Orr elected Emergency Planning Committee leader

Candy Orr, safety and health coordinator for North Carolina State University Field Laboratories, has been elected vice chair of the Wake County Local Emergency Planning Committee.

Local Emergency Planning Committees are federally mandated and include members from business and industry; emergency response groups such as fire, medical and law enforcement; community groups; media; hospitals; environmental interest; universities; and the public.

Orr has been a member of the Wake County group since 1998. She will serve a two-year term as vice chair, after which she will become committee chair, serving a two-year term in that position.

The primary responsibility of Local Emergency Planning Committees is to receive information about hazardous substances from industry and to use this information to develop comprehensive site emergency plans to handle emergencies. Committees are also responsible for establishing procedures and programs that make it easy for citizens to understand and access the information that industry submits. The committees also coordinate with emergency responders to provide information on hazardous chemicals and maintain county-wide incident management plans.

The Wake County committee holds an annual Business Environmental and Safety Training (BEST) Conference each year, and Orr is a past chair of the conference organizing committee. The next conference is Feb. 9, 2011 at the McKimmon Center.

Written by: Dave Caldwell, 919.513.3127 or dave_caldwell@ncsu.edu