If you’re heading to Canada soon, and you don’t want to die, then listen up. If you’re ready for a zombie attack, then you’re ready for just about anything.

That’s the message British Columbia is sending its citizens and tourists in a website it launched this week, which provides tips on about how to prepare for a fake zombie apocalypse.

The vast province on Canada’s west coast has initiated a surprise preparedness campaign to help people take precautions in the event of any disaster – even a zombie attack.

The campaign is fake of course, but the website and its message about safety is not.

Emergency Info BC is using the faux preparedness tips to promote readiness for natural catastrophes which could strike the region.

“While the chance of zombies a-knockin’ on your door is pretty slim, we do believe that if you’re ready for zombies, you’re ready for any disaster,” the website said.

Its campaign is like a “blog about surviving a zombie attack” and is meant to be completely “fictional.”

It includes guidelines in case of an epidemic that transforms people into zombies, a map of risk zones in British-Columbia and instructions for what to include in one’s survival kit. The site also makes use of links to real resources for real disasters.

According to Emergency Info: “Other than zombie attack, your region may be susceptible to flooding, earthquakes or tsunamis. Find out and get prepared.”

NT WorkSafe recently slammed the complacency of Territory businesses that transport and store flammable gas cylinders in the rear of enclosed work vans.

Despite the deaths of two young tradesmen last December, many businesses in the air-conditioning, refrigeration and plumbing repair services ignored the dangers and continuing to place the lives of their workers at risk, said WorkSafe executive director Laurene Hull.

“In the first four months of 2012, NT WorkSafe has issued Prohibition Notices to more than 60 percent of those businesses we have attended to check on this situation,” she said.

“Despite intense media coverage over the deaths of two young tradesmen within the same week last December, inspections conducted by NT WorkSafe Inspectors have shown companies are still transporting and storing flammable gas cylinders in enclosed work vans.”

On 16 December 2011, a 24-year-old refrigeration mechanic was killed when his work van, which contained oxyacetylene cylinders, exploded in the driveway of his home of the Darwin suburb of Parap.

Preliminary findings from the NT WorkSafe investigation showed the probable cause of the explosion was a build up of flammable gas in the van, and the explosion also caused extensive damage to the house and damage to surrounding properties.

Four days earlier on 12 December 2011, a 25-year-old tradesman was killed in similar circumstances in Melbourne when his work van, which also contained flammable gas cylinders, exploded.

In 2009, two young apprentice plumbers in Victoria escaped serious injury when their employer’s work van, which contained oxyacetylene cylinders, exploded when they activated the van’s keyless entry.

“It amazes me that despite all the media coverage and Safety Alerts being issued by NT WorkSafe and WorkSafe Victoria, there are businesses out there that have ignored the fatalities and in their complacency continue to put their workers and members of the public at serious risk,” Hull said.

“What people need to understand is that these flammable gases only need the smallest of sparks, the most innocuous of actions to cause an explosion.”

The investigation into the Parap explosion is ongoing and over the next few weeks Hull said NT WorkSafe would conduct inspections at businesses across the Territory to monitor the issue of flammable gas cylinders being stored and transported in enclosed work vans.

Italian sports car maker Ferrari has apologised after one of its cars drove on an ancient Chinese monument, prior to a publicity event, causing damage.

Ferrari suggested the incident was the fault of a local dealership employee.

The car was filmed wheel-spinning on top of a 600-year-old Ming-dynasty era wall in the city of Nanjing.

Footage of the screeching vehicle has infuriated China’s online community, hitting a nerve in a society where such cars are a symbol of privilege. One web user called it a “rude insult” to Chinese tradition and culture.

The incident, in the run-up to a Ferrari show, left tyre marks on the wall.

But most public anger has been directed at city officials after reports emerged suggesting they had agreed to rent the use of the wall to the Ferrari dealership for about $12,000 (£8,000). City officials have retorted that the car company did not have approval. ”No enterprise or individual is allowed to use the city ramparts in Nanjing for commercial purposes,” Nanjing Cultural Relics Bureau Captain Wu Jing said.

