Tag: emergency preparedness

What We Learned From…Emergency Preparedness Week 2023

EHS Daily Advisor’s Emergency Preparedness Week ran from September 18-22. Let’s take a look back at the content that became available throughout the week which was designed around emergency preparedness to help organizations meet these new demands. Monday Back to Basics | Natural Disaster Response Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked […]

Back to Basics: Essential Steps for Safely Responding to Natural Disasters

Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine the essential steps for safely responding to natural disasters. Severe weather emergencies and other natural disasters can strike any workplace or home, often without warning. In the United States alone, there are […]

Former OSHA Chief: Agency Should Prepare for Next Pandemic

In a June 16 viewpoint article in JAMA, David Michaels, former assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, wrote the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) should take steps to better protect workers in future pandemics, including issuing a federal pandemic preparedness standard. Michaels, who served under President Barack Obama, was OSHA’s longest-serving […]

Back to Basics: PSAP and EOC Facilities

Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine PSAP and EOC facilities and the differences between them. Public safety answering points (PSAPs) and emergency operations centers (EOCs) are critical facilities that provide essential services to the community during emergency […]

Back to Basics: Emergency Exits and Keeping the Way Out Clear

Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine emergency exits and OSHA’s requirements for exit routes, doors, and other procedures. During a fire or another emergency, your employees need a clear exit route and clearly marked and unlocked exit […]

The Seven Essentials of an Emergency Action Plan

The purpose of an emergency action plan (EAP) is to protect employees from emergencies that may be reasonably expected to occur in the workplace. Is every employer required to have an EAP for its workplace? No. Does the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) strongly recommend it? Yes. Should you have an EAP? Certainly, if you are […]

Back to Basics: Oil Spills

Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine oil spills and OSHA’s recommendations for preparedness. Oil spill emergencies pose great threats to both the safety of workers and the environment. According to OSHA, employers are responsible for protecting workers […]

FMCSA Proposes Limits on Emergency Declarations

On December 8, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) proposed limiting the scope of regulatory relief provided by emergency declarations, as well as the duration of regional emergency declarations (87 Federal Register (FR) 75206). Under current regulations, when the president, a governor, or the FMCSA issues an emergency declaration, drivers and motor carriers providing […]

Back to Basics: Wildfire Preparedness and Response 

Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine OSHA’s recommendations for preparing and responding to wildfires. Wildfires are becoming increasingly more common with climate change, and they cause major hazards for both people and businesses. According to the EPA, […]

Back to Basics: How to Be Prepared for a Disaster

Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine how to be prepared to lead your team in the event of a disaster or emergency. In the workplace, one of the environmental, health, and safety (EHS) professional’s first priorities is […]