ABSTRACT
In 2007, a car parked on the Hill Run Road at Northern Caribbean University (NCU) suddenly moved rapidly backwards down the hill, thereby substantially damaging another vehicle parked on the same side of the same road at some distance down the slope. If sea levels continue to rise as predicted, workplaces will move to higher altitudes containing more hilly terrain. In a six-month pilot study at the NCU, Harris and Pitkin recorded the direction of front wheels of vehicles parked on the Hill Run Road for a period of 90 days. The parking distances from the curb ranged from 20 to 60 cm for right-hand-drive vehicles and from 10–60 cm for left-hand-driven vehicles. As the NCU faculty and students are randomly drawn from all parts of the country, and from several, mainly tropical, countries, extrapolations could suggest the existence of an occupational and safety hazard as climate change forces tropical populations to higher ground.