Ferrari has denied the episode was a publicity stunt and has laid the blame with a member of staff at a local dealership. ”Unfortunately, an employee of the dealership – not a Ferrari employee – took it upon himself to drive the car in the way that you will see in the video, with the very regrettable result that tyre marks were left on the ancient monument. Ferrari SpA has unreservedly apologised to the Chinese authorities and local community for any damage and offence caused, and has promised to work with the necessary officials to repair any damage caused by the negligence of this individual.”

The night-time spin, shortly after the car had been hoisted on to the wall, reportedly led to the cancellation of the event itself, a celebration of 20 years since Ferrari entered the Chinese car market.

The word Ferrari has now been blocked on Chinese microblogs, perhaps as part of an effort to contain criticism of the actions of government officials, our correspondent says.

Victoria will not adopt the model Work Health and Safety laws, according to Victorian Treasurer Kim Wells.

In an official budget speech, Treasurer Wells recently said that enacting the laws would cost too much while there would be insufficient benefit for the state.

“The Government will not sign up to the current proposal for harmonised legislation for occupational health and safety,” he said.

“It offers little benefit for Victoria to offset the $3.4 billion of estimated costs, the majority of which falls on small business.”

The Victorian Government recently commissioned PricewaterhouseCoopers to examine the cost of enacting the model Work Health and Safety laws.

The resulting report found that it would cost Victoria $812 million to transition to the new laws and $587 million per year over the first five years in ongoing costs to businesses.

The report also found that small enterprises, which comprise 90 per cent of Victorian businesses, would bear 78 per cent of transition costs and 74 per cent of ongoing costs.

While Treasurer Wells said in his speech that the state would “continue to work towards best practice legislation” the Victorian Government said the proposed laws do not deliver on the intent of the COAG reform agreed to in 2008, which aimed to reduce the cost of regulation and enhance productivity and workforce mobility.

Victoria’s Assistant Treasurer Gordon Rich-Phillips previously said any move to harmonise OHS laws should decrease costs for business while still delivering a safe work environment.

“Many small and medium-sized businesses do not have the ability to readily adapt to the changes that would be required under the proposed laws,” he said.

“Those businesses will incur costs as they try to understand their obligations under the new laws.”

A Hammerstein Ballroom stage collapsed under the pressure of the giant entourages for the dozen hip-hop acts amassed for the Power 105’s DJ Prostyle’s celebrity birthday bash. But the artists all brought giant entourages, causing a bottleneck at the entrance to the backstage area — and a ramp to collapse. One observer said the staging buckled after “12 dudes that weighed 300 pounds each and an extra 100 pounds for all of their bling jewelry” were on the ramp leading backstage. Sources say more than 400 people had packed in backstage, but it’s unclear if anyone was hurt. Hinting there could be some retribution, DJ Big Mike The Ruler tweeted, “The mini stage collapsed last nite at Hammerstein I know sumbodys neck hurts this morning. $$$$”

An Illinois man was killed and about 100 people were hurt when high winds caused a deadly tent collapse outside a St. Louis sports bar.

The tent collapse happened as a fast-moving storm rolled in on Saturday, after a St. Louis Cardinals game at nearby Busch Stadium. Winds exceeded 70 mph, a spokesman for St. Louis’ mayor said.

City officials approved the bar’s tent permit, and the tent passed a city inspection that requires tents to withstand 90-mph winds. But now city inspectors are taking another look.

“This tent was inspected, but we need to make sure there weren’t modifications to it,” the mayor’s spokesman said.

The deadly St. Louis tent collapse occurred when a sudden gust of wind shattered the aluminum poles holding up the tent. Debris flew through the air as the tent was blown onto nearby railroad tracks.

About 200 people were underneath the tent when it collapsed. About 100 victims were treated for injuries at the scene, and 17 were taken to hospitals. One man was killed.

St. Louis officials say it’s too early to determine whether the bar may face sanctions. But if investigators determine the bar was somehow at fault, that could set the stage for victims to file tent collapse lawsuits alleging negligence and seeking compensation for their injuries.

In its defense, the bar could claim its patrons assumed the risk of injury, or were themselves negligent, by being in an outdoor tent during severe weather. That’s similar to what the band Sugarland claimed in its defense, when fans sued for negligence after high winds toppled a stage at an outdoor concert in Indiana last summer. Seven people died, and 58 were hurt in the Sugarland stage collapse.

