Support Department Safety

A past evaluation by several Department of Health ami Human Serviees (DHHS) ajjeneict... eoneluded that no sound seientific studies supported medical. use of marijuana for treatment in the United States, and no animal or human data supported the safety or efficacy of marijuana forjttfieral medical use. Dicre arc alternative fDA-approved medications in existence for treatment of many of the proposed uses of smoked marijuana. ... 

Support departments in identifying their critical tasks and help in the writing of the job safety procedures (JSPs). 

A number of airlines have cut support departments, such as engineering, to focus scarce resources on the necessities of operations and maintenance. There has been little or no systematic study of how such cuts have affected safety. However, some airline industry observers and critics of deregulation have raised concerns that such cuts leave the airlines more dependent on aircraft vendor input on decisions regarding new aircraft designs, as well as maintenance and other areas. Thus, for example, O Malley (1993, pp. 80-81) cites a United Airlines captain as saying ... 

In two of the case study industries, there were indications of reductions in support services that could have potential safety consequences. In particular, in the airline industry case study, there were concerns about cuts in corporate support departments such as engineering and meteorology, which could leave the airlines more dependent on other information sources (e.g., equipment vendors). Concerns about the elimination of most airline weather departments and the reliance on publicly available weather services were also raised independently by one of the airline industry interviewees. Finally, claims were also made that competition and financial pressiues had reduced the resources available for inter-airline bench-marking on safety-related issues. 

Management Salaried/exempt employees including fine managers (e.g. supervisors, superintendents, plant managers) and support departments such as Human Resources, Purchasing, Information Resources, safety staff, etc. 

However, maintenance departments also have to perform inspections that are dictated by rules and regulations which were written and are applied to support nuclear safety. It has become a widespread practice to perform these inspections to the letter of the rules and regulations, and to leave it to some other body, presumably the safety authorities, to find out whether simple comphance with the rules is sufficient for nuclear safety. 

SUPPORT DEPARTMENTS QA, QC, HR, SAFETY, etc. MAINTENANCE/ENGINEERING FRONT-LINE SUPERVISION TEAM MEMBERS MIDDLE MANAGEMENT UPPER MANAGEMENT CONTRACTORS... 

The trainee will visit other departments in the head office to learn about the supporting facilities which are available such as non-destructive testing, metallurgical and failure analysis, hazard analysis and quality assurance. Emphasis is laid on safety, i.e. the integrity and safety of the plant in operation and on the surveyor s own personal safety. It is important that the trainee understands the techniques involved, particularly the limitations of their application. 

Strength ACSO (Aiken County Sheriffs Office) personnel had Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in their vehicles and were directed to utilize it. ACSO Sheriff contacted neighboring county Sheriffs directly via cell phone to coordinate safe arrival direction to the staging area. ADPS (Aiken Department of Public Safety) Staging officer directed rescue personnel through specified safety routes. US-OSHA representatives offered support on Day 2 and identified no safety concerns for responders. 

There has never been any incentive for the pharmaceutical industry to pursue research along these lines even though, as in the case of Vioxx, the end results of neglecting adverse effects may be very costly. The aim of the industry has usually been to extend the market size irrespective of potential risk and attempts to implement effective post-marketing surveillance has received little enthusiasm. It is to be hoped that company medical departments and pharmaceutical physicians will continue to support the need for a broad range of safety evaluation studies to be conducted on new medicinal products. 

The research in author s laboratory is supported through a cooperative agreement with the Agricultural Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture project number 1935-42000-035 and the Center for Food Safety lingineering at Purdue University and USDA-NRI. 

There are a number of critical elements in an efficient university clinical pharmacology department. They include teaching, analytical and experimental laboratory work, clinical service, drug information and critical appraisal, advisory support for the professions, drug safety research and evaluation, and pharmacovigilance. 

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