Author: Thomas A. Birkland
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
ISBN: 9781589013599
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244
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Book Description
Even before the wreckage of a disaster is cleared, one question is foremost in the minds of the public: "What can be done to prevent this from happening again?" Today, news media and policymakers often invoke the "lessons of September 11" and the "lessons of Hurricane Katrina." Certainly, these unexpected events heightened awareness about problems that might have contributed to or worsened the disasters, particularly about gaps in preparation. Inquiries and investigations are made that claim that "lessons" were "learned" from a disaster, leading us to assume that we will be more ready the next time a similar threat looms, and that our government will put in place measures to protect us. In Lessons of Disaster, Thomas Birkland takes a critical look at this assumption. We know that disasters play a role in setting policy agendas—in getting policymakers to think about problems—but does our government always take the next step and enact new legislation or regulations? To determine when and how a catastrophic event serves as a catalyst for true policy change, the author examines four categories of disasters: aviation security, homeland security, earthquakes, and hurricanes. He explores lessons learned from each, focusing on three types of policy change: change in the larger social construction of the issues surrounding the disaster; instrumental change, in which laws and regulations are made; and political change, in which alliances are created and shifted. Birkland argues that the type of disaster affects the types of lessons learned from it, and that certain conditions are necessary to translate awareness into new policy, including media attention, salience for a large portion of the public, the existence of advocacy groups for the issue, and the preexistence of policy ideas that can be drawn upon. This timely study concludes with a discussion of the interplay of multiple disasters, focusing on the initial government response to Hurricane Katrina and the negative effect the September 11 catastrophe seems to have had on reaction to that tragedy.
Author: Trevor J. Hughes
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1000830713
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 449
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Book Description
This interesting book offers an analysis of man-made catastrophes and asks why they continue to occur. 87 catastrophes or near-catastrophes, including high profile cases such as the Bhopal gas disaster, Grenfell Tower, Shoreham Air Show crash, Brumadinho dam collapse and Fukushima Daiichi, are described together with the reasons why they occurred and why over 50 different safety management approaches and techniques failed to prevent them. Featuring 63 eye opening stories from the author’s own personal experience and over 200 pitfalls in safety management approaches, this title is illustrated by 24 hypothetical cases in which the reader is asked to consider the approach they would take. Safety management techniques discussed include operating practices, personnel selection and emergency response. Safety management approaches including safety governance in organisations, along with the role of government and local authorities using the instruments of the law are extensively discussed. The work concludes with imaginative and creative ways forward with the aim to make considerable progress and to potentially eliminate man-made catastrophes for good. This title will be an ideal read for safety managers and engineers, community leaders in civic duties or labour union roles and professionals tasked with stopping and mitigating the impacts of man-made catastrophes, along with non-technical readers who are curious and concerned.
Author: Rick Bissell
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1466511915
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 407
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Book Description
Based on a popular course for the FEMA Higher Education project, Preparedness and Response for Catastrophic Disasters provides important insight into plans to mitigate and respond to the devastation caused by large-scale catastrophic events. Hurricane Katrina provided clear evidence that these occurrences are both qualitatively and quantitatively d
Author: CCPS (Center for Chemical Process Safety)
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118178599
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 178
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Book Description
This book provides guidance on characterizing, recognizing, and responding to warning signs to help avoid process incidents and injuries before they occur. The guidance can be used by both process safety management (PSM) professionals in evaluating their processes and PSM systems as well as for operators who are often the frontline defense against process incidents. Warning signs may consist of process deviations or upsets, instrumentation warnings or alarms, past operating history and incidents, observable problems such as corrosion or unusual odors, audit results indicating procedures are not being followed, or a number of other indicators. Filled with photos and practical tips, this book will turn anyone in a process plant into a hazard lookout and will help prevent potential incidents before they turn into catastrophic events.
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309173744
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 87
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Book Description
As part of the national effort to improve aviation safety, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chartered the National Research Council to examine and recommend improvements in the aircraft certification process currently used by the FAA, manufacturers, and operators.
Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309285526
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 217
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Book Description
Disasters and public health emergencies can stress health care systems to the breaking point and disrupt delivery of vital medical services. During such crises, hospitals and long-term care facilities may be without power; trained staff, ambulances, medical supplies and beds could be in short supply; and alternate care facilities may need to be used. Planning for these situations is necessary to provide the best possible health care during a crisis and, if needed, equitably allocate scarce resources. Crisis Standards of Care: A Toolkit for Indicators and Triggers examines indicators and triggers that guide the implementation of crisis standards of care and provides a discussion toolkit to help stakeholders establish indicators and triggers for their own communities. Together, indicators and triggers help guide operational decision making about providing care during public health and medical emergencies and disasters. Indicators and triggers represent the information and actions taken at specific thresholds that guide incident recognition, response, and recovery. This report discusses indicators and triggers for both a slow onset scenario, such as pandemic influenza, and a no-notice scenario, such as an earthquake. Crisis Standards of Care features discussion toolkits customized to help various stakeholders develop indicators and triggers for their own organizations, agencies, and jurisdictions. The toolkit contains scenarios, key questions, and examples of indicators, triggers, and tactics to help promote discussion. In addition to common elements designed to facilitate integrated planning, the toolkit contains chapters specifically customized for emergency management, public health, emergency medical services, hospital and acute care, and out-of-hospital care.
Author: CCPS (Center for Chemical Process Safety)
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118210271
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 327
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Book Description
Incidents That Define Process Safety describes approximately fifty incidents that have had a significant impact on the chemical and refining industries' approaches to modern process safety. Events are described in detail so readers get a fundamental understanding of the root causes, the consequences, the lessons learned, and actions that can prevent a recurrence. There are exhaustive investigative reports about these events, allowing you to apply the resulting safety principles to their current operations.
Author: National Research Council (U.S.). Transportation Research Board
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780309088039
Category : Emergency management
Languages : en
Pages :
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Book Description
Author: Charles Perrow
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 140082849X
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 462
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Book Description
Normal Accidents analyzes the social side of technological risk. Charles Perrow argues that the conventional engineering approach to ensuring safety--building in more warnings and safeguards--fails because systems complexity makes failures inevitable. He asserts that typical precautions, by adding to complexity, may help create new categories of accidents. (At Chernobyl, tests of a new safety system helped produce the meltdown and subsequent fire.) By recognizing two dimensions of risk--complex versus linear interactions, and tight versus loose coupling--this book provides a powerful framework for analyzing risks and the organizations that insist we run them. The first edition fulfilled one reviewer's prediction that it "may mark the beginning of accident research." In the new afterword to this edition Perrow reviews the extensive work on the major accidents of the last fifteen years, including Bhopal, Chernobyl, and the Challenger disaster. The new postscript probes what the author considers to be the "quintessential 'Normal Accident'" of our time: the Y2K computer problem.
Author: David A. McEntire
Publisher: Charles C Thomas Publisher
ISBN: 0398085331
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 372
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Book Description
Disasters such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Indian Ocean Tsunami, and Hurricane Katrina illustrate the salience and complexity of disasters. Both scholars and practitioners therefore agree that we must take a more proactive and holistic approach to emergency management, which should logically be derived from a sound understanding of the academic literature and the most pressing concerns facing professionals in the field today. Disciplines, Disasters and Emergency Management reviews what is known about catastrophic events from the standpoint of various academic areas of study. The introdu.
