Life Safety/Security - News & Trends
Companies must post injuries
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Employers are now required to post a summary of the total number of job-related injuries and illnesses that occurred during 2007, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
The 2007 summary must be posted until April 30 and must include the total number of job-related injuries and illnesses that occurred in 2007 and were logged on the OSHA Form 300. Information about the annual average number of employees and total hours worked during the calendar year is also required.
If a company recorded no injuries or illnesses in 2007, the employer must enter "zero" on the total line. The form must be signed and certified by a company executive. Form 300A should be displayed in a common area where notices to employees are usually posted. The rules do not apply to employers with 10 or fewer employees. For more information, visit osha.gov
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OSHA notifies workplaces with high injury/illness rates
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has notified 14,000 employers nationwide that their injury and illness rates are considerably higher than the national average.
This notification was a proactive step to encourage employers to take action now to reduce rates and improve safety and health conditions in their workplaces.
OSHA identified businesses with the nation's highest rates of workplace injuries and illnesses through employer-reported data from a 2007 survey of 80,000 worksites. Workplaces receiving notifications had 5.4 or more injuries resulting in days away from work, restricted work activity, or job transfer (DART) for every 100 full-time employees. Nationally, the average U.S. workplace had 2.3 DART occurrences for every 100 employees. For more information, see www.osha.gov
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Safety is good for business
GLASGOW, UK – Research commissioned by the UK Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) into the health and safety performance of British businesses links investment in safety professionals with cuts in accident rates.
Researchers at Glasgow Caledonian University, who analyzed data from 101 contractors in the construction industry, found that in organizations where health and safety personnel vet sub-contractors, there is almost a 60% lower accident rate than in those that don't. For more information, see www.iosh.co.uk
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National Response Framework
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the National Response Framework (NRF), successor to the National Response Plan.
The NRF, which focuses on response and short-term recovery, articulates the doctrine, principles, and architecture by which our nation prepares for and responds to all-hazard disasters across all levels of government and all sectors of communities. The NRF is responsive to repeated federal, state, local, and private sector requests for a streamlined document that is less bureaucratic and more user-friendly.
The NRF also focuses on preparedness and encourages a higher level of readiness across all jurisdictions. For more information, see www.dhs.gov
Rise of managed security services
BOSTON – All Best-in-Class Companies use some managed security services and the number one reason organizations purchase managed security services is to improve their security, according to the Aberdeen Group.
Best-in-Class organizations report fewer security incidents, fewer malware infections, fewer incidents of data loss, greater reduction in fraud, fewer failed audits, and greater reduction in help desk costs associated with security events. For more information, see www.aberdeen.com
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NIST tests firefighting tactics
NEW YORK CITY – National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) fire protection engineers turned an abandoned New York City brick high-rise into a seven-story fire laboratory last month to better understand the fast-moving spread of wind-driven flames, smoke, and toxic gases through corridors and stairways of burning buildings.
The experiments on Governors Island, conducted in partnership with the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) and New York’s Polytechnic University, examined the effectiveness of firefighting tactics such as the use of positive pressure ventilation fans, wind control devices, and hose streams to control or suppress deadly heat and smoke from the wind-driven fires.
Between 1985 and 2002, 1,600 civilians died and more than 20,000 people were injured in approximately 385,000 high-rise building fires in the United States, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Due to temperature differences between the outside and inside of a building on fire, open doors, and broken windows far from the actual site of the fire can increase the movement of hot gases and smoke dramatically.
Wind-driven flames, heat, and smoke with temperatures exceeding 815 C (1500 F) can speed across entire floors and around corridors without warning. Smoke and heat entering stairwells often can block the evacuation of occupants and can hinder firefighting operations.
To develop an understanding of the wind-driven fires and measure the impact of the firefighting tactics, NIST researchers placed cameras, temperature, and pressure sensors throughout the building. From a safe ground floor monitoring post, the researchers with laptops monitored the progress of intentionally set fires raging through the apartments and public corridors. They recorded, second-by-second, the effects of opening or closing doors and windows both near and far from the blaze.
Positive pressure ventilation fans, prototype wind control devices, and prototype high-rise fire suppression nozzles, which were developed by FDNY, all helped control wind-driven fires.
Research findings from the Governors Island experiments are expected to help improve fire service guidelines for combating high-rise fires, enhance firefighter safety, fire ground operations and use of equipment. For more information on NIST fire research, see www.fire.gov
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Americans feel safer at home
BETHESDA, Md. – Fully 79% of Americans feel safer from fires at home than in a public building, according to a survey by the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE). An additional 9% feel equally safe in both locations.
These results are inconsistent with government data, which indicate that home fires outnumber all other fires by more than three to one. Indeed, most fire deaths and injuries occur in the home. For more information, see www.sfpe.org
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EPA revises ozone standards
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has created the most stringent-ever eight-hour standard for ozone.
The new primary eight-hour standard is 0.075 parts per million (ppm) and the new secondary standard is set at a form and level identical to the primary standard. The previous primary and secondary standards were identical eight-hour standards, set at 0.08 ppm. Because ozone is measured out to three decimal places, the standard effectively became 0.084 ppm: areas with ozone levels as high as 0.084 ppm were considered as meeting the 0.08 ppm standard, because of rounding.
The United States has made significant progress reducing ground-level ozone across the country. Since 1980, ozone levels have dropped 21% as EPA and state and local governments have worked together to improve the quality of the nation's air. EPA expects improvement to continue, as a result of landmark regulations such as the Clean Air Interstate Rule, to reduce emissions from power plants in the East, and the Clean Diesel Program, to reduce emissions from highway, nonroad, and stationary diesel engines nationwide.
Ozone can harm people's lungs, and EPA is particularly concerned about individuals with asthma or other lung diseases, as well as those who spend a lot of time outside, such as children. Ozone exposure can aggravate asthma, resulting in increased medication use and emergency room visits, and it can increase susceptibility to respiratory infections.
Ground-level ozone is not emitted directly into the air, but forms when emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) "cook" in the sun. Power plants, motor vehicle exhaust, industrial facilities, gasoline vapors and chemical solvents are the major human-made sources of these emissions.
EPA estimates that the final standards will yield health benefits valued between $2 billion and $19 billion. Those benefits include preventing cases of bronchitis, aggravated asthma, hospital and emergency room visits, nonfatal heart attacks, and premature death. EPA's Regulatory Impact analysis shows that benefits are likely greater than the cost of implementing the standards. Cost estimates range from $7.6 billion to $8.5 billion. For more details, see: www.epa.gov
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