Loading ...December, 2008
2008 Words of the Year
It’s time once again for every editor’s favorite event: the annual release by dictionary publishers of their Word of the Year. Here are the winners for 2008:
Merriam-Webster: Bailout. Definitely a sign of the times, the word meaning “rescue from financial distress” was the one most looked up in the online dictionary in the shortest period [...]
Getting Management to Invest in Pandemic Planning, Part 2 of 2
The potential economic damage of an influenza pandemic at the “macro” level has been well documented. But studies on the economic impact of a pandemic at the “micro” level have been lacking. And that makes it harder for safety directors to persuade their CEOs to invest in pandemic planning. But a recent study from the [...]
Pandemic Influenza
Pandemic influenza is a technical topic over which I don’t pretend to have any expertise. In fact, the last time I tried writing a quiz on pandemic influenza in SafetyXChange, I made a few errors. But I’ve decided to get back on the horse. If I mess anything up, please let me know. glennd@bongarde.com.
1. Humans [...]
The Plaxico Burress Incident
“It would be a terrible sadness if an isolated incident could ruin a life.”
– Attorney Benjamin Brafman
These words were uttered by the attorney representing NFL player Plaxico Burress. For those of you who might be unfamiliar with the story, Plaxico Burress is a wide receiver for the New York Giants who suffered a minor thigh [...]
Yesterday. . .
There are probably two historical dates that every American knows. One is July 4, 1776-the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The other is Sunday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy.
It started at 7:55 A.M. Before night fall, 2,400 Americans had been killed and another 1,200 wounded in the Japanese attack on [...]
December 5 to December 9, 1952
On December 5, 1952, a cold, moist air mass moved in over London. At that time, the vast majority of homes in Greater London used coal for heat. Chilled and damp, residents began burning more of the dirty, high-sulphur coal commonly used for heating.
Smoke, sulphides and ash from the coal and industrial pollutants from unrestricted [...]
3 Ways to Minimize Hazards During a Production Shutdown
Some plants temporarily shut down production during the winter or in other slow seasons. Work doesn’t actually stop; it just changes. This is typically when the painting gets done, the equipment gets checked out, the rollers get greased, etc. The risk of injury during this period is particularly high, because workers are performing unfamiliar tasks [...]
Getting Management to Invest in Pandemic Planning, Part 1 of 2
Most health experts now think the occurrence of an influenza pandemic is a question not of if but when. Were a pandemic to occur, it would prove devastating to the national economy and individual businesses. But although just about all companies prepare for fires, only a handful prepare for pandemics-even though, statistically, a workplace is [...]
Jeanne Calment
The oldest person who ever lived was a French woman named Jeanne Calment. She died on August 4, 1997, but not until spending 122 years and 164 days on this planet.
When I was in junior high, I remember our history teacher’s showing us a movie about some peasant from Georgia-as in central Asia, not Atlanta-who [...]
