Risk assessment for very large natural rock slopes

The mortality rate associated with landslides in Italy over the course of 1999 was calculated to be 0.14 deaths per 100,000 people (Guzzetti 2000) – a figure not dissimilar to the rate for workplace accidents (0.70). These figures emphasise the need for improved methods of landslide risk assessment, especially as tourism development is intensively extending on or at the toe of large landslide zones, especially in the Alps.