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RI Committee on Occupational
Safety & Health
Responding to Disasters
Having received inquiries regarding hazards and
worker safety associated with cleanup and recovery efforts in
the aftermath of the Gulf Coast storm we
note some brief general guidance.
Only those properly trained, equipped should
be deployed. The
variety of potential hazards are staggering: include electrocution
from power lines and recovery equipment, dangers using heavy equipment
and chainsaws, carbon monoxide poisoning from portable generators,
an extraordinary range of biological hazards from animal vector
to water pollution, and personal security as well. In addition
the vaccine/ immune status of responders should be reviewed through
interaction with CDC.
Other priorities for safety include insect controls,
waste disposal, bloodborne precautions and hygiene. All these
issues should be
reviewed prior to transit and reviewed once again on arrival
at the disaster site. And they should be addressed in an agency’s
comprehensive safety plan. If an agency has no such plan then question
their readiness for participating.
A key for any responder is to understand the local Incident Command
System which is the common disaster management system that designates
who does what when and how. (A key component of the ICS is to address
and assess responder safety for responder safety improves when
roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and understood.)
ICS is part of a matrix of management polices imbedded in the
National Incident Management System (NIMS). NIMS is a core set
of concepts, principles, terminology and organizational processes
to ensure effective, efficient, and collaborative disaster management
especially when there are multi-jurisdictions.
Resources
Fact sheets on issues and hazards relating to recovery and cleanup
efforts following hurricanes are available on the OSHA's Natural
Disaster Recovery page: www.osha.gov.
Specific Information on hazards and safely clean-up after a hurricane
is available from several OSHA to help workers who are involved
in recovery and restoration efforts. Keeping Workers Safe During
Clean Up and Recovery Operations Following Hurricanes
And Centers for Disease Control address the full range of health
and safety issues: CDC.gov/disasters/hurricanes/recovery
Disaster Site Worker Training
The overall response and cleanup may go on for some time. As a
result of problems associated with the cleanup to the WTC event
in NYC federal OSHA has assisted in the development of a safety
training course for disaster site workers (e.g. utility, demolition,
debris removal, or heavy equipment operation).
OSHA has proposed this Disaster Site Worker Course as part of
the National Response Plan. Training deals with the safety and
health hazards of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear,
and explosive agents that maybe encountered at any disaster site.
It highlights the importance of respiratory and other personal
protective equipment, of proper decontamination procedures; it
explains safety practices imbedded in the Incident Command System
and alerts workers to traumatic incident stress that can result
when working in disaster conditions.
RI Committee on Occupational Safety & Health
741 Westminster St.
Providence, RI 02903
401.751.2015
jobhealth@juno.com
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