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If you work at a site with corrosive materials present, how available are emergency flushing stations? Can these stations be accessed within 10 seconds? Has anyone ever showed you how to use it…blindfolded? Like a fire extinguisher on the wall, you hope you never need an emergency eyewash station, but you’d better be able to get to it and it had better work when there is a need. It’s important to know that chemical burns and damage start immediately upon contact. The sooner the rinsing starts, the less damage will occur.
A construction and renovation project within any facility creates a range of situations which can release debris, pollutants and contaminants that can impact the indoor air quality. These contaminants may be transported to other areas via HVAC systems, personnel coming and going through encapsulation barriers, and other factors that can subsequently affect people beyond the project area. Consideration of the effect upon indoor air quality is particularly important in healthcare settings when performing construction or renovation projects. What is the plan?
With the departure of Hurricane Irene, many buildings throughout NJ and NY have sustained a wide range of water damage and require action to remediate or otherwise mitigate the impacts of water intrusion: mold, fungus and structural damage. Timing is a key element in this response; immediate action is necessary to minimize the potential for mold growth within the building envelope. As in medicine, early detection leads to an early (and usually less expensive) cure. Time and water combined can grow to be an expensive and time-consuming enemy. Failure to respond promptly will very likely result in mold growth requiring significantly more demolition than if the condition is handled in a timely manner. What is the definition of “timely”? As soon as mold is discovered!
“In our society and legal system it seems that, yes, someone (or many) has to tragically die before change and regulation are considered.” In this case, the tragedy was 343+2. 343 firefighters perished in the September 11, 2001 tragedy. Less than six years later, the lives of two additional NY firefighters were claimed during the demolition of the 9/11-damaged Deutsche Bank Building. These contributing conditions created by the asbestos abatement project have been recognized by several authorities, and in an effort to maximize safety, New York City enacted a number of new laws to ensure that asbestos abatement projects are conducted safely.
When recalling our onsite environmental, health and safety work following 9/11, Emilcott’s health and safety staff often discuss that respirators were either not worn or improperly worn by many first responders and subsequent waves of workers and construction crew members at Ground Zero. The tenth anniversary of 9/11 seems like a good time to re-examine the issue of preparedness.
n the second day of 2011, the James Zadroga Act was authorized to broaden and renew funding and extend benefits to Ground Zero workers whose death was a result of exposure. These exposures were directly and indirectly caused by toxins present in the billowing clouds of dusts and smoke following the worst tragedy to happen on American soil in my lifetime. The tragic sickness of countless rescue workers continues to add heartbreak where there is little room for more. Protecting Emergency Response Workers: What Has Changed?
As we approach the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, DHS (the Department of Homeland Security) is increasing their focus on utilities and chemical facilities which may become targets for terrorist activities. In a recent ABC news release DHS Press Secretary Matt Chandler is quoted as saying “While DHS has no specific, credible intelligence of an imminent threat posed to the private sector utilities, several recent incidents highlight the on-going threat to infrastructure in the utility sectors from insiders and outsiders seeking facility-specific information that might be exploited in an attack.”
“Man is it hot out here.” As the site HSO (Health and Safety Officer), we hear and utter those words quite frequently during the summer. Working outside in 90 degree temperatures with high humidity levels is anything but comfortable. Who doesn’t look forward to the end of the work day when you can escape to an air conditioned environment with a cold drink or jump into the pool? It’s not just unpleasant — working in hot, humid temperatures can be very dangerous. If you don’t take extra care to rest and hydrate you can subject yourself to heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and the deadly heat stroke. So what can you do to protect yourself in hot, outdoor conditions while continuing to work.
It happens every summer at hospitals and clinics across the country…first-year and advanced residents and fellows start a new training-at-work year. As part of the infection control strategies at these healthcare facilities, respiratory protection training and fit testing campaigns move into full gear to ensure that everyone is covered (literally and figuratively). It is important for medical staff – new or seasoned – to know when and why they are required to wear respiratory protection – the training is an essential part of the OSHA Respirator Standard. At large teaching hospitals, departments charge with respiratory protection programs must provide support to 800 to 1000 (or more!) en masse. Planning is imperative and cooperation from the medical staff makes the process smoother for everyone.
In reality, information equals power. The more we know, the better decisions we can make. If we have only half the important details, we will make weak decisions. Let’s use some history to drive this home. Although the Allied Forces ultimately won WWII, overconfidence from the D-Day invasion and the quickness with which the Allies pushed the Germans eastward across France, caused Eisenhower to underestimate the tactical abilities and determination of Hitler’s army. This resulted in the disastrous Operation Market-Garden in the Netherlands and the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes. Because of lack of current data in the Market-Garden strategy, the Allies were not in Berlin by the end of 1944 as they expected. Instead, by December of 1944 the Germans had broken through into the Allies’ line of advance in the Ardennes and caught us ill-prepared. Poor intelligence cost tens of thousands of lives. This is perhaps one of the most dramatic examples of “not enough information”, but it makes the point. Amazingly, with the communication capabilities of today’s wireless, cellular, Internet and other “instantaneous” technologies, many choose NOT to use this power to gather all the project information that they can get.
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