Lightning Safety

 

While lightning is a danger all year long, it kills more people during the summer months than at any other time of the year. A National Weather Service (NWS) analysis (PDF) of lightning deaths in the U.S. between 2006 and 2016 show that more than 70% of these deaths occurred in the months of June, July, and August, with slightly more deaths occurring on Saturdays and Sundays. A total of 352 people were struck and killed by lightning during this 11-year period. Regretfully, reports of these fatal incidents indicate that many victims were either headed to safety or steps away at the time of the fatal strike. Those responsible for college and university-sponsored programs including teams, clubs, other outdoor activities, or third-party camps that may oversee minors on campus must continue efforts to encourage participants to go inside to an identified safe place before the lightning threat becomes significant. For many campus activities, situational awareness and proper planning by faculty, administrators, staff, and volunteers are essential to preventing the hundreds of fatalities and severe injuries that are caused by lightning strikes each year. 

 

There are several resources available to help keep yourself and others safe from this low probability/high consequence threat:

With the summer months approaching and people making plans to enjoy the outdoors, it is a good time to ensure that you, and your organization, have lightning safety plans in place. National Lightning Safety Awareness Week, June 18-24, 2017, provides an additional opportunity to learn more about lightning and lightning safety with a different topic highlighted each day.  

National Safety Month: Keep Each Other Safe

 

National Safety Month (NSM) is observed annually in June and focuses on reducing the leading causes of injury and death at work, on the road, and in our homes and communities. This year, the National Safety Council (NSC), a nonprofit membership organization that has been a leading safety advocacy group for more than 100 years, is joining with thousands of organizations across the U.S. to raise awareness around this year's theme, Keep Each Other Safe. NSM highlights four different safety topics weekly throughout the month. These resources can be helpful to local communities as well as colleges and universities, particularly week three that focuses on active shooters.

 

You can sign up to receive resources related to these topics:

The NSC provides related articles on each topic from their official magazine, Safety + Health, and a downloadable social media kit (MS Word). They will host a free webinar, Preventable Deaths: A Public Health Crisis, on Thursday, June 22nd. This webinar will explore the latest trends, research and statistics that explain the scope of the preventable deaths epidemic. Register today for this opportunity. You can also follow the National Security Council on Twitter or on Facebook.

 

For more than 30 additional resources on active shooters and threats, including a list of available trainings, please visit our website library and use the search tag "active shooter." For free assistance or specific questions, please contact us.