Promoting employee safety and health during 'dirty bomb' simulation
WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and its Oregon and Arizona State Plan partners are participating in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 2007 Top Officials (TOPOFF) 4 exercise, which began on Oct. 15 . The full scale exercise involves DHS and other federal agencies, as well as state and local responders. The goal of the exercise is to demonstrate and evaluate short-, medium- and long-term response, recovery and remediation procedures for simulated multi-point terrorist attacks involving radiological dispersal devices, or "dirty bombs."
"We are confident OSHA's and the State Plan partners' active participation ensures that individuals involved in emergency response and recovery operations will be provided the appropriate resources to effectively address operational risk," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Edwin G. Foulke Jr. "In the face of an actual disaster, the goal is to ensure that emergency response workers do not themselves become victims."
The TOPOFF 4 exercise is intended to enhance the preparedness of all levels of the national response system, specifically for emergencies resulting from weapons of mass destruction. It is taking place in three venues -- Phoenix , Ariz., Portland , Ore. and Guam -- from Oct. 15 to 19, and will focus on emergency response and recovery activities related to weapons of mass destruction. The simulation will be followed by a long-term recovery tabletop from Dec. 4 to 6. The exercise will conclude with a conference to be held from Jan. 15 to 16, 2008, which will concentrate on resolving national policy issues as a result of the findings gathered during the earlier phases of the program.
The Worker Safety and Health Support Annex has been implemented under the National Response Plan by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to support the response in Guam . OSHA will be working with other agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the U.S. Coast Guard and FEMA, to provide technical assistance for employee safety and health during the response. The annex describes actions needed to ensure that threats to responder safety and health are anticipated, recognized, evaluated and controlled consistently so that responders are properly protected during incident management operations. For more information about the annex and the National Response Plan, visit http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/emergencypreparedness/osha_support.html.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthful workplace for their employees. OSHA's role is to assure the safety and health of America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards; providing training, outreach and education; establishing partnerships; and encouraging continual process improvement in workplace safety and health. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.
U.S. Department of Labor releases are accessible on the Internet at www.dol.gov. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format (large print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the COAST office upon request. Please specify which news release when placing your request at 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755. The Labor Department is committed to providing America's employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit www.dol.gov/compliance.
SOURCE Occupational Safety and Health Administration
