Though not in the tornado belt that has recently been ravaged by this season’s severe weather emergencies, Los Angeles is no stranger to public safety scares. From earthquake threats to raging wild fires, the county is well aware of the damage that Mother Nature can do. As we approach 10 years after 9/11, we are reminded that natural disasters are not the only time we should consider our public safety. Now is the time to take a close look at what progress we have really made, and start to think discuss how we should respond and communicate in the event of all disaster scenarios.
A recent pubic safety of 2,020 adults, showed that Americans are most fearful of an emergency taking place in an airport (60 percent), followed closely by some form of mass transit (52 percent). And surprisingly, half of Americans want to be notified of an emergency by the old fashioned yet trusty telephone or TV.
Emergency mass notification at chemical plants traditionally has focused on audible and visual signaling devices such as sirens, horns, warning lights, beacons, public address and intercom systems.To alert anyone off site - including fire, police and medical first responders - communications often were limited exclusively to auto-dialing systems. Since September 11, 2001, the threat of terrorist attacks has prompted plant managers to re-evaluate their approach to both internal and external emergency mass notification. For obvious reasons, this need is particularly important for facilities that process, use, store and distribute hazardous chemicals.
More than 150 oil refineries in the United States conduct day-to-day business operations from exploration and processing to refining and transporting dangerous materials. These operations increasingly pose myriad safety risks to employees and possibly local communities, making safety precautions at every level a crucial strategy for a refinery.
Federal Signal Corporation's Safety and Security Systems Group has announced that Ford Motor Company has deployed its SmartMSG critical communications system to enable interoperable communications.
Home