Safety Wars

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.comMusic is copyright 2026 by James Poesl

Safety Wars – Veterans Day, Stacy Keach Tribute, Extremism & Mine Safety UpdatesJim 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.comFor all your safety needs give us a call at 845-269-5772

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.com845-260-5772

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.

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.

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.comwww.jamespoesl.com

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 845-269-5772www.safetywars.com, www.jamespoesl.com

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.

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 [email protected].  www.safetywars.com. www.jamespoesl.com

Safety Wars: Cornell — Accountability Is Necessary, Prevention Takes MoreIn 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 [email protected].  www.safetywars.com. www.jamespoesl.com