In the wake of Saturday’s deadly St. Louis tent collapse, lawmakers may take another look at the city’s tent regulations, the mayor’s spokesman said.

Competitors Turia Pitt, Victorian Kate Sanderson, Michael Hull and Shaun Van Der Merwe relived the horrific ordeal at an inquiry into the 2011 Kimberley Ultramarathon – the event that almost cost them their lives.

Ms Pitt, 24, and Ms Sanderson, 35, were seriously injured when wildfire swept through a rocky gorge as they competed in a 100km outback marathon between Kununurra and El Questro on September 2 last year.

Two men – Mr Hull, an experienced ultramarathon competitor, and Martin Van Der Merwe – suffered less serious burns while Mr Van Der Merwe’s son, Shaun, escaped injury.

The 2011 Kimberley Ultramarathon had been Ms Pitt’s first ultramarathon. Ms Sanderson said she had competed in several 100km events

In an emotional hearing, the Economics and Industry Standing Committee heard that Hong Kong-based organiser Racing The Planet had sent a get well card to Ms Sanderson in hospital and chocolates to Mr Hull but had made no effort to support, meet with or fund medical bills of injured competitors.

It also heard that:

*Injured runners believed the 2011 Kimberley Ultramarathon had been organised “on the cheap” with “skeleton” staff and ineffective communications and satellite phones to safeguard competitors.

*The $1600 entry fee was so excessive, compared to other ultramarathon events, that it failed to attract a decent number of participants so Racing The Planet offered some runners free entry to boost numbers; and

*Organisers had ordered entrants to sign a mandatory waiver at the pre-race briefing – just a day before the race.

Mr Hull said a pre-race briefing had warned of spot fires but there was no mention that fire had burnt out course markers days before the event.

He said it was a “fundamental flaw in basic race direction” that Racing The Planet’s communications and satellite phones did not work in the remote Kimberley.

Wearing a compression suit covering her head, face and body, Ms Pitt told the inquiry that bushfires had been mentioned briefly at a meeting the day before the event, but the focus was on other issues including dehydration and snakes.

“There was some mention. They told us to avoid the fires if there were fires, but it was more of a passing comment,” she said.

Ms Pitt, a former St John Ambulance volunteer, said had she known that emergency services personnel, including SJA and FESA, in Kununurra had not been advised of the event, she would have withdrawn from the race.

Today, she recounted how she had put her jacket on to protect her against the flames as the fireball approached and she felt hotter and hotter.

“I know that fires travel faster uphill but I couldn’t go anywhere else,” she said.

“As the fire approached I just couldn’t stay there anymore so I jumped out and tried to run away and that’s when I got burnt.”

Ms Pitt said had it not been for the amazing technique of pilot Paul Cripps, who hovered a helicopter one on skid on the cliff top, she and Ms Sanderson may not have survived.

“I think me and Kate would have died. Because we were already burnt, I don’t think we would have lasted the night.”

Mr Van Der Merwe said the competitors had been like “sitting ducks” as the fire raced towards them.

Mr Hull said: “The temperature was so intense. The roar and sound of the fire was just brutal. It was like a road train…The heat was at our backs.”

But Ms Sanderson said it “felt like an eternity” before help turned up. After being confronted by the flames at 1.15pm she was not evacuated until 5.15pm.

She described how she had little more that Panadol for pain relief and how other less injured competitors had used cloth to shield their burn injuries from the sun.

Once an active athlete and keen mountain bike rider and orienteer, Ms Sanderson said her life had become a shadow of what it had been.

“My life has just gone from what it was to nothing,” she said. ”I just sit at home all day and my life consists of appointments. My life has been destroyed.’’

Ms Pitt told the inquiry she had spent five months in hospital, could not work in her mining job and her partner, Michael, had given up his career to care for her.

“I don’t feed myself, wash myself, dress myself,” she said.

Mr Hull said organisers of other ultramarathon and endurance events had given competitors flares as a safety precaution, but Racing The Planet did not.

