Use Caution and Common Sense
When Working in Flood Affected Areas
During the flooding in 2008 many avoidable injuries and accidents occurred because people did not fully understand the importance of using personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves and masks.
One of the best ways to avoid illness while working in flood affected areas is to wash your hands thoroughly and often. This should be done using soap and warm running water for at least 20 seconds after touching any dirty surface and before touching your mouth or face. If no running water is available, a thermos of warm water can be substituted on a daily basis.
Another very important solution that can help avoid sickness or even death is to pay attention to where you locate generators and power washers with relation to a closed structure. Generators and gas-powered power washers generate carbon monoxide that can cause sickness or death in a matter of hours if these units are not kept far away from the structure. Also, do not locate carbon monoxide producing equipment near windows, entrances, or air intake systems for buildings.
As people are busily putting this community back together, board by board, we need to be sure that we are protecting ourselves from personal injury. Below are some recommendations with regard to personal protective equipment:
- Gloves should be worn at all times when working with flood debris. Select your gloves based on the type of debris to be handled (e.g. longer gloves to protect wrists/forearms or rubber gloves to protect from liquids, etc.).
- Properly fitted goggles should be used to protect your eyes from chemicals, dust, and small particles.
- Masks are recommended for people engaged in activities that moderately disturb contaminated material (e.g. light cleaning by removing mold from surfaces with a mop or cloth).
- N-95 mask is approved for protection from dust and mold in the air from cleaning activities such as sweeping, sawing, and mold removal.
- Masks must fit well and be worn correctly.
- Long-sleeved shirts and pants should be worn if working with liquid and splashing is a concern. Many flood affected buildings may still have contaminants in them, so it is important to protect your skin.