DHS Awards MadahCom’s WAVES SAFETY Act Certification
SARASOTA, Fla.
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently issued MadahCom Inc., a division of Cooper Industries, a certification for its WAVES Mass Notification System (MNS) as an “approved product for homeland security” under the Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies Act of 2002 (SAFETY Act).
The act provides legal liability protection for MadahCom and its customers of WAVES (Wireless Audio Visual Emergency System), a “qualified anti-terrorism” technology. Under the SAFETY Act, MadahCom’s WAVES is the only certified and approved product for mass notification, says David Scharf, general manager of MadahCom.
“The SAFETY Act certification is an important and significant risk mitigation tool for our customers,” Scharf says. “If an act of terrorism occurs, for example on a college campus involving one of our customers who has deployed WAVES, an ‘approved anti-terror product,’ that customer may seek immediate dismissal from all resulting lawsuits.”
The purpose of the SAFETY Act is to ensure that the threat of liability does not deter potential manufacturers and sellers of anti-terrorism technologies from developing and commercializing technologies that could save lives. The act creates certain liability limitations for “claims arising out of, relating to, or resulting from an act of terrorism” where qualified anti-terrorism technologies have been deployed. The SAFETY Act is effective if the product or service has been approved by the DHS prior to the act of terrorism.
MadahCom, part of Cooper Wheelock’s notification systems business, received the designation for its WAVES and its portable TACWAVES (Tactical WAVES) technology. The technology provides mass notification to alert, warn and inform people of actions to take in the event of a terrorist attack.
MadahCom’s approved WAVES technology includes command and control emergency notification systems, which broadcast live and recorded voice messages, safety sirens and visual alerts (strobes and digital display signs) via secure wireless networks. It uses zones and subzones, both indoors and outdoors, to send the right message to the right person without causing panic or disturbing individuals who are unaffected by the threat, according to the company.
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