Safety Wars

Safety Wars 11-13-2026 Friday the 13th: Outages, Outrage, and the Cost of Chasing Nonsense

On a Friday the 13th packed with chaos — a massive Microsoft/Outlook global outage, a New Orleans cruise ship collision dubbed a "miracle on the Mississippi," Iranian cyber attacks on French supermarkets, and a communications blackout — host Jim Posel of Safety Words (Safety FM) weaves the week's headlines into three safety monologues. He breaks down Brandolini's Law (disproving nonsense costs far more than producing it) and its impact on workplace investigations, uses the Microsoft outage to explore organizational resilience and shared dependencies through a Human & Organizational Performance lens, and draws a powerful stop-work-authority lesson from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier incident where an Army specialist enforced decorum on the Secretary of Defense. Along the way he also covers Canadian veterans being offered medically assisted death instead of mental health care, black swan events and backup preparedness, and a plea for organizations to make it safe for the newest worker to challenge the most senior executive. For all your safety needs contact us at 845-269-5772. www.jamespoesl.com. www.safetywars.com Music is copyright 2026 by James Poesl

Safety Wars November 11, 2026 Veterans Day, Stacey Keach RIP, Extremism

Safety Wars – Veterans Day, Stacy Keach Tribute, Extremism & Mine Safety Updates Jim Poesl returns to the Safety Wars studio on November 11th covering Poland Independence Day and the country's political tensions with the EU over constitutional court appointments and the euro. He pivots to Veterans Day, urging listeners to volunteer at VA facilities, donate everyday essentials, and serve as long-term advocates for veterans navigating an onerous benefits system. Jim then pays a personal tribute to actor Stacy Keach, who passed at 85. Born with a cleft lip and palate, Keach became an unlikely inspiration—Jim recounts how his mother drew hope from Keach's career, and how a stranger at a restaurant later told Jim the same thing about him. Jim then delivers a pointed monologue on extremism, applying Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) principles to argue that what matters most is how the majority responds when minorities cross the line—whether in religion, politics, or workplace safety culture. The episode closes with MSHA deregulatory rule updates, a proposed silica dust standard, and improved veterans' transition assistance programs. #StaceyKeach #Vetrans #SAFETYFM #safetywars #JIMPOESLwww.jamespoesl.com www.safetywars.com For all your safety needs give us a call at 845-269-5772

Safety Wars 11-3-2026 Election Night

Jim Poesl covers the eve of the 2026 midterms, predicting lawsuits and recounts while analyzing how consultants profit from extended campaigns. He breaks down Poland's constitutional crisis over EU integration and currency, warns of Russian drone attacks on Black Sea shipping, and features Feature Story News coverage of key Senate races. Poesl examines poll manipulation, covers new DOL rules on PBM transparency and apprenticeship funding, and explores AI's role in outsourcing emotional communication in dating. He also discusses therapy's influence on family estrangement trends and a fatal Learjet crash in Florida. The episode closes with a personal segment on two recent suicides in the safety community, urging employers to recognize mental health warning signs, and shares crisis resources (TWLOHA, 988 Lifeline). www.jamespoesl.com. www.safetywars.com 845-260-5772

October 27, 2026 Safety Wars: When the Plan Meets Reality

Host Jim Poesl opens with a tribute to Star Trek's Walter Koenig, who died at 90, then pivots to the real question: what's your plan when someone dies at work? He argues safety pros need pre-written scripts, attorney review, and empathy—not speculation about cause of death. Feature Story News covers Israeli elections as a referendum on October 7th, a US-brokered ceasefire in Ukraine, and Fed rate expectations. The DOL segment details $250K in mine safety grants, a $6.5M retirement plan consent order, and a USMCA labor win. EPA coverage spans PFAS technology strategy, $1.6T in deregulatory savings, Gelman Sciences contamination in Michigan, formaldehyde testing standards, and a Toledo chemical emergency. FBI stories cover romance fraud, money laundering, voter registration fraud, and exploitation cases. Throughout, Jim applies a HOP framework: human error isn't the same as deliberate misconduct, and accountability without understanding is just blame. For all your safety needs give us a text at 845-269-5772.

October 28, 2026 Fatality Plans, Fake Polls & Doomsday Drills

Jim Poesl covers workplace fatality preparedness—emergency contacts, pre-written plans, and advance funeral arrangements to spare loved ones from emotional decisions. News includes a deadly Spain train crash, Iran peace overtures via VP Vance, MSHA's clean record on mine violations, and EPA's rollback of Biden-era oil/gas rules. He also dives into U.S. nuclear readiness drills, UK conscription age extended to 65, poll manipulation ahead of midterms, and studies on AI travel planning, four-day workweeks, coconut jet fuel, and a 60-second Boeing 737 hack. For all your safety needs text us at 845-269-5772.