The purpose of this safety alert is to highlight the dangers associated with washing floors using an inappropriate bucket and hot water mixed with the chemicals, and to suggest possible control measures to assist industry to manage the risk.

Background

A worker at a fast food outlet received superficial and partial thickness burns while washing the floor.

The container used was large (21 litres) and was filled to capacity with hot water and a cleaning chemical. The bucket was too heavy for the 15-year-old worker to lift, so
the container was dragged along the floor. The container tipped, causing the contents to spill into the worker’s shoes, resulting in burns to their feet.

When the accident occurred, the worker was offered an ice pack to put on the injury.

Contributing factors

• A written safe system of work was not available at the time of the incident.
• The bucket provided was not suitable for the task ie too heavy when full.
• The hot water was not regulated to a safe working temperature.
• There was no personal protective equipment provided to protect the worker from
the heat hazard.

Action required

A risk assessment on all tasks must be done by the employer or person in control of the workplace.

1. Workers must be trained and supervised in using safe work procedures.
2. A bucket must be provided that is designed for the task.
3. Personal protective equipment is provided by the employer and worn by the worker ie rubber boots.
4. Hot water is regulated to a safe working temperature.
5. First aid facilities, including trained personnel, must be available to immediately provide appropriate treatment. Cool, running water has been shown to be the best method for first aid treatment of burn injuries, and ice has been shown to be ineffective or to aggravate the injury.

A 20-year-old female IDF officer was killed and seven soldiers were injured Wednesday afternoon when a heavy lighting fixture collapsed on a stage set on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. Eight people were detained for questioning by Jerusalem police.

Second-Lieutenant Hila Bezaleli was among dozens of soldiers who were on the stage rehearsing for next week’s Independence Day ceremony.

Officials at Design Group, the company that constructed the stage on which a heavy lighting fixture collapsed during rehearsals for an Independence Day ceremony on Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl Wednesday, blamed the organisers for failing to clear the premises once they noticed the structures were swaying.

An initial investigation revealed that a cable connecting the lighting fixtures was torn apart, causing them to collapse and drag a concrete cube that weighs a few tons. Second-Lieutenant Hila Bezaleli, a Medical Corps officer at the Jordan Valley Brigade, was killed in the accident. A few other people were injured.

“A life could have been saved,” Evyatar Banyan, the company’s vice president, told Ynet. “A production official should have stopped it. We received a phone call from the safety expert, who told us there was a problem. We sent a team, but he should have evacuated everyone from the scene.”

The Design Group official hinted that the company responsible for installing the lighting fixtures was to blame. “This tragedy should have been prevented. There was enough time. We dispatched a team, but there is no way of stopping heavy lighting fixtures from falling in such a strong wind. Our team could not have stopped it. The man with the loudspeaker could have evacuated everyone,” Banyan told Ynet Thursday.

“Kilim Light and Sound installed the lighting fixtures professionally and in accordance with the production company’s instructions, but I do not know if they were installed according to the original plan.”

Eight people were detained for questioning Wednesday in connection with the accident, and Jerusalem Police set up a special task force to investigate the incident.

The Design Group has said it adhered to the instructions of engineers and supervisors and did not veer from safety instructions. ”The installation was not built today and has been erected for more than 10 days,” the company said. ”It had been checked by safety engineers, passed two examinations and received the necessary permits.”

With 99 days to go before the 2012 Olympic Games open in London. As that day moves closer, preparations, which have been going on for some time, speed up.

One of the most inspired groups preparing for the event has been the City’s insurance community. Brokers and carriers have been heavily involved from the beginning, as there are many risks in hosting a competition that goes on for three weeks, attracts thousands of athletes and visitors, and is watched by millions more around the world.

Unfortunately, individual details are hard to obtain, as the brokers – Marsh is the lead broker – and the carriers are reluctant to provide specific information, and have usually agreed with their clients not to do so. In most case they have also been required to sign “gagging orders,” pledging their confidentiality on games coverage.

In effect the type of coverage involved and the risks posed, as well as other details, are not commonly disclosed for policies covering major sporting events. “The information we receive from our clients is highly confidential,” said Hiscox event underwriter Elizabeth Seeger.

