends(mainlyoncostorprice)and27%statedtheywouldnotconnecttothegrid.Overall,34%ofrespondentsindicatedtheydidnotwanttoconnecttothegrid.

Energyuse• Propaneisusedforcookingbymost(84%)• Mosthaveawoodstove(84%),andthemajorityrelyonitmostforheating(63%).90%use

woodheatofsomekindoranother.Freestandingheatersaresecondafterwoodstoves,butmuchlesspopular.

• Morethan2/3useAClightsandfixturesforlightingandhalfrelyonthemformostoftheirlight.OtherpopularformsoflightsarepropanelampsandDCbulbsandfixtures,usedbyabout30%.

• Pumping water is donemore often using 120/240 AC pumps (39%) than by gasoline-poweredpumps(30%)

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• Propane is themostpopular energy source forheatingwater (62%) followedbywood(40%).Hotwatertanksarethemostpopularhotwaterheatingsystem,followedbykettlesorpotsonthestoveandin-linedemandheaters.

• Themajorityhaverefrigerators(propanearemostpopular)andwashers.Smallernumbershavefreezersanddryers,withdishwashersbeingtheleastpopularmajorappliance.

• Smallappliancesusedinorderofpopularityare:o TV 78.8%o VCR 74.1o Stereomusicsystem 70.6o Blenderfoodprocessor 62.4o Radio 57.6o Blockheater 56.5o Satellitedish 51.8o Printer 50.6o Iron 48.2o Desktopcomputer 45.9o Microwave 44.7o Toaster 43.5o Othersmallappliance 32.9o Othercomputerperipherals 27.1o Laptopcomputer 25.9o Clockradio 23.5o Clock 20.0o Coffeemaker 20.0o Fax 20.0o Electrickettle 15.3o Canopener 8.2o None 5.9

• Toolsandequipmentused,inorderofpopularityare:o Small120Velectrichandtools 87.1o Cordlesspowertools 76.5o Largestationarypowertools 70.6o Compressor 56.5o Welder 44.7o Heavyequipment 34.1o Other 9.4o None 7.1

EnergyGeneration

• Almosteveryonehasagasolineordieselpoweredgenerator.• 57percentalsousegreenenergy(mostlyPV–53%–andsomewind–7%;norespondents

usedmicro-hydro)

59


• Two thirds have a battery bank and 60 percent an inverter; i.e. some of respondentswithoutgreenenergygenerationstillusebatteries&inverters.

• ·HardlyanyonegeneratesmostoftheirelectricityusingPVinthewinter,about40%dosointhesummermonths.ForthosewithPV,aboutthree-quartersgeneratemostoftheirelectricityusingPVduringthesummer.

• Mediangenerating systemcostwas$10,000.However, thoseusingPVhaddouble themediancost($12,500)ofthosewhodidnot($6,000)

Generators:

• Medianpowerofgeneratorswas6.7kW.Themajorityhavemorethanonegenerator.• Duringthewintermonths,veryfewusedtheirgeneratorsall thetime,butclosetothe

majorityusedthemeveryday.Onlyaboutonequarterusedthemeverydayduringthesummermonths.

• Mediancostofgeneratorswas$4,750.Surprisingly,notverydifferentforthosewithgreenenergy($4,500)vs.thosewithout($5,000).

• Medianannual reportedgenerator fuel costwas$1,440.Considerablyhigher for thosewithoutgreenenergy$3,000Vs,$775forthosewithPVand/orwindelectricitygeneration.

• In sizing their generators, themajority (56%) based it on power consumption of theirlargesttoolorappliance.Thenextmostimportantfactorwasprice(17%)

• Most felt heir generator worked well (91%) although 29% mentioned some desirablechanges:e.g.switchtodiesel,quieter,orreplacements.

Photovoltaicsystems

• AveragenumberofPVpanelswasfive,withmedian295totalWatts• MostcommonlocationofPVpanelswasontheroof(51%)followedbyfixedfreestanding

panels(30%)andonthewall(14%)• 40%hadmodifiedtheirPVsystemssinceoriginalinstallation.Mostcommonchangeswere

addingpanels(18%ofdwellingswithPV)andaddingbatteries(9%).• Indesigningsystem,over60%statedthattheyestimatedenergyconsumption.• MediancostofPVsystemwas$6,000.• 41%ofrespondentswithPVsystemswouldlikealargersystemormorepanels.42%stated

itworkedwell.Batteries

• Two-thirdsoftotalsurveyrespondents(mainresidences)hadabatterybank.• 78%ofrespondentswithbatterybankshad12-voltbatteries.13%used24Voltsand9%

didnotknowtheirbatteryvoltage.• 35%usedeep-cyclebatteries,20%“other”batteries,16%6-Voltbatteries,and11%used

2-Voltbatteriesinseries.• More than 2/3 used their generators to charge battery banks. The majority of those

withoutgreenenergyalsousedgeneratorstochargetheirbatteries.Inverters

60


• 60%ofrespondentswhogenerateelectricityhaveinverters.• Medianinverterwattagewas2,000Watts.