Safety Wars 10-22-2026 Anthrax Echoes, AI Arms Races & the $380K Trench

This Oct 22, 2026 episode of *Safety Words* (Safety FM, Jim Poesl) covers suspicious letters sent to election offices, echoing the 2001 anthrax attacks, plus a Feature Story News roundup: UK websites down from a PHP vulnerability, French protest bans, Ohio's contentious governor race, and the US-China AI regulation debate. DOL updates include $81.5M rural workforce grants, $10.5M for mine safety training, tipped-employee rule changes, and prior authorization reform. OSHA cited Always Underground LLC $380K for trench violations; P&V Partitions owes $725K for denied overtime. VP Vance announced $1.3B in domestic fertilizer investment amid food security concerns. EPA news: RCRA modernization, Navajo Nation Clean Water Act milestone, and $5.3M for coastal watershed restoration. For more information text me at 845-269-5772. www.safetywars.com www.jamespoesl.com

10-20-2026 What 25 Years of Anthrax Lessons Forgot to Teach Us About COVID-19

25 years after the 2001 anthrax attacks, Jim revisits the biological contamination event that shaped his career — and asks why we failed to learn from it. Drawing from the National Academy of Sciences' "Reopening Public Facilities After a Biological Attack," he walks through the timeline: the first victim at AMI in Boca Raton, the NBC letter addressed to Tom Brokaw, the Hart Senate Office Building shutdown, and the five lives lost. He reads Casey Chamberlain's firsthand account from O Magazine and Senator Tom Daschle's Wall Street Journal reflection on the attack that exposed 28 people and closed the Hart Building for 100 days. Then he pivots to the harder question: did any of those lessons survive to COVID-19? He argues they didn't. PPE stockpiles were gutted by the 2010 budget deal. Risk communication faltered. Safety theater replaced actual controls. A manager wearing a mask in a photo, he notes, is not a ventilation assessment. He challenges safety leaders to ask who's in charge, whether written plans match real conditions, and whether warnings became durable controls — because hazards don't need history to repeat. They just need organizations to forget. For more info text me at 845-269-5772 www.safetywars.com, www.jamespoesl.com

Safety Wars, 10-14-2026, OSHA, EPA, and the Stories Behind the Citations

Jim hosts from a hotel lobby, covering the day's safety and regulatory news. He opens with his standard disclaimer about OSHA/EPA citations and presumption of innocence, then dives into political commentary on the upcoming elections and the cycle of unfulfilled promises. Feature Story News covers Pope Leo's lung cancer surgery, US inflation at 3.7%, Taiwan's $4B Alaska LNG investment, Russian strikes on Ukraine, and Saudi-Houthi conflict escalation. Jim follows up on the Christopher Boone Crimmins boom-truck manslaughter case, sharing field stories about equipment training and respirator fit-testing gone wrong. He covers a fatal crushing at McWane Ductile in Phillipsburg, NJ, where a delayed 911 call may have cost a worker's life, and a deported unruly airline passenger. On the regulatory front: OSHA cited six NY/NJ contractors $648K for excavation violations at Monroe Commons; EPA Administrator Zeldin announced the "American Farmer First" policy in Iowa; and OSHA formalized a new SIF Prevention Alliance with AIHA, ASSP, NSC, and UC Boulder. Closing segments cover a great white shark off Huntington Beach, Space Force electromagnetic warfare operations, US banks de-banking customers over political views, and an OpenAI bugging suspect fleeing to Saudi Arabia. Jim signs off, promising to return tomorrow.

October 13, 2026 Same Old Playbook: Safety, Midterms & Microsoft Suspended

In this episode of Safety Wars, Jim questions why both parties keep replaying the same playbook ahead of the 2026 midterms with no bold proposals. Feature Story News covers Pope Leo XIV's lung cancer diagnosis, Tupac Shakur's murderer sentenced, the Pentagon's plan to livestream an execution, and Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. Jim debuts two original songs—"On Vulture's Wings" and "Love is a Safe Workplace"—sharing the real incident that inspired the latter. New Labor Secretary Sonderling announces healthcare price transparency rules and suspends Microsoft and Adobe from the H-1B program. EPA updates include $90M for Chesapeake Bay restoration and renewable fuel standard revisions. Safety incidents include a construction worker killed on the NJ Turnpike, a WV coal miner's death, a worker trapped in asphalt, and expanded Cal/OSHA criminal liability. Plus BSEE offshore training alerts and a hand tool safety alert. For all your safety needs give us a call at 845-269-5772 or Jim@safetywars.com. www.safetywars.com. www.jamespoesl.com

