As war in the Middle East enters its initial stages, employees may have concerns about possible retaliatory strikes in the United States by terrorist groups or other individuals. To help address the concerns, several government agencies have put together websites with information about preparing for terrorist activity including bomb threats and exposure to chemical, biological and radioactive agents. This month’s newsletter provides a summary of a few of the key sites.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), part of the Center for Disease Control, has developed a comprehensive website entitled, “Emergency Preparedness for Business.” The site has many links to disaster planning guides, critical response guides, evacuation plans and contact information for agencies responsible for dealing with disaster situations. The address for the NIOSH site is www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/prepared.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has also released a document describing Operation Liberty Shield. This is a multi-agency, multi-department effort designed to “increase protections for America’s citizens and infrastructure while maintaining the free flow of goods and people across our borders with minimal disruption to our economy and way of life.” The document outlines actions being taken to protect the nation. They include, increasing border security, providing protection for critical infrastructure and key assets and taking measures to investigate and disrupt threats against the nation. The Operation Liberty Shield document can be found at www.fema.gov.
The FEMA website also has a variety of fact sheets on how to deal with terrorism, nuclear threats and other disasters. These informational sheets provide tips on how to identify possible terrorist activity and steps to take in the event you receive a bomb threat or are exposed to chemical, biological or radioactive agents. The FEMA fact sheets are located at www.fema.gov/hazards.
Finally, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security at www.ready.gov has additional information on the above topics as well. Most of the information on the website is directed towards individual emergency preparation and response. However, it also has some workplace guidelines which can be found by clicking on the link “At Work and School” under the headline, “Make a Plan for what you will do in an emergency.”
Hopefully you will never have to use any of the information on these websites. However, if your organization has a safety plan or safety committee, you should consider using some of the guides to evaluate your current safety procedures to make sure you have adequate plans in place for disasters that may occur whether or not related to terrorism. Further, if employees raise concerns about whether your workplace is prepared for potential disasters, you can use the guides to help discuss and address the concerns.