As hurricane season approaches, the Department of Homeland Security’s Ready Campaign and The Advertising Council are reaching out to small businesses and encouraging them to “define their day after” by putting emergency preparedness at the top of their to-do list. A series of national public service advertisements entitled “Procrastination” were released nationwide last week for radio, print, Internet, and outdoor media. Tapping into the natural tendency for individuals to put off making plans for another day, the PSAs focus on what can happen when business owners choose to place making an emergency plan at the bottom of their to-do list.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, small businesses employ more than half of all Americans. However, Institute for Business and Home Safety research shows that, at the minimum, one in four businesses never reopen following a disaster. “Research conducted by the Ad Council found that more than 85 percent of small businesses understand that emergency preparedness is important, yet only four in ten businesses have a plan to protect their businesses,” said DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff. “The ability of these businesses to survive and recover quickly from both natural and man-made disasters directly benefits employees, customers, the community, and the local, and even national, economy.”

The “Procrastination” PSAs were created by Neiman Group and mark the third round of national PSAs created for Ready Business, a component of the Ready Campaign. Ready Business is designed to help owners and managers of small- to medium-size businesses prepare their employees, operations, and assets in the event of an emergency by providing practical steps and easy-to-use templates. To date, the Ready Business effort has received more than $91.1 million in donated media support; its Web site has received more than 29.7 million hits and more than 2.6 million unique visitors; and more than 2.3 million Ready Business materials have been requested or downloaded from the Web site. For more information on SBA’s disaster program and preparedness tips, and links to the public service announcements and the Nationwide disaster guide, visit www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance/disasterpreparedness/index.html.

Trains transporting the most toxic hazardous materials must use the safest, most secure route.   Railroads will be required to route every train carrying the most toxic and dangerous hazardous materials on the safest and most secure route under a new federal rule announced today by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters.

Railroads will be required to route every train carrying the most toxic and dangerous hazardous materials on the safest and most secure route under a new federal rule announced today by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters.

“This strong measure better ensures that rail shipments of hazardous materials will reach their final destinations safely and without incident,” said Secretary Peters, noting the rule applies to trains hauling Poison Inhalation Hazard ( PIH ) commodities such as chlorine and anhydrous ammonia which are heavily used in farming, water purification, and manufacturing.

Secretary Peters explained that beginning June 1, the rule requires railroads to conduct a comprehensive safety and security risk analysis of its primary route and any practicable alternative routes over which it has authority to operate. The analysis must consider information provided by local communities and a minimum of 27 risk factors like trip length, volume and type of hazmat being moved, existing safety measures along the route, and population density, she said. Railroads must implement their routing decisions based on these analyses by September 2009.

In addition, the rule includes several rail security provisions designed to guard against tampering with the rail hazmat car during transportation, the Secretary said.

The new rule complements the Department’s proposal last month to increase by 500 percent on average the amount of energy a rail hazmat tank car must absorb during a train accident before a catastrophic failure occurs, Secretary Peters said. This dramatic improvement in puncture resistance can be achieved with innovative designs, materials, and technologies available today and in combination with speed restrictions, she said.

“Stronger hazmat tank cars moving on the safest and most secure rail routes will enhance safety for people living in big cities and rural towns all across America,” Secretary Peters said.

The interim final rule on rail hazmat routing was developed by the Department’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration in consultation with the Federal Railroad Administration, and fully complies with the provisions of the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007.
 

Are you familiar with the EPA law The Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act (40 CFR Parts 350-372)?  The Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act believes you should know the following:

• What chemicals are located near you.

• Evacuation routes for your home, workplace and children’s schools.

• Shelter-in-place procedures.

• Industry and community warning systems.

• How to prepare a family and/or a business plan.

The act requires facilities that have hazardous materials to report their inventories to the State Emergency Response Commission, their Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) and local fire department. The 11 LEPCs also train first responders and give emergency authorities the technical assistance to safely handle hazardous-material incidents.

The BIG show is almost here.   The National Safety Council’s Congress & Expo is scheduled for October 15, 16, & 17 in Chicago.  This is the largest Safety & Health expo in the world.  There will be about 140 educational sessions, 32 professional development seminars, and over 800 exhibitors.  Many companies send their safety teams to attend the educational seminars and then have their annual safety meeting afterwards.  It is also a great place to network and look for jobs.  My favorite part has always been the people I have met.  Safety and Health professionals from all over the world.  Click here for a link to the keynote speakers. 

If you have the opportunity, come and check it out, you won’t be sorry.

OSHA has issued a new directive, CPL 02-02-073–Inspection Procedures for 29 CFR 1910.120 and 1926.65, Paragraph (q): Emergency Response to Hazardous Substance Releases. The directive updates policies and provides clarification to ensure uniform enforcement of the provisions in the Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response standard that cover emergency response operations for releases of, or substantial threats of releases of, hazardous substances without regard to the location of the hazard. It revises CPL 02-02-059, issued April 24, 1998.

Enforcement procedures for compliance officers who need to conduct inspections of emergency response operations are included in the revision. It defines additional terms and expands on training requirements for emergency responders and other groups such as skilled support personnel. New guidance is provided on how HAZWOPER may apply to unique events such as terrorist attacks and addresses OSHA’s role under the National Response Plan. OSHA says the update will assist other federal, state, and local personnel who have responsibilities under incident command systems and will assist in emergency response operations.

The instruction updates policy and provides clarification on the following issues:

• HAZWOPER’s application to a terrorist incident response involving chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear materials.
• OSHA’s relationship with Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD-5), including discussion addressing the National Response Plan (NRP), the Worker Safety and Health Support Annex, and the National Incident Management System (NIMS).
• OSHA’s National Emergency Management Plan (NEMP) and Regional Emergency.
• Management Plans (REMPs).
• Definition of “First Receivers.”
• OSHA’s “Best Practices for Hospital-Based First Receivers of Victims from Mass
• Casualty Incidents Involving the Release of Hazardous Substances.”
• Shelter-in-Place.
• Damaged packages during shipping.
• Skilled Support Personnel.
• Emergency responder training levels.
• Medical Surveillance for emergency responders.
• Computer-based training.
• Updates to citation guidelines.