Safety Wars 10-7-2026 Cornell--Accountability is Necesary, Prevention Takes More

Safety Wars: Cornell — Accountability Is Necessary, Prevention Takes More In this 33-minute Safety Wars episode, host Jim examines the Cornell sexual assault case — dubbed the "Cornell Seven" — through a safety-investigation and human-organizational-performance (HOP) lens. Drawing on a Slate article by consultant Hannah Scotland, Pulsel argues that punishment alone won't prevent the next catastrophe: individuals may change, but conditions persist. He unpacks consent law, the role of intoxication, and perverse incentives that silence both victims and perpetrators. The episode draws direct parallels to workplace safety culture — where people walk by hazards, avoid rocking the boat, and face institutional pressure to look the other way. Pulsel calls for meaningful prevention: practical intervention skills, clear reporting routes, and environments where people can speak without retaliation. He challenges listeners to have uncomfortable conversations — with their children about consent, and in their workplaces about moral responsibility — before the next incident makes the questions unavoidable. For all your safety needs give us a call at 845-269-5772 or Jim@safetywars.com. www.safetywars.com. www.jamespoesl.com

September 30, 2026 Hijacks, Hazmat, and Half-Truths

September 30 Hijacks, Hazmat, and Half-Truths In this September 30 episode, host Jim covers the heroic Israeli plumber who landed a hijacked Flydubai flight after learning controls from a TV show, drawing parallels to post-9/11 aviation vigilance. He reports that OSHA's 2026 penalty inflation adjustment is canceled due to a federal funding lapse that prevented BLS from releasing required October data. Jim stresses the importance of up-to-date training materials, recounting an instructor using pre-2015 penalty figures and wrong confined-space standards — a red flag for anyone vetting OSHA outreach providers. He warns about salespeople overpromising compressed training timelines and unqualified HR staff mishandling accident management. Additional segments cover the new AI-powered America.gov portal (with privacy skepticism), EPA's Boise food waste initiative, a finalized Superfund cleanup plan for the Chemsol site in Piscataway, NJ, the Tijuana sewage crisis update, and a Cleveland warehouse packed with abandoned hazardous substances. For all your safety needs give us a call at 845-269-5772 or Jim@safetywars.com. www.safetywars.com. www.jamespoesl.com #Flydubai #AviationSecurity #PlaneHijack #Israel #OSHPenalties #InflationAdjustment #LaborLaw #HazwoperTraining #ConfinedSpace #OutreachTraining #AmericaDotGov #GovTech #DataPrivacy #EPA #Superfund #EnvironmentalCleanup #FoodWaste #NewJersey #Cleveland #SafetyWars #OSHA #WorkplaceSafety #SafetyTraining

Safety Wars 9-24-2026 Deadly Drills, Dirty Washes & Liquid Nitrogen

This episode covers OSHA's citation of a Florida pipeline contractor after a fatal struck-by incident, willful lockout/tagout violations at a New Jersey car wash, and $65 million in community college training grants. Jim shares personal stories about noise survey failures at a warehouse that led to costly settlements, and an indoor air quality audit that debunked a cancer cluster at a law firm. The EPA segment covers glyphosate review, brownfields funding, and wetland grants. The episode closes with the Chemical Safety Board's investigation of the Foundation Food Group liquid nitrogen release that killed six workers, highlighting failures in monitoring, training, and process safety management. Music: Pond5.com Licenses Falling, 25821615, Eric B. USA National Anthem (Star Spangled Banner Use), 155546928 Supernova Music Matrix, 166797566, Encomia Music: Safety Warriors, The Music of Safety Wars Volume 1 (c) copyright 2026 James Poesl

Safety Wars 9-22-2-26 When the Lights Go Out: Energy, EPA, and Emergency Prep

Jim from Safety Wars covers soaring diesel prices, Trump's UN speech on Iran, and rising tanker insurance in the Strait of Hormuz. EPA updates include $82 million for San Francisco Bay watersheds, lead cleanups in Indiana and Montana, and a Clean Air Act settlement in Puerto Rico. For National Preparedness Month, Jim dives deep into disaster readiness: water storage strategies, emergency food and food safety, reading severe weather, lightning safety, flood preparedness, power outage management with generators and batteries, fuel handling dangers, and building community emergency networks. He shares personal stories from Superstorm Sandy throughout. Music: Pond5.com Licenses Falling, 25821615, Eric B. USA National Anthem (Star Spangled Banner Use), 155546928 Supernova Music Matrix, 166797566, Encomia Music: Safety Warriors, The Music of Safety Wars Volume 1 (c) copyright 2026 James Poesl

