Despite a decrease in 2007 in the number of incidents, fire deaths and injuries actually increased.
All of Galveston Island and perhaps 245,000 residents of Harris County, Texas, are ordered to evacuate before Hurricane Ike comes ashore. Three counties have issued mandatory evacuation orders.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation gave the first round of grants to 15 junior faculty nurses to develop the next generation of academic nurse leaders and strengthen the academic productivity and overall excellence of schools of nursing.
The event covers emergency response and health care issues and will include an update from the International Society for Respiratory Protection's conference starting Sunday in Dublin, Ireland.
Power products should be discarded and replaced, the manufacturer recommends.
The agency urged Gulf Coast residents to prepare in advance for an evacuation order, including building a disaster supplies kit, filling their car's gas tank, and reviewing their evacuation plan.
Residents are recovering from one hurricane as a more dangerous one approaches. Louisiana's homepage, www.louisiana.gov, is now titled emergency.louisiana.gov.
Leaving devastation behind in Cuba, the hurricane may strengthen and hit Texas or Louisiana this weekend; many agencies have emergency plans in action or are issuing advisories.
Be prepared with basis essentials sufficient for up to 72 hours, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff advised residents in Ike's likely affected areas.
One piece of legislation signed last week requires site safety managers to include in their plans a statement that workers have successfully completed a 10-hour OSHA course on construction safety and health within five years of working on the site.
"I am confident that the creation of the Directorate of Technical Support and Emergency Management, and the support of the talented OSHA team we already have, will further enhance the agency's leadership in protecting the working men and women of this country, whether they are engaged in their normal work or involved in the challenging tasks of response and recovery," said OSHA head Edwin G. Foulke Jr.
The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are asking state, tribal, and local officials with questions about the federal program for picking up disaster debris to call the FEMA Debris hotline. The number is 1-866-599-4832, and it is open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.
Meetings today in Brussels will lead to an agreement helping emergency responders improve their procedures, communications, equipment, PPE, and training.
The New Orleans reconstruction after that earlier hurricane essentially withstood the power of Hurricane Gustav, the building trade association said Wednesday.
Responses for the third national study are due by Sept. 30.
"Cleanup after a storm of this magnitude can be particularly dangerous, and employers and employees need to take the proper precautions to avoid serious injury," said OSHA chief Edwin G. Foulke Jr.
In his epic work "The Waste Land" (1922), T.S. Eliot wrote convincingly that “April is the cruellest month,” but a case can be made for September. Throughout American history, all varieties of disasters have transpired in this ninth month of the year—from shipwrecks to plane crashes to terrorist attacks—the aftermath of which have changed the way we live, work, and simply function as a society. Some of these changes have been subtle, others, such as the events of 9/11 seven years ago, drastic.
All working Australians should concentrate on and be involved in safety at their workplaces Oct. 19-25, the Australian Safety and Compensation Council says.
The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Homeland Security have released Guidance on Allocating and Targeting Pandemic Influenza Vaccine. The purpose of the guidance is to provide a planning framework to help state, tribal, local, and community leaders ensure that vaccine allocation and use will reduce the impact of a pandemic on public health.
Event organizers are sounding the call for abstract submissions, due on Aug. 31, for the Public Health Preparedness Summit to be held Feb. 18-20, 2009 in San Diego.