Vol 5., No. 4, Apr 2004

Contents Thoughts & Quotes May Is Electrical Safety Month Youth Worker Safety in English and Spanish Suspension Trauma When Using Fall Protection -- New OSHA Bulletin Driving under the Influence... of Cell Phones Hurricane Preparedness Week May 16-22 About Safety News & Notes

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THOUGHTS & QUOTES

Planning for 'when, not if' is the key to preparedness! Drills......table-top exercises......scenarios.......simulations! These are important tools to use for being prepared! In 1987, the Sioux City, Iowa airport was the scene of a mock drill that simulated the crash landing of a jumbo jet. People laughed at the emergency manager when he set up the drill. Sioux City had a small airport that provided mostly regional service. It was not a part of their normal routine to have large planes use the airport. But Gary Brown said 'when, not if ', and that made the difference between life and death for 185 people. There was a made-for-TV movie released in 1994 that is fairly accurate about what happened on the ground and what led to Sioux City becoming a model for preparedness. (The video, "A Thousand Heroes", is available from on-line video sources such as Amazon.) The movie begins with a depiction of the drill and the total chaos that took place. With school-age kids playing the roles of victims, it took over 4 hours to triage and take care of them. There was no coordinated communication between response agencies. Agencies in the Sioux City area took the deficiencies to heart and decided to develop an emergency preparedness network. Two years later, on July 19, 1989, United Flight 232 was traveling from Denver to Chicago. While enroute, one of the DC-10's engines exploded and shrapnel cut through all three sets of hydraulic lines. The flight was guided to Sioux City airport. The plane landed in what could only be described as a controlled crash, and the fuselage was shattered. Nevertheless, of the 296 people on board, 185 survived! Triage and transport were completed in 46 minutes! In 1992, I had the privilege of being at a presentation given by Capt. Al Haynes -- Flight 232's pilot. He now travels around the country emphasizing preparedness. He cites five important factors necessary for individuals and communities: luck, communication, preparation, execution, and cooperation. Capt. Haynes pointed out that four crew members in the cockpit that day had a combined total flying experience of 103 years. But not one minute of their training included flying a DC-10 with no controls! He spoke calmly about what information they had concerning operating procedures and emergencies. While at 35,000 feet and 750 mph, they learned two things: 1) all three hydraulic systems will not fail at the same time, and 2) if they do, the plane can't be flown!! Personally, I think this is an incredible story. And getting the plane onto the ground is only part of the story. What made it more complicated was that saving those 185 lives required cooperation and communication among several neighboring counties and three states. (Sioux City is in the northwest corner of Iowa, adjacent to South Dakota and Nebraska.) There is a wonderful scene in the video where rescue units from over 30 communities are lined up, waiting for the plane. The camera pans across the names on the vehicles -- most from small towns in the surrounding area and mostly volunteer units. All these units had to be brought together for the landing in about 30 minutes! It was only possible because of a drill that many had laughed at. There is a FEMA on-line course about conducting exercises -- good background for those interested in involvement with emergency agencies in their communities. "An Orientation to Community Disaster Exercises" (Course # IS 120) is available, at no charge, at: http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/crslist.asp I have developed several table-top exercises that are used by students in my risk management class. These provide real world scenarios (of situations that people think aren't going to happen to them or their business) and participants are forced to look at 'when, not if' possibilities. If you are interested in these, contact me and I can forward them to you. Exercises include: disgruntled employee hostage and/or shooting situations; meat packing company finds they have shipped a contaminated product; people get sick due to water contamination at an ice distribution company; wildfires; hurricanes; and more. The unthinkable can happen. With hurricane season approaching and daily news reminders about September 11, 2001, think 'when, not if'.

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May Is Electrical Safety Month

2004 National Electrical Safety Month Kit ("May Kit")

Each year, Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI) works hard to promote May as National Electrical Safety Month. To help support May campaigns across the nation and elsewhere, ESFI publishes its "May Kit" each year. The kit is packed with up-to-date electrical safety facts and figures, tools and tips. The focus in 2004 is on ESFI’s national public awareness campaign "Make Safe Connections: Plug Into Electrical Safety," which contains important information and safety tips related to outlets, power cords, extension cords, power strips and surge suppressors, and GFCIs and AFCIs. You can run your own local or regional May campaign using tools provided in the kit, such as campaign action plans, sample news releases and mayoral proclamations, and sample bill/paycheck stuffers.