Safety Wars 9-17-2026 Methylene Chloride, Muddy Rivers, and Diesel Spikes

Methylene Chloride, Muddy Rivers, and Diesel Spikes **Summary:** Jim is back from Vermont where he's working an EPA hazardous waste cleanup near the Beetlejuice filming location. The episode dives into the Fifth Circuit's overturning of EPA's methylene chloride rule, explaining why odor is an unreliable warning for the carcinogenic paint stripper and why air sampling—not your nose—should guide worker protection. Jim also covers a proposed $125M Passaic River Superfund settlement, a Hopewell Precision groundwater cleanup update, OSHA citations against a Chicago construction firm, and H-2A visa program violations. Rounding out the show: a Feature Story News segment on global headlines and a warning about rising diesel prices from refinery outages—possibly cyber-related.www.safetywars.com. www.jamespoesl.com https://www.nfpa.org/Education-and-Research/Wildfire/Firewise-USA Music: Pond5.com Licenses Falling, 25821615, Eric B. USA National Anthem (Star Spangled Banner Use), 155546928 Supernova Music Matrix, 166797566, Encomia Music: Safety Warriors, The Music of Safety Wars Volume 1 (c) copyright 2026 James Poesl

Safety Wars 9-11-2026 9/11 at 25: Lessons Unlearned in Disaster Preparedness

On the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Jim Poesl of Safety Wars shares his personal experience witnessing the attacks from Hoboken, then examines their lasting safety and policy legacy. He recounts the chaotic Ground Zero recovery, the lack of respirators, and Christine Todd Whitman's EPA assurances that the air was safe—despite warnings from industrial hygienist Jeffrey Olcott. Jim questions accountability, sovereign immunity, and whether lessons were applied to later crises like H1N1 and COVID-19, arguing preparedness capacity keeps eroding. A Feature Story News segment covers current events, including Saudi pipeline attacks, the 25th 9/11 memorial ceremonies, and global diplomacy. The episode closes with an extended discussion of a Guardian article on 9/11's "dark legacy"—covering victims' families, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, bin Laden's mixed legacy, and how post-9/11 fear reshaped American politics. Jim urges honest accountability, unity ("September 12th thinking"), and better individual/community disaster preparedness going forward. www.safetywars.com. www.jamespoesl.com

Safety Wars 9-9-2026 Star Trek at 60: The Final Frontier Is Us

Star Trek at 60: The Final Frontier Is Us This episode of Safety Wars opens with Jim reflecting on attending the Star Trek Original Series Set Tour in Ticonderoga, NY for the franchise's 60th anniversary. He shares a written tribute arguing Star Trek was never really about space — it was about humanity's potential for cooperation over conquest. Drawing on a 2010 fan survey and the show's diverse cast of captains (Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, Archer, Pike, Burnham), he makes the case that Star Trek fandom carries a responsibility: to practice the diversity, courage, and principled leadership the franchise celebrates, and to apply lessons about psychological safety and learning from mistakes to real workplaces and society. The show then shifts into news and commentary segments, covering: - NYC Mayor Mamdani's release of 170,000+ pages of 9/11 health/air-quality records, with Jim's pointed commentary on institutional accountability failures (9/11, COVID-19) and eroding public trust in government (citing an AP-NORC poll) - Brief nuclear proliferation and "safest place in a global catastrophe" segments Two preparedness segments are woven in: building a 72-hour emergency kit and proper water storage/safety practices. www.safetywars.com. www.jamespoesl.com https://www.nfpa.org/Education-and-Research/Wildfire/Firewise-USA Music: Pond5.com Licenses Falling, 25821615, Eric B. USA National Anthem (Star Spangled Banner Use), 155546928 Supernova Music Matrix, 166797566, Encomia Music: Safety Warriors, The Music of Safety Wars Volume 1 (c) copyright 2026 James Poesl