WecontactedYukonEnergySolutionCenterandhadane-mailconversationwithCathyCottrell.CathyisaseniorenergyplanneratESCandworkedonthisproject.Cathysentustheprogressreportsatvariousstagesofthisproject.Aftergoingthroughthesedocuments,werealizedthatsomeoftheirrecommendations,approachesandfindingsareusefultoBCSA.Thesearediscussedbelow.

1) KnowledgeTransfer-Thereportmentionsthatlargenumberoftheoff-gridresidentshasaccesstotheinternet.Therefore,werecommendBCSAtoaddawebpagedescribingthis“Off-GridSafetyInitiative”.Thiswillbeacommunicationplatformwhereoff-gridresidentscanposttheirquestionsaboutthesafetyandexpertsatBCSAwilltrytoanswerthose.Thiswebpagewillalsobeacompletesafetyguidefortheoff-gridresidents.Theresearchersworkingonthisprojectrecommendedthesame–“ItisrecommendedthatESCaddanoff-gridforumpagetoitswebsite.Off-gridresidentsandotherinterestedpartieswouldvisitthesitetoposttechnicalquestionsrelatedtorenewableenergysystemsnorthof60ºorreceive support from ESC staff and others. The focus would be on solving buildingenvelope,mechanicalsystemandrenewableenergysystemsproblems inan integratedfashion and the initiative would rely on government and non-government contactsestablished during the charette. A surprisingly high number of off-grid residents haveInternet access. But for those who do not the site would also require a phone-basedsystem”.

2) Engagementoftheresidents-Werecommendwhiledevelopingthestrategyfortheoff-grid residents, it is important to educate them about the safety concerns and moreimportantlyinvolvingtheminthediscussion.ThesuccessoftheYukonprojectwasbasedonthisfact.Asmentionedinthereport–“Thekeytogettingpeopleinterestedinmakingtheirhomesmoreenergyefficientistoeducatethemabouttheissuesandinvolvetheminthediscussionsofwhatneedstobedone.”

3) Surveying–Theresultsshowthatsurveyingtheoff-gridresidentsyieldedvaluableresults.Basedonthisevidence,goingforwardwerecommendBCSAtoimplementmethodologyofsurveyinginthedatacollection.

ReportssentbyCathymentionthatthesurveyingwasdonebyYukonBureauofStatistics(YBS)becauseoftheirexperienceinsurveyinginruralcommunitiesandaquotationwithlowcost.WecontactedYBSandcommunicatedwithRachelWestfall.RachelisaseniorstatisticianatYBS.Since,shehasstartedworkingwithYBSfrom2007andthesurveyingwasdonein2002,shedidnotknowhowitwasdoneandhowtheinitialcontacttotheresidentswasestablished.However,shesentusacompletequestionnairethatwasusedtosurveytheoff-gridresidents.Thisquestionnaireiscomprehensivefromtheenergyperspectivebutnotexhaustivefromthesafetypointofview.Nonetheless,itservesasaneffectiveframeworkforthe“safety”surveyandwerecommendBCSAtoconsiderusingit.ShealsomentionedthatYBSdidnotpayanythingtotheresidentsforthesurveyexceptthecostofthephonebill.

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WealsoaskedRachelifitispossibleforYBStoconductsimilarworkinBC,towhichRachelforwardedoure-mailtotheprogramdirector(atYBS),BishnuSaha.Wearewaitingtohearbackfromhim.

AppendixI:KeyContactsformodule2CathyCottrell

SeniorEnergyPlanneratYukonEnergySolutionCenter(ESC)Email:[email protected]:(867)393-7148

RachelWestfallSeniorStatisticianatYukonBureauofStatistics(YBS)Email:[email protected]:(867)-667-5383

BishnuSahaProgramDirectoratYukonBureauofStatistics(YBS)Email:[email protected]

CommunityPower

Email:[email protected]:www.communitypower.caPh:(604)-598-8428(Vancouver)

FirstNationsHealthAuthority(FNHA)

Email:info@communWebsite:www.fnha.caPh:(604)-693-6500,TollFree:1-866-913-0033

AlcoholicsAnonymousinBC/YukonArea79Email:[email protected]:www.bcyukonaa.orgMail:c/oRemoteCommunitiesCommitteeChairBC/YukonArea79P.O.Box4211Vancouver,

BCV5S4R5.GinaMcPhersonGinaMcPherson|SafetyOfficer,ElectricalBRITISHCOLUMBIASAFETYAUTHORITYEmail:[email protected]:A-1278DalhousieDr,KamloopsBCV2C6G3Ph:250.299.3888|cell:250.299.3888|tollfree:1.866.566.7233

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AppendixJ:CausesofAccidentalDeathsandTheirPrevalenceinRuralandUrbanSettings

DataextractedfromRuscioetal.,20147andgraphicallytransformed

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AppendixK:InjuryRiskFactors

AfulllistofriskfeaturesthatwereassessedinBritishColumbia.EMS=EmergencyMedicalServices.Datawasextractedfromreferences2,3,6,7,9,and12.