The 2004 May Kit is available on-line: <http://www.esfi.org/esfilib/nesmk/maykit2004.pdf>.

To order a hard copy of the May Kit, print the ESFI Order Form <http://www.esfi.org/sedit/of/ESFIorderform.html> and mail or fax your order in.

May Kits from previous years are also available on-line. The 2003 May Kit focuses on the ESFI public awareness campaign "Inspect and Protect," urging homeowners to have their homes electrically inspected and educating consumers about potentially life-saving arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) technology.
<http://www.esfi.org/esfilib/nesmk/maykit2003.pdf>

The 2002 May Kit focuses on the ESFI public awareness campaign "Look Up! Look Down! Look Out!" on overhead and buried power lines and pad-mounted electrical equipment.
<http://www.esfi.org/esfilib/nesmk/maykit2002.pdf>

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Youth Worker Safety in English and Spanish

The NIOSH Alert "Preventing Deaths, Injuries and Illnesses of Young Workers"
is now available in Spanish as well as English. The Alert identifies hazardous working areas
and provides recommendations for youth to remain safe while working in those
conditions.
<http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2003-128/2003-128.htm>

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Suspension Trauma When Using Fall Protection -- New OSHA Bulletin

A new Safety and Health Information Bulletin from OSHA provides employees and employers with important information about the hazards of orthostatic intolerance and suspension trauma when using fall arrest systems. Orthostatic intolerance may be defined as "the development of symptoms such as light-headedness, palpitations, tremulousness, poor concentration, fatigue, nausea, dizziness, headache, sweating, weakness and occasionally fainting during upright standing." An example of orthostatic intolerance occurs when someone standing in a fixed position for a long time suddenly faints. A similar situation occurs when a worker using fall protection falls and is suspended for a length of time. Such workers can become unconscious, posing additional dangers to the worker and challenges to rescue personnel.

The bulletin, "Suspension Trauma/Orthostatic Intolerance" describes the signs and symptoms of orthostatic intolerance; discusses how orthostatic intolerance can occur while workers are suspended following a fall; and outlines recommendations for preventing orthostatic intolerance, as well as recommendations for worker training and rescue.

It is recommended that rescue persons as well as others who may be working in areas requiring fall protection to have pre-planning and response drills to ensure safe and timely rescue of individuals in elevated work areas as well as below ground (confined space) work
areas.

On the Web: <http://www.osha.gov/dts/shib/shib032404.html>.

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Driving under the Influence... of Cell Phones

Do you teach people about the dangers of drinking while driving? What about the dangers of talking on a cell phone while driving?

David Strayer, a Utah psychologist, and a team of researchers compared the attention levels and response times of 110 motorists in various driving situations. Strayer concluded, "Your
driving performance while talking on a cell phone is impaired at levels comparable to, or worse than, driving with a blood alcohol level of .08," which is the legal limit in most states. It's not the hand use, it's the distraction of the conversation.

[Reported in *Discover Magazine*, January, 2004 (Technology section).]

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Hurricane Preparedness Week, May 16 - 22, 2004

History teaches that a lack of hurricane awareness and preparation are common threads among all major hurricane disasters. By knowing your vulnerability and what actions you should take, you can reduce the effects of a hurricane disaster.

The goal of this Hurricane Awareness Web site is to inform the public about hurricane hazards and provide knowledge which can be used to take ACTION. This information can be used to save lives at work, home, while on the road, or on the water. The site has a poster that can be downloaded as well as other materials.

<http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/intro.shtml>

This is also a good time to remind you that Hurricane preparedness and recovery information can be found in the Disaster Handbook, at <http://disaster.ifas.ufl.edu>.

A 1-page Preparedness checklist, Get Ready for Anything: Your Plan....Your
Kit.....Your Papers can be found on the Florida AgSafe Web site. Look under Emergency Resources and New Material at the top of the page. The fact sheets and checklists that the one-page version are based on are available in the Disaster Handbook (Section 2.5 and 2.7).

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BE AWARE!

BE ALERT!

BE ALIVE!

Florida AgSafe Web site: http://www.flagsafe.ufl.edu

The Disaster Handbook: http://disaster.ifas.ufl.edu

National Agricultural Safety Database: http://www.cdc.gov/nasd

Extension Disaster Education Network: http://www.agctr.lsu.edu/eden