In this issue of the Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Listserv, April 16, 2010:
1. Did you know?
2. Mark Your Calendar!
3. Severe Weather Awareness
4. Emergency Evacuation & Planning
5. NIOSH recall – certain N95 respirators
6. New & Revised Safe Operating Procedures (SOPs)
---------------------------------------------------------1. Did you know?
If you missed the last Laboratory Safety Colloquium, Cryogen Safety, this past February, you can watch the
presentation online through the web sites of both collaboration partners:
 Environmental Health & Safety http://ehs.unl.edu/training/Colloquium/
 Office of Research & Economic Development http://research.unl.edu/lsi_9-06.shtml
Check out previous colloquia on a variety of safety topics, such as Chemical Safety, Compressed Gas Cylinders,
Ventilated Hoods & Cabinets and more.
The week of March 22-26 was Severe Weather Awareness Week. UNL joined Lincoln/Lancaster County
Emergency Management in testing all tornado-warning systems at 10:15 a.m. Wednesday, March 24. Despite the
fact that drills may cause disruption to classes and work, hopefully you participated. In an emergency, you are most
likely to be able to respond quickly if you have participated in a drill. You should be aware of the proper shelter
locations in your building or area of work, even if you work outside. The official UNL Tornado Warning Policy
can be found at the web site listed below.
http://bf.unl.edu/policepolicy/TornadoWarning.shtm
2. Mark Your Calendar!
The week of May 2-8 is Occupational Safety & Health Week. What does this mean to you as a worker? This is an
opportunity to focus on adopting ‘Safety’ as your personal attitude and encouraging the same in your co-workers in
an effort to work safely all year around. Here are a couple ideas for recognizing Occupational Safety and Health
Week:
 Look over EHS Safe Operating Procedures (SOP) related to work done in your area and/or general safety.
Better yet, review your Virtual Manual or create one if you haven’t done so yet.
 Review your work location/tools/equipment for uncontrolled hazards and take appropriate remedial action.
 Re-familiarize yourself with emergency preparedness and procedures applicable to UNL in general and
your work location in particular.
3. Severe Weather Awareness
Severe weather can encompass many types of weather conditions, for example, extreme heat, extreme cold, tornado,
earthquake, lightning, flash flood, and in certain parts of the country hurricane and wildfires. Each type of severe
weather has its own list of awareness tools, safety procedures, and post-event safety recommendations.
Following is one interesting point related to various severe weather categories likely to occur during the workday:
 The average number of deaths attributed to cold is approximately double the number attributed to heat.
 On average over the last 30 years, excessive heat accounts for more reported deaths annually than
hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, and lightning combined.
 Each year, more deaths occur due to flooding than from other severe weather such as lighting or tornado.
Why? The main reason is people underestimate the force and power of water. Turn around, don’t drown.
 Lighting can strike as far as 10 miles from the leading edge of the storm. Wait 30 minutes after the last clap
of thunder, before going outside again. Lightning is the second largest storm-related cause of death.
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The greatest frequency of tornadoes is in April, May and June. Take shelter in a substantial structure. If
there is no nearby shelter, lie flat in the nearest ditch or culvert and cover your head with your hands.
Forty-five states and territories in the United States are at moderate to very high risk of earthquakes, and
they are located in every region of the country (including Nebraska).
Resources:
UNL Emergency Preparedness and Planning web site http://emergency.unl.edu/
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) http://www.fema.gov/
Impacts of Temperature Extremes - Foothills Research Campus, Colorado State University
http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/socasp/weather1/adams.html
American Red Cross – Talking About Disasters http://www.redcross.org/images/pdfs/code/earthquakes.pdf
Lincoln-Lancaster County Emergency Management – Tornado Awareness, A Guide to Survival
http://lancaster.ne.gov/cnty/civil/tornado.htm
4. Emergency Evacuation and Planning
Weather is only one component of safety that requires awareness and planning. The UNL Emergency Preparedness
and Planning web site provides “Emergency information at your fingertips” in the areas of:
 UNL Emergency Response. Sign up for UNL Alert to get emergency messages delivered directly to you—
cell phone, work phone, work email, home email, text—your choice of method.
