We all knew that oil and tar balls were going to hit our beaches sooner or later. Now that we are being hit, safety for those that are helping to reduce/prevent our beaches from further damage and those that are cleaning the beaches is still very important.

All those that are involved with placing or recovering booms, skimming and pumping, loading and unloading supplies, pressure washing boats, picking up oil debris, or supporting roles in boat launches and landings are now exposed to hazards that they may have never been involved with before. This also includes, especially, the volunteers that may never have been exposed to hazards associated with these operations.

Hazards so far recognized include; heat stress, sunburns, rashes, strains & sprains, drowning, lightning, fatigue and being hit by heavy equipment now being used in this operation. Those entities taking on the challenge of this spill need to make sure all the employees and volunteers are adequately trained for the operation to which they are being assigned. For the volunteers, the entities should refer them to the OSHA and BP hotline 866-448-5816. They will be given the proper training and guidelines. This will help remove the entity from having any supervisory role with the volunteers. Employees will require the proper training, equipment and personal protective equipment. The local cleanup operations should have a site-specific safety and health plan created and advertised. The operations should follow the Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response or HAZWOPER standards. 

The Florida League of Cities has set up HAZWOPER classes for the West Coast and the Orlando office to help entities qualify employees in this oil spill response. Even if the entities use outside contractors for this cleanup, monitoring the contractors by having the HAZWOPER knowledge will be very helpful.

For latest on controls taken for safety, status of operations, or just to know where the spill is located, please go to the official site for all information: Click here

Or you can go to the League’s website page on the spill to get updates specific to local governments: Click here.