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AVS-01 Rollout: Insights from Alarm & Monitoring Industry Stakeholders

David Holl speaks to executives from monitoring centers and emergency communication centers about their involvement in the initial pilot programs for the AVS-01 standard.





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SIAC Solutions Timelier Than Ever During Police Staffing Crisis

David Margulies examines how SIAC’s mission is to be the go-to resource for public safety leadership when it comes to the issue of electronic security.





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Monitoring Center Execs Share Strategies for Building Dynamic Teams

Top central station executives illuminate the art of recruiting, onboarding and retaining exceptional talent. Plus, they share their views on remote work policies.




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How to Achieve Independence From Telecommunications Carriers

Lou Fiore discusses how utilizing a mesh network for wireless alarm transmission provides alarm dealers complete control with virtually no reliance on third-party public infrastructure.





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Why You Can Soon Expect to See the Possibility of ‘Invisible’

Peter Giacalone invokes “invisible” when illustrating future smart home features and benefits that will ride on hardware already deployed in residences.




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1-on-1 With a Winner: Fiore Ayala, 2023 Monitoring Center Manager of the Year

SDM spoke with the 2023 TMA Monitoring Center Manager of the Year. Ayala is the director of operations at Rapid Response Monitoring Services.




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Why TMA-AVS-01 Enhances Public Safety & Security Collaboration

Industry insiders convened at ISC West to discuss AVS-01, a new ANSI-accredited standard aimed at improving alarm validation and enhancing communication between the security sector and public safety agencies.




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Transforming Security With Remote Video & Offshore Support

Remote video monitoring is advocated as a critical solution for addressing labor shortages and enhancing operational efficiency within the security industry, highlighting its evolution and economic advantages over traditional security guarding methods.




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'Operator's discretion' in reporting may account for lower rate of oil and gas fires in Colorado

Boulder, CO – Researchers are calling on Colorado to require reporting of all fires and explosions in the state’s oil and gas industry, after an analysis showed an incident rate significantly lower than that of neighboring Utah, where reporting is mandatory.




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California oil refinery safety regulations approved

Sacramento, CA – The California Department of Industrial Relations and the California Environmental Protection Agency have approved final regulations intended to improve hazard prevention and management at the state’s 15 oil refineries.




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CSB issues alert to oil and chemical facilities about safe restarting post-Hurricane Harvey

Washington – Responding to ongoing damage in the Gulf Coast region caused by Hurricane Harvey, the Chemical Safety Board has issued a safety alert warning oil and chemical facility workers to follow special precautions when restarting in the wake of the storm.




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New video for oil and gas workers: the hazards of manual gauging, sampling

Washington – NIOSH and the California Department of Public Health have collaborated on a video intended to protect oil and gas extraction workers from deadly hazards linked to manual gauging and fluid sampling on production tanks.




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New OSHA PSM guide focuses on petroleum refineries

Washington – OSHA has published a guide intended to help oil refineries comply with the agency’s Process Safety Management Standard (1910.119).




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CSB issues recommendations after Louisiana refinery fire investigation

Washington – The Chemical Safety Board released a set of recommendations Sept. 18 after its investigation into last year’s ExxonMobil refinery fire, which severely burned four workers in Baton Rouge, LA.




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CSB releases new video on Louisiana refinery fire, includes safety recommendations

Washington – The Chemical Safety Board has released a video on last year’s ExxonMobil refinery fire, which severely burned four workers in Baton Rouge, LA.




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CSB withdraws recommendations stemming from Deepwater Horizon investigation

Washington – Contending that it lacks proper regulatory authority, the Chemical Safety Board on Nov. 14 voted to withdraw its recommendations issued to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement after its investigation into the April 2010 explosion and fire that killed 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico.




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BSEE proposes rollback of offshore oil and gas safety rule

Washington — The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement has issued a proposed rule intended to “reduce certain unnecessary regulatory burdens” that exist under the Production Systems Safety Rule “while correcting errors and clarifying current requirements,” according to a notice published in the Dec. 29 Federal Register.




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BSEE halts study of offshore oil and gas inspection program

Washington — The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement has issued a stop-work order for a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine study reviewing BSEE’s offshore oil and gas operations inspection program, the National Academies announced Dec. 21.




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BSEE to increase inspection time through ‘smarter, safer strategy’

New Orleans — A new approach that allows Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement inspectors to access electronic records onshore will increase their physical inspection time at more than 2,200 offshore oil and gas facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, the agency recently announced.




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BSEE panel reviews report, recommendations on offshore bolting safety

Washington — Officials from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement met June 21 to discuss a BSEE-sponsored report that outlines strategies for enhancing bolting technology in offshore oil and gas operations, a press release from the agency states.




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CSB spotlights process unit startups, shutdowns in new ‘Safety Digest’

Washington — Effective process safety management can help prevent hazards and incidents related to process unit startups and shutdowns, according to a new “Safety Digest” from the Chemical Safety Board.




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Annual report details offshore drilling equipment failures, calls for data sharing

Washington — Offshore drilling rig operators in the Gulf of Mexico reported 1,129 blowout preventer equipment component failures in 2017, according to the latest annual report from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s SafeOCS reporting system.




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BSEE safety alert addresses hazards in fired vessels

Washington — The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement has found “noticeable gaps” in safety regarding fired vessels on a few offshore oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico that “warrant attention to prevent or mitigate uncontrolled releases of hydrocarbons, toxic substances or other materials,” according to an agency safety alert issued Oct. 2.