AppendixL:SocioeconomicStatusIndices

Commonsocioeconomicindices.ItissuggestedthatBCSAusestheSchuurmanetal.2007referencewhenselectingasocioeconomicindicatorasthisreferencecomparesandcontraststheindicesinaconcisemanner.Datawasextractedfromreferences3and8.

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AppendixM:SocioeconomicStatusIndicesandassociatedfactors

Asampleofsocioeconomicindicesandthefactorstheyarebasedon.Datawasextractedfromreference7andhttps://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1419864229405/1419864303946.

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AppendixN:ModelsofRiskInjuryFourqualitypapers,allofwhichweregeneratedwithBritishColumbiadata,wereidentifiedaspotentialmodelsforBCSAtopredictanddepictinjuryriskinoff-gridcommunities.Inthisappendix,wediscussthegeneralinput,output,andbriefmethodsofeach.Oneofthepapers,titled“TheRISCResearchProject:InjuryinFirstNationsCommunitiesinBritishColumbia,Canada”willalsohavedatafromthe37communities,foundinmoduleone,runthroughitsmodel.2Paperswillbereviewedinthefollowingorder:38,39,45,and48.Model1:“TheRISCResearchProject:InjuryinFirstNationsCommunitiesinBritishColumbia,Canada”ThispaperlooksatcorrelativedatacomparingHSDAlocationandAboriginalstatus(input)todischargesummaries,primarycarevisits,andcompensationinjuries(method).Usingaweightingfactor,theyarethenabletoobtainacorrelativemeasure(output).Inparticular,thispaperprovidesageographicalmodelwhichcanberapidlygeneratedandutilizedbyBCSA.

Figure6.Depictstheinputofinformationrequiredtousethemodel,themethod’sdatabasetheinputiscompairedagains,andthefinaloutputthatoccurswheninputtinginformationthroughthemethodsprocess.

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Figure7.DepictstheHealthServiceDeliveryAreasofBritishColumbia.MappreparedbythegovernmentofBritishColumbia.Retrievedfrom:http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/data/geographic-data-services/land-use/administrative-boundaries/health-boundariesModel2:“AboriginalCommunity-LevelPredictorsofInjury-RelatedHospitalizationsinBritishColumbia,Canada.”Thispaperlooksatcorrelativedatacomparingpredictorsofrisksuchastotalincomepercapita,remoteness,environmentalindex,etc.(input)todischargesummariesandcompensationinjuries(method).Usingaweightingfactor,StandardizedRelativeRisk(SRR)ofindirectstandardizationbyKahnandSempos1989,adjustingforgender,age,andHSDA,theyarethenabletoobtainacorrelativemeasure(output).Allinall,thispaperconsidersthegreatestnumberofpredictorsofriskinputandwouldaidBCSAshouldtheywishtopursueacomplexmulti-parametermodel.

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Model3:“AModelforIdentifyingandRankingNeedforTraumaServiceinNonmetropolitanRegionsBasedonInjuryRiskandAccesstoServices”Thispaperlooksatcorrelativedatacomparingpredictorsofriskincludingpopulation,isolation,andvulnerability(input)totheBritishColumbiaTraumaRegistrywithaninjuryseverityscoregreaterthan12(method).Usingaweightingfactor,theinputsarethenstandardizedandsummatedor“amplified”andcorrelatedtothetraumadatatodeterminewhichcommunityisthemosttoleastvulnerable(output).Uniquetothispaperisthattheoutputisalsomodeledasawebgraphicwhichallowseasyvisualizationofthelocationandthedegreeofvulnerabilityofeachcommunity.ThispapernotonlyusesavarietyofriskfeaturesfoundinAppendixCbutalsoprovidesapowerfulwebgraphictoolthatBCSAmayutilizeshouldtheywishtocreatetheirownmodel.

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Model4:“APopulation-BasedAnalysisofInjury-RelatedDeathsandAccesstoTraumaCareinRural-RemoteNorthwestBritishColumbia.”Thispaperlooksatthespatialgeographicalrelationofcommunities(input)andrelatesthemtotheirHSDA’straumarelateddeath,injury,andhospitalization(methods).AstandardweightingfactoristhenappliedtoachieveacorrelativerelationshipbetweentraumaandNHSlocation(Output).Uniquetothispaperistheadditionofqualitativedataintheformofchartreviewsandfocusgroupinterviews.ThechartreviewhelpedprovideabetterunderstandingoftheaccessandqualityoftraumaservicewithinNHAwhilethefocusgroupshighlightedbarriersoftraumaservicesuchastimeofincidentscenediscovery,primarytransport,stabilization,hospitalaccess,intraregionalandtertiaryreferralprocesses,andcontinuingtraumaeducation.12Thisdata,therefore,willnotonlyelucidatethelikelihoodofaninjuryoccurringbutwillalsorevealtheprobabilityofthattraumarelatedinjuryresultingindeathduetothelackofaccessandqualityoftraumacare.

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