She explained that even though the Olympics are the biggest global sporting event, along with the Football (soccer) World Cup, they are handled in the same manner as other high profile public events. “Clients require confidentiality for a number of reasons,” Seeger said. These can include a reluctance to make public the amounts involved in becoming a sponsor for such an event, as well as the details of their insurance coverage, which, she stressed, is an absolute requirement.

In addition publicizing an insurance policy could lead to opportunist claims from third parties. While some may be legitimate, many are filed simply as a means to obtain money. “It is important for all involved that we keep that door firmly closed, as making this type of information public will not assist in the running of the event or be of benefit to those involved,” said Seeger.

While the carriers and brokers may treat coverage of Olympic events more or less as they would other sporting contests, there are differences. An event that goes on for nearly three weeks in more than 60 different sites, involving thousands of athletes and spectators, does pose additional problems. However, the types of coverage required do fall into familiar categories, and the London market is well prepared to deal with them.

Coverage comprises three main categories: liability, event cancellation and property damage. Each sector covers the specific risks that are involved, and in some cases they overlap.

Liability is pretty straightforward. Moving and accommodating all of the athletes and spectators, as well as the officials and other personnel involved in managing the games is a huge challenge. London’s budget for the games is a whopping £9.3 billion ($14.843 billion). There will be injuries and perhaps even fatalities, as well as non-personal injury claims.

Event cancellation coverage is more complicated. “Anyone involved with the games would have obtained |this type of] coverage years ago,” Seeger said. Thus many policies have been in force since 2005, when London was awarded the 2012 Olympics. “The earlier the better,” she continued, “as the terms are broader and less restrictive [in the early stages].

“Risk management is the key to the success of any event; that is why, when we talk to potential clients, we would advise them on how crucial a robust contingency plan can be,” she continued.  “Planning for the worst can go a long way in helping event organizers secure the type of insurance coverage they need and insurers should be able to guide them on creating an appropriate plan.”

Event cancellation can cover the costs incurred when a planned event is actually cancelled, which is relatively rare, as they are usually rescheduled. But the costs of rescheduling, including such items as new programs, tickets, rental costs, crowd control, etc. are nonetheless expensive and are covered by policies. “As a result we always encourage our clients to have a contingency plan in place,” Seeger said.

Property damage polices cover the buildings, the outdoor sites, the equipment and the transport vehicles used to stage events. They are at risk from both fire and construction defects, as well as theft and vandalism.

The perils that these policies cover run the gamut from slip and falls to terrorist attacks. Seeger described terrorism as “very high risk.” The games are a potential target for every disaffected group or individual on the planet. One only has to remember the murderous attack on the Israeli Olympic team in Munich in 1972 to realize how great a threat a terrorist act could be. “Such an act would probably trigger all of the policies involved,” Seeger said.

She also noted that in addition to a planned or organized attack, there’s also the possibility of civil unrest, such as the riots that occurred in London and other UK cities last summer, which could affect Olympic events. A number of activist groups have also indicated that they plan to stage protest marches and demonstrations at various game sites, which would also involve insurance coverage.

“Our other major concern,” Seeger said, “is the possibility of an outbreak of disease, which could be spread rapidly with all of the air travel.” She cited the SARS outbreak as an example of the type of sickness that could greatly interfere with the Olympics. As the games will bring together large numbers of people in closely packed stadiums, they would provide an ideal incubator for the spread of any infectious disease.

Another concern is the likely boycott of the products of some companies who are Olympic Games sponsors by groups who object to such products or the procedures employed in their manufacture. There are also potential disputes over broadcasting rights to the games that have been taken up around the world.

Finally there is the newest nasty kid on the block – cyber terrorism. “All they would have to do is hack into the system to create a real problem,” Seeger said. There have already been several computer glitches involving tickets, although no one has ascribed them to hackers. But, if someone put a malign virus into one of the systems controlling the games, it could disrupt ticket controls and timing mechanisms. A virus could also potentially scramble global communications, including TV and Internet feeds, as well as cell phones and related devices.

All in all insuring the Olympics is an Herculean task, but the London market is ideally placed to deal with all of these potential problems, and they have already gone a long way into doing so.