InfoGram

January 13, 2005

NOTE: This InfoGram will be distributed weekly to provide members of the emergency management and response sector with information concerning the protection of their critical infrastructures. It has been prepared by NATEK Incorporated for the Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate. For further information, contact the Emergency Management and Response - Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) at (301) 447-1325 or by email at emr-isac@fema.dhs.gov.

CIP (FOUO) Notices

For nearly two years, the EMR-ISAC has forwarded sensitive, but unclassified information to verified senior leaders of the Emergency Services Sector: fire/police/EMS department chiefs, assistant/deputy chiefs, emergency managers, fire marshals, emergency medical services directors, FEMA Region staff officers, etc. The information originates from the Department of Homeland Security and normally contains emergent, actionable information FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY (FOUO) regarding threats to and vulnerabilities of multi-sector critical infrastructures. The contents assist emergency planning and operations for all hazards, particularly deliberate attacks. Beginning 1 January 2005, these documents will be disseminated by the EMR-ISAC as chronologically numbered "CIP (FOUO) Notices."

Among the registered/subscribed recipients of critical infrastructure protection (CIP) information, there may be several Emergency Services Sector senior leaders (i.e., those listed in the first paragraph above) who have not received CIP (FOUO) Notices 1-05 through 4-05 from the EMR-ISAC's list server (DisasterHelp.gov). Therefore, if you are serving currently in one of these sector leadership positions mentioned above, and NOT receiving CIP (FOUO) Notices, then the EMR-ISAC urges you perform the following simple steps as soon as convenient:

• Log onto https://disasterhelp.gov with your user name and password.
• Under "My Account" in the left bar, click on "My DHelp Profile."
• Scroll down to "Notification Preferences," and click on "Update CIP InfoGram Application" seen beneath the words "CIP InfoGrams."
• Scroll down the application to "Positional Information" and ensure your current leadership position is properly indicated.
• After making any necessary changes, proceed to the bottom of the application and click on "Submit Application."

Those experiencing any difficulty with these steps are requested to contact the 24x7 DisasterHelp.gov Help Desk at 800-451-2647. In most cases, users of the Help Desk report no waiting time for rapid and user-friendly assistance.

HazMat Accidents

Hazardous Material (HazMat) accidents are one of three types of events that can seriously degrade or destroy local critical infrastructures according to the Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Job Aid (http://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/doc/cipc-jobaid.doc). The other types of events are deliberate attacks by people (e.g., terrorists) and natural attacks by nature (e.g., natural disasters). In comparison to deliberate and natural attacks, HazMat accidents can be equally as devastating to the people, physical assets, and communication/cyber systems (i.e., critical infrastructures) of municipalities and their first response departments.

For example, last week a train collision in South Carolina caused one of the nation's deadliest chemical spills in years. At least eight people were killed, hundreds of others were sickened, and more than 5,000 area residents were evacuated. It is no surprise that this HazMat accident has raised concerns about the safety of HazMat movement, accident prevention measures, and accident response capabilities. Such concerns may be valid because lethal sulphuric and hydrochloric acid, ammonia, chlorine, military ordnance, radioactive fuel, etc., are routinely transported on a daily basis throughout the United States by rail and truck.

ABC News reported that deaths from hazardous spills or explosions are relatively rare. "But the number of hazardous rail shipments has doubled in the last 20 years, so the potential for major accidents is growing." Furthermore, America's adversaries understand that to assail HazMat freight transfer could cause substantial loss of life, incapacitate local and regional critical infrastructures, severely damage public confidence, and result in massive economic loss. Considering these possibilities, the EMR-ISAC recommends that communities with HazMat road and rail routes within their jurisdiction periodically review, revise, and rehearse incident prevention and response plans during this New Year.

NIOSH Firefighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program

On several occasions, the EMR-ISAC has written that personnel are foremost among the critical infrastructures of emergency departments. Chief officers readily accept that the very best apparatus, equipment, and communications will not accomplish response and recovery missions without healthy, trained first responders. Consequently, the leaders of the nation's emergency services labor conscientiously to eliminate personnel injury and death during all training and operations.

To bolster efforts on this extremely serious matter, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Firefighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program conducts investigations of firefighter line-of-duty deaths to formulate recommendations for preventing future deaths and injuries. The program does not seek to determine fault or place blame on fire departments or individual firefighters, but to learn from these tragic events and prevent future similar events. The program goals follow:

• Better define the magnitude and characteristics of line-of-duty deaths among firefighters.
• Develop recommendations for the prevention of deaths and injuries.
• Disseminate prevention strategies to the fire service.

In addition to the incident reports developed by the program, NIOSH has produced other products related to personnel safety and health. Information about the program and these publications can be obtained by visiting the NIOSH Firefighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program website at: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/firehome.html, or by calling 800-356-4674.

Workplace Safety Toolkit

In regards to protecting personnel while on duty, the Nonprofit Risk Management Center recently launched a multi-layer, online workplace safety resource that will be helpful to both public sector and nonprofit organizations. "Workplace Safety is No Accident: An Employer's Online Toolkit to Protect Employees and Volunteers" contains a wealth of information, guidance, checklists, links, fact sheets, and online resources to help any agency build a safer workplace.

Two separate versions of the toolkit are online, one that addresses public sector concerns, and one that addresses nonprofit organizations' concerns. Both versions can be accessed and used at no charge from either the Nonprofit Risk Management Center website at www.nonprofitrisk.org or the website of the Public Entity Risk Institute at www.riskinstitute.org.

"Workplace Safety is No Accident" walks a user through the rationale and reasons for having an effective workplace safety program, and then provides the tools and resources a manager will need to operate a safety program. The toolkit contains, among other resources:

• Fact sheets on nearly 90 workplace safety topics.
• Checklists on 60 areas of workplace safety.
• More than a dozen sample forms.
• Sample policies, manual language, and tip sheets.