Nov. 18, 2008
I know I keep coming back to this, but the National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health announced today that it has added its logo to the National Fire
Service Seat Belt Pledge 100% Participation Certificate. It’s important. And
it’s important that we in Canada embrace these kinds of
initiatives.
Our Flashpoint columnist and blogger Peter Sells wrote about this a year ago, in
the November 2007 issue of Fire Fighting in Canada. I know you’ve heard it before,
but as Peter noted, according to statistics quoted in a study being conducted
by the U.S. Air Force into safety standards for firefighters, 70 per cent of
the firefighters killed in apparatus accidents in the last seven years were not
wearing their seatbelts.
You can read Peter’s column here.
The U.S. Fire Administration press release is not yet posted. It was e-mailed to news organizations this morning.
- -
Here at Fire Fighting in Canada, we tend to focus on Canadian news, but it’s hard to ignore the wildfires in California with pictures all over the TV and
newspapers.
Interestingly, the Bloomberg news agency says today that the number of blazes across California may double this year, thanks to
global warming and human action - or inaction.
You can
read the Bloomberg story here.
- -
Lastly, Paul Quigg died on Nov. 7. Quigg was a fire-protection engineer who revolutionized
the construction industry with the development of drywall screws. Quigg and his
colleagues were awarded five patents for fire-safety innovations. You may owe him your life, so take the time
to read about him here.
|
