Safety Goes on Offense
The NFPA Podcast
As we’ve noted on the podcast a few times recently, standard development organizations and safety professionals are facing several significant challenges right now. In statehouses, lawmakers are increasingly passing bills that alter, delay, or even erase safety codes; fire marshals and other safety professionals say their voices are being increasingly marginalized; and court decisions involving copywrite protection threaten to disturb the century-old system under which safety standards are created and maintained. However, at last week's NFPA Conference & Expo, Jim Pauley, NFPA's...
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Heat, the Silent Killer
The NFPA Podcast
As summer weather begins in the Northern Hemisphere, we revisit this very relevant episode from 2023. Heatwaves aren't just uncomfortable, they are deadly for millions of people around the globe each year. Recognizing this growing threat, governments and safety departments are starting to reconsider their vulnerabilities to heat and are taking action to protect their populations and infrastructure. Today on the podcast, we talk to Eleni Myrivili, who was appointed as the first ever World Chief Heat Officer by the United Nations in 2022. Her job is to help cities think harder about heat and...
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Risk Reduction on Tribal Lands
The NFPA Podcast
Tribal nations and native communities across North America are consistently one of the highest-risk population groups for a range of health and safety issues, including fire incidents and casualties. And yet, developing and implementing community risk reduction programs in native communities can be daunting, especially for non-native fire departments that don’t understand native traditions, sensitivities, or histories. Our guest today, Monte Fronk, has been the lone fire safety expert in his native American tribe, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, for over 30 years. On today’s podcast, I...
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The Mysteries of Electrical Injuries
The NFPA Podcast
May is Electrical Safety Month, which is a good time to remember that dozens of people across the world suffer injuries from electrical hazards every single day. Survivors of these incidents list a range of devastating symptoms, from burns and chronic pain to insomnia, muscle spasms, depression, and various other mental health issues. Many of the full effects of these injuries are still not fully understood. Today on the podcast, we revisit a 2021 episode featuring three renowned doctors from the Chicago Electrical Trauma Rehabilitation Institute. They talk about what a powerful...
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Is It Alzheimer's, or Carbon Monoxide Poisoning?
The NFPA Podcast
Carbon monoxide is known as the silent killer, but it doesn’t have to kill you to have permanent consequences. There is growing evidence that long-term exposure to CO, at concentrations that are too small for a typical household alarm to detect, can have serious and permanent impacts on human health, including cognitive decline, neurological issues, organ damage, and other ailments that are often misdiagnosed as unrelated chronic diseases. Today on the podcast, we talk to Charon McNabb, the founder of the National Carbon Monoxide Awareness Association, about her own experiences with...
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The Construction Fire Problem
The NFPA Podcast
As the weather in the Northern Hemisphere starts to shift to spring and construction season gears up, we revisist an episode from 2021 about the costly ongoing problem of fires in buildings under construction. In the United States, there's a fire in a building under construction or renovation every hour and a half, according to NFPA data. On this podcast, Angelo speaks with Kevin Carr (4:15), NFPA staff liaison to NFPA 241, Standard for Safeguarding Construction, Alteration, and Demolition Operations, to learn more about construction site fires and how to prevent them. Plus, a safety executive...
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The Assault on Safety, Part 2
The NFPA Podcast
This is the second part of our series looking at how fire and life safety codes are being delayed, erased, and watered down across the United States. On this episode, we talk to Ohio State Fire Marshal Kevin Reardon about some of the challenges he's facing in his state, strategies to counter misguided legislative efforts, and why the fire service needs to get more involved if we are to reverse this dangerous trend (1:36). Then, NFPA Southeast Regional Director Robby Dawson chats with building code officials from Texas and Iowa about their local code enforcement experiences, the broader...
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The Assault on Safety, Part 1
The NFPA Podcast
There is a serious threat to safety happening now that isn’t getting nearly enough attention, according to many state fire marshals and fire service leaders. Across the U.S., anti-regulatory sentiments and well financed lobbying efforts are persuading lawmakers to weaken or erase the longstanding fire and life safety codes intended to keep the public safe. Today’s podcast is the first of two parts on this important issue, which is the also the topic of the cover story of the Spring 2025 issue of NFPA Journal. This week, we speak to Butch Browning, the executive director of the...
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Making LA More Resilient
The NFPA Podcast
As the Los Angeles area wildfires exploded in early January, a nonprofit organization called MySafe:LA leapt into action, disseminating timely information to guide residents through the chaos. But public messaging is just one of countless ways the group has worked to boost safety in greater LA. Over almost 20 years, MySafe:LA has grown into one of the most unique and comprehensive public/private safety and resiliency organizations in the U.S. Today on the podcast, we talk to David and Cameron Barrett, the husband-and-wife duo who founded and run MySafe:LA, about their organization, its role...
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The Act that Transformed Fire Safety
The NFPA Podcast
In 1973, fire killed and injured more people in the United States than in any other industrialized nation in the world. The next year, Congress passed the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act, a landmark bill that made significant investments in fire research, training, and education. Within a few decades, the U.S. had transformed from a fire-prone outlier, to arguably the safest country in the world. Today on the podcast, we talk to Dick Gann, one of the most prolific fire researchers in U.S. history, about a new paper that he co-authored that commemorates the 50th anniversary of the...
info_outlineThis is the second part of our series looking at how fire and life safety codes are being delayed, erased, and watered down across the United States. On this episode, we talk to Ohio State Fire Marshal Kevin Reardon about some of the challenges he's facing in his state, strategies to counter misguided legislative efforts, and why the fire service needs to get more involved if we are to reverse this dangerous trend (1:36).
Then, NFPA Southeast Regional Director Robby Dawson chats with building code officials from Texas and Iowa about their local code enforcement experiences, the broader challenges facing building officials, and how NFPA can help (32:11).
LINKS: Read, "The Assault on Safety," the cover story of the Spring 2025 issue of NFPA Journal.