Mountaineering Scotland and the BMC to promote mountain safety through joint ‘Near Miss’ reporting

Mountaineering Scotland and the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) have announced a joint project aimed at improving the safety of hillwalkers, climbers, mountaineers and others who enjoy spending time exploring the hills and mountains.

The ‘Near Miss’ online reporting system, which encourages the collection and sharing of reports from close calls in the mountains, consists of a simple online form which can be completed by anyone in the UK and Ireland. Information collected by the system will be available for everyone to read, with the hope that people will learn from the experiences of others and gain knowledge which will keep them safe on their own adventures.

Ross Cadie, Senior Mountain Safety Advisor at Mountaineering Scotland, said: “It’s great that our two organisations are able to work together for the benefit of every mountain-user. By sharing near miss reports, we can collectively improve our understanding of the challenges faced in the mountains and work towards safer mountain experiences for all. It has always been important to learn from our mistakes, but learning from the experiences of others is even better!”

The key highlights of the new reporting system are:

• Near Miss Portal: A centralised online platform for sharing experiences and lessons learned from close calls from across the UK and Ireland.
• Community Engagement: Encouraging the mountaineering community to actively participate in reporting and reviewing near miss incidents.
• Educating: Those new to the hills can benefit from the seasoned experiences of others, gaining knowledge that could be lifesaving.

Dan Middleton, Climbing Development Manager at the BMC said: “It’s great to work together with Mountaineering Scotland on this project, and by joining forces to share this scheme we both hope that this will lead to a more open safety culture to the benefit of us all.”

Those in Scotland who wish to share their close calls can do so by visiting Mountaineering Scotland’s dedicated ‘Near Misses’ page, or for those living in the rest of the UK and Ireland, the BMC’s Incident Reporting page.

Mountaineering Scotland would like to thank the BMC for all their hard work in establishing this project.