 Emergency Events contains information on a variety of topics from weather to pandemic to personal threat
to how to handle being trapped in debris and much more.
 Employees Personal Preparation section provides information for all family members and suggestions
beginning with “Have a plan.”
 Students, Parents is a section that provides information from the perspective of those who attend UNL as
students and their families.
 UNL Department Units is an area that links to other resources such as a Business Continuity Plan and the
EHS web site.
Emergency evacuation planning is an area often overlooked. Have you done some pre-planning? For example, are
you aware of at least two exit routes from your work area? Do you know the predetermined gathering location(s)
for your building in the event of evacuation? As an instructor or TI, do you establish a gathering location for your
students if building evacuation is required while your class is in session? Post-event you may not return to
evacuated buildings until given permission to do so by the Incident Commander (generally the Lincoln Fire
Department) or other on-site emergency response authority (i.e., UNL Police). Look for a building emergency
planning guide and template to be posted to UNL Emergency Preparedness web site.
Resources:
UNL Emergency Preparedness and Planning web site http://emergency.unl.edu/
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) http://www.fema.gov/
NE Emergency Management Assn.(NEMA) - Planning for Disaster (What should you do?)
http://www.nema.ne.gov/index_html?page=content/disaster_recovery/disaster_plans.html
National Weather Service Preparedness Guide http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/severeweather/resources/ttl7-09.pdf
5. NIOSH recall – certain N95 respirators
NIOSH recently determined NIOSH-certified N95 respirators with the following approval numbers: TC-84A-4363,
TC-84A-4364, TC-84A-4394 and TC-84A-4665, produced by Champak Enterprise Co., Ltd before February 2010
may, in limited situations, not meet the filtration efficiency requirements specified in Title 42, Code of Federal
Regulations, Part 84 due to faults in internal testing procedures. Please discontinue use of these products until
further notice. Additional information available at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/default.html under spotlights.
6. New & Revised Safe Operating Procedures (SOPs)
EHS has revised the following SOPs on the EHS website:
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Fluorescent/Other Non-Incandescent Lamps/Bulb, & Ballasts http://ehs.unl.edu/sop/s-flotube.pdf
Import and Transfer of Etiologic Agents http://ehs.unl.edu/sop/s-ship_etiologic_agents.pdf
Management of Construction and Demolition Waste http://ehs.unl.edu/sop/sconstruction_demo_waste_mgmt.pdf
On-the-Job Injuries http://ehs.unl.edu/sop/s-injury.pdf
Respiratory Protection – Program Summary http://ehs.unl.edu/sop/RPP_SOP_Respiratory_Summary.pdf
Respiratory Protection – Air Purifying Respirators; Cartridge Change Schedules
http://ehs.unl.edu/sop/RPP_SOP_Cartridge_Change_Log.pdf
Respiratory Protection – Use and Maintenance of Air Purifying FF Mask Respirators
http://ehs.unl.edu/sop/RPP_SOP_APFullFaceMask.pdf
Respiratory Protection – Use and Maintenance of Air Purifying Half Mask Respirators
http://ehs.unl.edu/sop/RPP_SOP_APHalfMask.pdf
Respiratory Protection – Use and Maintenance of PAPR (Powered Air Purifying Respirators)
http://ehs.unl.edu/sop/RPP_SOP_PAPR.pdf
Respiratory Protection – Use and Maintenance of Supplied Air Respirators (Air-Line)
http://ehs.unl.edu/sop/RPP_SOP_SAR.pdf
Respiratory Protection – Voluntary Use of Respiratory Protection Equipment
http://ehs.unl.edu/sop/RPP_SOPVoluntary_Use_RPE.pdf
EHS has created a new SOP which is available on the EHS website:
 Radioactive Material Inventory Tracking http://ehs.unl.edu/sop/s-RAM_inventory_tracking.pdf
Additional SOPs relevant to various hazards and tasks are available through the EHS website at
http://ehs.unl.edu/sop/.
Remember...SAFETY IS AN ATTITUDE!