Safety Wars 9-3-2026 When We Fail to Watch Out for Each Other

Safety Wars 9-3-2026 When We Fail to Watch Out for Each Other Jim opens Safety Wars discussing the Lindsay Clancy postpartum mental health trial, arguing society readily condemns individual mental health crises while ignoring the ~5,000 annual workplace deaths caused by negligent leaders. He connects this to broader failures in caring for coworkers, wives, and family. News segments cover an Iran-US missile strike investigation, El Niño's persistence, Indonesian wildfires, and NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Telescope launch. Department of Labor updates include a $733,000 wage recovery for Florida restaurant workers and weekly unemployment claims data. The show's core disaster-preparedness segment covers emergency action plans, evacuation routes, accountability logs, and backup communication methods (radios, maps, emergency contacts) when phones and cell networks fail, as during 9/11 and Superstorm Sandy. Jim closes with personal stories about workplace fatalities, safety leadership, and the importance of showing coworkers and family they matter — tying back to mental health resources like 988 for anyone needing help. www.safetywars.com. www.jamespoesl.com https://www.nfpa.org/Education-and-Research/Wildfire/Firewise-USA Music: Pond5.com Licenses Falling, 25821615, Eric B. USA National Anthem (Star Spangled Banner Use), 155546928 Supernova Music Matrix, 166797566, Encomia Music: Safety Warriors, The Music of Safety Wars Volume 1 (c) copyright 2026 James Poesl

September 2, 2026 Safety Wars – Disaster Preparedness, Deadly Horseplay, and the Push for National Resilience

This episode of Safety Wars opens with disaster preparedness tips for National Preparedness Month, covering assessing hazards, building emergency plans, and stocking 72–96 hours of supplies at home and work. A quick news roundup follows, touching on US-Iran tensions, the Ebola outbreak in the DRC, Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong's guilty plea, Nepal's landslide death toll, and NASA's newly launched Roman Space Telescope. The core segment examines a tragic Minnesota case: a tree-trimming worker was criminally charged with manslaughter after fatally crushing a coworker's head while "playing" with a hydraulic grapple's shadow, mimicking shadow puppets. The host uses this to unpack Minnesota's culpable negligence standard and stresses that horseplay involving industrial machinery can cross into criminal liability, not just OSHA violations. He outlines employer responsibilities: enforcing zero-tolerance horseplay policies, establishing exclusion zones, requiring positive visual control, verifying operator competence, empowering stop-work authority, and investigating near misses seriously. The episode closes by reading a White House proclamation on National Preparedness Month and Executive Order 14239 on localized disaster preparedness, plus a note on FEMA's National Risk Index as the closest US equivalent to the UK's national risk register. www.safetywars.com. www.jamespoesl.com https://www.nfpa.org/Education-and-Research/Wildfire/Firewise-USA Music: Pond5.com Licenses Falling, 25821615, Eric B. USA National Anthem (Star Spangled Banner Use), 155546928 Supernova Music Matrix, 166797566, Encomia Music: Safety Warriors, The Music of Safety Wars Volume 1 (c) copyright 2026 James Poesl

Safety Wars 8-27-2026 Sabotage or Safety? How Bureaucracy Quietly Wrecks Your Workplace

Safety Wars – August 26, 2026 (Simple Sabotage Edition): How Saboteurs Hide in Plain Sight at Work

Safety Wars – August 26, 2026 (Simple Sabotage Edition): How Saboteurs Hide in Plain Sight at Work Jim Poesl opens with FSN Radio News: Meta's $18B child-safety settlement with 29 states, Canada's retaliatory tariffs on the US, Prince Harry and Meghan's return to Britain, and new US sanctions on Iran. He then digs into RFK Jr.'s public clash with PA Governor Shapiro over measles deaths and vaccine misinformation, questioning whether 2026's rising measles case counts reflect real trends or reporting shifts. OSHA news follows: a Pennsylvania brick manufacturer faces ~$500K in fines for willfully exposing workers to silica dust, and new federal guidance addresses workplace wellness/tobacco-surcharge programs. The core segment covers the WWII-era "Simple Sabotage Field Manual," a declassified OSS guide on disrupting enemies through faulty decisions, endless meetings, deliberate inefficiency, and small acts of workplace disruption. Jim draws parallels to modern workplaces — bad hiring/vetting, bureaucratic obstruction, poor maintenance, and morale-killing tactics — asking listeners whether these sabotage patterns are quietly happening in their own organizations, sometimes unintentionally. www.safetywars.com. www.jamespoesl.com https://www.nfpa.org/Education-and-Research/Wildfire/Firewise-USA Music: Pond5.com Licenses Falling, 25821615, Eric B. USA National Anthem (Star Spangled Banner Use), 155546928 Supernova Music Matrix, 166797566, Encomia Music: Safety Warriors, The Music of Safety Wars Volume 1 (c) copyright 2026 James Poesl