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Smartphone technology is making it easier for employees to quickly access disaster plans, with or without a WiFi connection.

Smartphones Are Employees' Lifeline During Disasters

Smartphone technology is making it easier for employees to quickly access disaster plans, with or without a WiFi connection.

Airborne pathogens are highly contagious.

Flu Cases Elevated Nationwide

CDC announced U.S. reports of flu illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths are elevated.

NFPA is seeking comments by Jan. 15, 2015, to a Tentative Interim Amendment to NFPA 1999, Standard on Protective Clothing for Emergency Medical Operations.

NFPA Amendment Would Update 1999 Clothing Standard

The organization's Tentative Interim Amendment would revise its Standard on Protective Clothing for Emergency Medical Operations in order to better protect first responders from the Ebola virus.



OSHA

OSHA's 2014 SST Inspection Program Enters Final Months

The 2014 Site-Specific Targeting program ends in March of 2015, so right now OSHA Area Offices are working to finish all of the inspections on lists that were created early in the year, to satisfy quotas before the next SST program directive is issued.

New York City Fire Department personnel are expected to answer a record 1.6 million emergency calls during 2014.

FDNY Setting Record in 2014: 1.6 Million Emergency Calls

The department announced that gas emergencies rose by 68 percent, while fires and fire deaths remain at historic lows.

Treating marijuana the same as alcohol is impossible for several reasons. There are no measurements for marijuana impairment that relate across the board to how we understand alcohol impairment.

Washington Judge Upholds County's Ban on Marijuana Businesses

Attorney General Bob Ferguson said this is the fifth judicial ruling agreeing with his January 2014 opinion that Initiative 502 does not override local governments' authority to regulate or ban marijuana businesses.

Corvallis, Ore.-based VDOS Global uses aerial robotics and remote sensing to provide oil and gas inspections, environmental research, aerial surveying and other services using for its clients around the world. (VDOS image)

FAA Supporting Drone Industry's Safety Campaign

Timed for the holiday gift-giving season, "Know Before You Fly" seeks to promote safe, responsible flying of unmanned aircraft systems.

The annual national Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over mobilization, Dec. 10-31, comes at a particularly dangerous time of year for roadway users. On average, more than 800 people die in vehicle crashes involving a drunk driver during the month of December.

Highway Departments On Alert During Holidays

The Governors Highway Safety Association's member agencies are also stepping up their enforcement during the season. According to GHSA, more than 800 Americans die in crashes involving a drunk driver during the month of December.

The Interior Department agency manages offshore oil and gas leases.

New Chief Selected for Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

"Abigail Hopper's knowledge of the energy sector, experience working with a wide variety of stakeholders, and her legal expertise will be valuable assets to the bureau and the department as we continue to ensure the safe and responsible development of our domestic energy and mineral resources and stand up an offshore wind program," Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said.

There is a growing global push toward hazardous location competency training.

2016 OSHA Oil & Gas Safety Conference Returning to Houston

These conferences take place every other year; more than 2,200 people participated in the fourth one, which took place Dec. 2-3, 2014.

Some locations, operations, or hazmat personnel may require security awareness training that includes security risks associated with their specific tasks and methods designed to enhance security.

DOT Plays Santa, Eliminating Daily Paperwork Requirement for Trucking Industry

Beginning Dec. 18, professional truck drivers no longer have to submit reports of their pre- and post-trip vehicle inspections if they have not found equipment problems or safety concerns.

Snohomish County

SR 530 Landslide Commission Completes Report

Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee thanked the commission's members and staff for their work, as well as affected residents and first responders. He is proposing a transportation package that includes $36 million for landslide mitigation measures, funding for advanced LiDAR imagery, and risk analysis for priority areas.

The ammonium nitrate fire and massive explosion in West, Texas, killed 15 people and injured more than 250 others in 2013. (CSB photo)

OSHA Chief Calls for Higher Penalties

In his testimony before two Senate committees, Dr. David Michaels recommended indexing OSHA's penalties for inflation and increasing criminal penalties "to provide a credible deterrent."

Heat stress illness hospitalizations in the 20 states analyzed in the paper increased 2-5 percent during the 2001-2010 period.

CDC Authors Report 28,000 Heat Stress Hospitalizations in 20 States During 2001-2010

The incidence of them in these reporting states increased by 2-5 percent during that period.

Corvallis, Ore.-based VDOS Global uses aerial robotics and remote sensing to provide oil and gas inspections, environmental research, aerial surveying and other services using for its clients around the world. (VDOS image)

FAA Approves Four Companies' Use of Commercial Drones

Trimble Navigation Limited, VDOS Global, LLC, Clayco, Inc. and Woolpert, Inc. are the latest recipients of exemptions from the agency, which previously granted them to seven film and video production companies.

The two DOT agencies are conducting audits, and PHMSA is making unannounced inspections, to ensure railroads

North Dakota Sets Rules for Making Oil Safer to Transport

The North Dakota Industrial Commission on Dec. 9 issued an order spelling out conditioning standards that all wells must use, effective April 1, 2015, "to improve the marketability and safe transportation" of Bakken crude oil.

Tire maintenance and awareness of tire life and recalls are what the campaign wants to educate consumers about.

Broad Tire Safety Educational Program Announced

The White House outlined several actions the U.S. Department of Transportation is taking through 2017, including issuing a final rule that establishes a tire fuel efficiency consumer information program, partnering with NASCAR on a Drive for Safety initiative in next year's racing season, and working with tire manufactures, fuel distributors, and tire retailers to kick off a Tire Safety Awareness Month from Dec. 9, 2014, to Jan. 9, 2015.

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