The simulated release of biological and chemical agents in New Jersey and Connecticut set the stage for this year's TOPOFF 3 exercise involving top level public and private officials, including those from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
TOPOFF 3, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Office of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness, was the third Congressionally-mandated biennial exercise designed to strengthen the nation's capacity to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks involving weapons of mass destruction.
OSHA joined numerous other Federal departments and agencies, the United Kingdom, Canada, the states of Connecticut and New Jersey, and representatives of the private sector during the weeklong exercise that began April 4. OSHA's participation centered on its overall role in emergency response which is to ensure that threats to worker safety and health are anticipated, recognized, evaluated, and controlled consistently so that response and recovery workers are properly protected. This role is highlighted in the Worker Safety and Health Support Annex included in the DHS National Response Plan (NRP).
Consistent with the annex, OSHA worked with other safety and health professionals at the federal and state levels to address worker safety and health issues. Employees from OSHA's Boston and New York regions and the agency's chemical and biological response teams were sent to the incident sites as well as the various response coordination centers in New Jersey and Connecticut.
OSHA personnel participating in TOPOFF exercises are familiar with chemical, biological, physical and structural collapse hazards, and include occupational safety and health specialists, industrial hygienists, safety engineers, occupational physicians, occupational nurses, and health physicists.
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