John Trotti

Yet another year bites the dust—the 14th since MSW Management first went into the mail—and while I can't recall a year in which at least one disaster of epic proportions didn't take place, I think 2004 may stand alone for the ferocity and persistence of nature's assaults on our well-being. For sure it will be remembered as the year of hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne…and perhaps Lisa.

No doubt more than a handful of Florida and Gulf Coast residents who have borne the brunt of these tropical bombasts will decide "enough is enough," pull up stakes, and head for less blustery climes. Most, however, will buckle down to the task of clearing away, cleaning up, rebuilding, and getting on with life in the sober realization that despite all the trappings of security, mayhem lurks just over the horizon.

How about the rest of us whose lives and fortunes lay outside the beaten zone? What do we take away from the all-too-graphically chronicled litany of death, destruction, and catastrophic disruption that descended on people not so different from ourselves and our neighbors? Thankfulness for our good fortune, of course, concern for the victims—but what about next week, next month, or next year?

Dusted Off Your Emergency Plans Lately?

We've all got a sense of what disasters may lie in wait for us and plans for how to deal with them so that we can reasonably expect that we, much as the recent hurricane victims, will be able to dig out, police up, rebuild, and in time overcome the terrible consequences of natural or unnatural catastrophe. But is the issue remediation alone or are there other dimensions we should be thinking about?

We would all probably agree that emergency plans should be living documents rather than monuments to some statutory requirement that resulted in a tidy paper drill sometime in the distant past…but it's been my experience that the latter is most often the case. Far from criticism, this is a reasonable assessment of how we manage our time in the face of certainties—many more demands on what will always be inadequate resources of time and materials—versus the virtually endless list of uncertainties lurking in the mists of the future. So how do we deal with such an impasse?

Over the years I've had an opportunity to write, amend, review, and shudder in fright over quite a number of emergency plans. Some have been so thorough and precise in their framing that you'd think that no contingency could go unchecked. Others have had little more than a list of phone numbers to call, often hopelessly out of date. The best I've seen have been relatively short, but armed with a hard-and-fast requirement for regular, hands-on, get-out-of-bed-in-the-middle-of-the-night, disaster drills followed immediately by after-action meetings to assess results. The key, of course, lies in the commitment of elected officials and senior staff in making these drills as realistic and demanding as possible, but that's only part of the equation. Since waste managers are sure to get the short end of the stick when it comes to picking up the pieces, these drills may be your best opportunity for getting and honing the tools, equipment, and support you're going to need to achieve the success your citizenry has every right to expect.

The MSW Management Safety Department

Even as we initiated our Safety Department in September, we realized how little we knew about the programs that existed in the field or their effectiveness. This being the case, it seems to me that our first step—one that MSW Management is in a position to facilitate—is to lift the veils of secrecy so pervasive in our field to see where we are and what aspects of our operations need the most attention. So beginning with this issue we are taking steps to change the situation by initiating an online survey, www.mswmanagement.com/mw_0411_survey.html, and asking you a few questions whose answers we will tabulate and make available both online and in the magazine. Over time we will be able to develop a much better picture of the kinds of programs and initiatives that exist as well as their effectiveness.

I can think of no subject that deserves or requires more constant attention than safety, nor one that is less forgiving of neglect. Though the figures are not yet finalized, 2004 was not a banner year for MSW operations, and that is something we all need to address. At least part of the problem lies in our reluctance to recognize that very few accidents are unavoidable, that most follow patterns of neglect or ignorance that we could have done something about. We can do this, but not without your help.

WASTECON 2004 Report

SWANA's annual conference and expo, held this year at the Phoenix, AZ, Convention Center, was a real step forward, not just in comparison with those in recent years, but in its own right as well. Not only was the overall attendance up, but participation in the professional training sessions, workshops, and presentations, as well as activity on the tradeshow floor, were exceptional as well. What caught my attention was the willingness of participants and visitors to discuss new solutions for promoting diversion—something that has been missing for several years now. Next year's WASTECON takes place in Austin, TX, beginning September 25. You don't want to miss it.

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MSW - November/December 2004