Practical Facilities Tips, News & Advice.
The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced an enforcement memorandum for a short-term increase in highly focused inspections directed at hospitals and skilled nursing care facilities that treat or handle COVID-19 patients. For two years, millions of the nation’s healthcare workers have been battling the coronavirus. Many have endangered […]
Last year, the United States saw 20 weather- and climate-related disasters with losses that exceeded $1 billion—each. These events included flooding, tornadoes, wildfires, and more. Tragically, they left 688 people dead and created significant economic challenges in the areas the storms hit. These disasters were in addition to the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, which continues […]
Before Super Bowl LVI kicks off on Sunday, Feb. 13, a massive coalition of federal, state, and local officials is hard at work to help ensure the safety and security of employees, players, and fans during the big game. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas recently traveled to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, […]
Kari’s Law and the Ray Baum’s Act are two pieces of federal legislation concerning Enhanced 911 (E911) services. These are advanced services for 911, the universal telephone number used in the United States for emergency services. Facilities management professionals should understand these laws to ensure that their facilities are compliant. These laws were discussed during […]
Update 11/15/21: The death toll has risen to 10 after a college student and 9-year-old boy critically injured at the event later died. Over the weekend, tragedy unfolded at NRG Park in Houston, Texas, when eight young concert goers, between the ages of 14 and 27, were killed when reported crowd surges occurred during the Astroworld […]
Florida International University (FIU) and Florida Power & Light Co. (FPL) have unveiled a solar-powered energy microgrid—the latest project to emerge from a decades-long partnership between the university and the utility. In the event of an outage due to severe weather, the FIU-FPL microgrid is capable of supplying backup power to FIU’s engineering center for approximately 24 hours […]
With this year marking the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has highlighted four ways that day changed the world of fire and life safety, shedding light on how the fire service, first responders, and others now do their jobs in ways that better protect themselves and enhance safety.
Having spent months on end in multiple lockdowns, many workers around the world are now starting to make a gradual return to the office and restoring a sense of day-to-day normalcy back into their lives. However, while this is an incredibly exciting transition for a lot of people, the coronavirus pandemic hasn’t exactly gone away. […]
With parts of the country suffering record-breaking temperatures this summer, employers know they need to be on guard against heat dangers for both indoor and outdoor workers. At some point, however, those precautions may be formalized into a new standard from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
In Part 1 of this two-part series on workplace evacuations, we shared the importance of building an effective Emergency Action Plan and establishing a safety strategy to address various emergency scenarios. Continuing coverage into Part 2 of this evacuation primer, we now provide a closer look at the safety requirements for establishing exit routes and introduce best […]