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Rollback of offshore drilling regulations prompts concerns about safety of workers, environment

Port Fourchon, LA — The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s rollback of certain provisions of a rule intended to prevent a repeat of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig disaster will maintain safety and environmental protections, the agency claims, as advocacy groups announce their intention to fight the move.




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Oil and gas exploration safety: OSHA training institute publishes free video

Baton Rouge, LA — The OSHA Region 6 Training Institute Education Centers recently released a video on recognizing and controlling common hazards in oil and gas exploration.




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BSEE launches text notification system for offshore oil and gas workers

Washington — The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement recently unveiled a free text message alert system that delivers the agency’s safety alerts and bulletins to offshore oil and gas workers on the Outer Continental Shelf.




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Safety culture in offshore oil and gas: National Academies awards grants for project development

Washington — Via its Gulf Research Program, the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine has awarded eight grants totaling nearly $7.3 million to projects aimed at enhancing safety culture in the offshore oil and gas industry.




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‘Efficient, timely’: BSEE touts success of text notification system for offshore oil and gas workers

Washington — One year after the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement launched its free BSEE!Safe text message alert system, the agency says more than 6,200 subscribers have received links to BSEE safety alerts and bulletins covering offshore oil and gas work on the Outer Continental Shelf.




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COVID-19 pandemic: OSHA releases guidelines for oil and gas industry

Washington — OSHA has published COVID-19-related guidance intended to help employers in the oil and gas industry reduce exposure among workers, including personnel in the subindustries and those whose tasks “make up the broader oil and gas industrial sector.”




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BSEE continues to ‘fulfill its mission’ despite challenges of COVID-19 pandemic: DOI OIG

Washington — The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement has “continued to fulfill its mission” during the COVID-19 pandemic by performing safety and environmental inspections for offshore oil and gas operations, the Department of the Interior Office of Inspector General concludes in a report issued Sept. 21.




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Offshore safety agency says text notification system has more than 7,000 subscribers

Washington — In the more than 18 months since the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement unveiled its free BSEE!Safe text message alert system, the agency reports it has supplied links to BSEE safety alerts and bulletins covering offshore oil and gas work on the Outer Continental Shelf to over 7,000 subscribers.




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Pipelines left in the Gulf of Mexico represent safety, environmental hazards: GAO

Washington — Approximately 18,000 miles of decommissioned oil and gas pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico pose safety and environmental risks, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.




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Inspection findings spur offshore safety agency recommendations on dropped-object hazards

New Orleans — A recent string of Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement performance-based risk inspections uncovered various hazards related to dropped objects on production and well operations, according to a Sept. 14 safety alert outlining the findings.




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More mental health supports needed for fly-in-fly-out oil sands workers: report

Edmonton, Alberta — Contract workers who fly in and out of oil sands may experience higher levels of work-related stress and more mental health issues, according to a recent report led by researchers from the University of Alberta.




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Offshore safety agency seeks to refine approval process for uses of ‘new or unusual technology’

Washington — The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement has issued a proposed rule that would codify existing agency practice concerning the review and approval of projects proposing to use “new or unusual technology.”




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More than a decade after Deepwater Horizon, report looks at offshore oil safety

Washington — A new report concludes that offshore oil and gas operations have become safer since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, but it finds “little evidence” that the industry is working together on improving safety culture.




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NIOSH seeks oil and gas workers for study on safe driving

Washington — NIOSH wants to hear from employers and workers involved in oil well servicing and drilling operations for a study exploring motor vehicle safety.




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The benefits of leading indicators and analytics

How can leading indicators and analytics be used to mitigate risk and reduce employee injuries and illnesses?




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FACEValue: EMT killed in ambulance crash

A 27-year-old emergency medical technician was killed when the ambulance she was riding in struck an elevated train track support beam. The victim worked for an independent ambu-lance service that had been operating for 45 years




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Safe commuting

Whether you work in a factory or an office building, many workers have one thing in common: Getting to and from work involves driving a vehicle. Following these basic safe driving tips from OSHA can help protect workers during what is often the most dangerous part of their workday – the commute.




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Safe towing

Providing roadside vehicle assistance can be fraught with hazards, particularly when towing is involved.




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Creating a safe driving program for workers

Every year, motor vehicle crashes cost employers $60 billion in medical care, legal expenses, property damage and lost productivity, according to a white paper from OSHA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety.




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Make safe choices on the road

Although you can’t control the actions of other drivers, you can be a defensive driver.




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Keeping older drivers safe

Older drivers bring knowledge and experience to the workplace. By 2020, 25 percent of workers in the United States will be 55 or older. But this group is not without risk. According to NIOSH, motor vehicle crashes account for 32 percent of all work-related deaths among workers 55 or older.




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The hazards of 15-passenger vans

Fifteen-passenger vans can move multiple workers from one location to the next in one vehicle, cutting transportation costs. But it’s important to know that these vehicles present serious hazards.




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Flagger Safety 101

In 2017, 132 workers died in roadway work zone crashes, according to WorkZoneSafety.org.




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A safe drive

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of workplace death. Preliminary estimates released in May by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show a 1.2% decrease in motor vehicle-related deaths in 2019 from the previous year.




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Catch a safe ride

Do you carpool to work or use a ride-hailing service? Or maybe you’re a ride-share driver? To help protect you from contracting COVID-19 or spreading it to your fellow commuters, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers the following tips.




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Stay safe around emergency vehicles

Quick quiz: Your vehicle is in the middle of an intersection when you see and hear an ambulance approaching. What should you do? Stop, or keep driving through?




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Selecting safe vehicles for your employees

If you’re responsible for purchasing or leasing passenger vehicles for worker use, NIOSH says you need to consider two factors to help ensure safety.