Occupational hazards of fire debris cleanup

Last updated

Occupational hazards of fire debris cleanup are the hazards to health and safety of the personnel tasked with clearing the area of debris and combustion products after a conflagration. Once extinguished, fire debris cleanup poses several safety and health risks for workers. [1] [2] Employers responsible for fire debris cleanup and other work in areas damaged or destroyed by fire are generally obliged by occupational safety and health legislation of the relevant national or regional authority to identify and evaluate hazards, correct any unsafe or unhealthy conditions and provide any necessary training and instruction and personal protective equipment to employees to enable them to carry out the task without undue exposure to hazards. Many of the approaches to control risk in occupational settings can be applied to preventing injuries and disease. This type of work can be completed by general construction firms who may not be fully trained specifically for fire safety and on fire hazards.

Contents

Asbestos, which has well known health risks, is still quite commonly found in older buildings, and there are also risks from degraded roofing tiles, melted metals and electronics, unstable structures, and the sooty residues from burnt materials. Silica, one of the most common compounds on earth, can cause adverse health consequences if inhaled as fine particulates. Many combustion products are carcinogenic, particularly when inhaled as dusts.

Hazards

Safety

Safety hazards of fire cleanup include the risk of re-ignition of smoldering debris, electrocution from downed or exposed electrical lines or in instances where water has come into contact with electrical equipment. Structures that have been burned may be unstable and at risk of sudden collapse. [2] [3] Other safety hazards may include flammable gases (i.e., propane) and gas storage tanks, tree work, confined spaces, sharp or flying objects, and heat related illnesses. [2]

Hazardous substances

Burned residential areas may contain silica dust, asbestos, metals, or polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Additional health hazards of fire debris cleanup work may include carbon monoxide and hazardous liquids [2]

Silica, or silicon dioxide, can occur in a crystalline or noncrystalline (amorphous) form. In fire debris, silica can be found in concrete, roofing tiles, or it may be a naturally occurring element in the rocks and soil of the burnt out areas. Occupational exposures to silica dust can cause silicosis, lung cancer, pulmonary tuberculosis, airway diseases, and some additional non-respiratory diseases. [4] The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL)and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Recommended Exposure Limit (REL) for silica is 50 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3) as an 8-hour Time Weighted Average (TWA). These limits are intended to reduce the risk of developing adverse health effects. [5]

Asbestos was frequently used in building material in the past. It is a name given to a group of six different fibrous minerals (amosite, chrysotile, crocidolite, and the fibrous varieties of tremolite, actinolite, and anthophyllite). Inhalation of asbestos can result in various diseases including asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma. The OSHA PEL for airborne asbestos is determined by Phase Contrast Microscopy and is set at 0.1 fiber per cubic centimeter (f/cc) for fibers greater than 5 μm in length and an aspect ratio (length to width) greater than or equal to 3:1. [6]

In fire debris clean up, sources of metals exposure include burnt or melted electronics, cars, refrigerators, stoves, etc. These metals can melt and be found in residential fire debris. [1] Fire debris cleanup workers may be exposed to these metals or their combustion products in the air or on their skin. These metals may include beryllium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, lead, manganese, nickel, and many more.

Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), some of which are carcinogenic, come from the incomplete combustion of organic materials and are often found as a result of structural and wildland fires. [7]

Hazard controls

Standard personal protective equipment for fire cleanup include hard hats, goggles or safety glasses, heavy work gloves, earplugs or other hearing protection, steel-toe boots, and fall protection devices. [3] [8]

Hazard controls for electrical injury include assuming all power lines are energized until the power provider confirms they are de-energized, and grounding power lines on both the load- and supply-sides of the work area to guard against electrical feedback if a portable generator is turned on elsewhere in the power grid. Appropriate personal protective equipment includes rubber gloves, dielectric overshoes, and insulated sticks and cable cutters. [3]

Proper respiratory protection can protect against hazardous substances. Proper ventilation of an area is an engineering control that can be used to avoid or minimize exposure to hazardous substances. When ventilation is insufficient or dust cannot be avoided, personal protective equipment such as N95 respirators can be used. [3] [9]

Risk assessment

Before authorising cleanup work by employees, the employer may be legally obliged to assess the risks to health and safety of the intended work, and provide appropriate instructions, training and personal protective equipment to the employees. Adequate risk assessment involves consideration of all known, reasonably predictable, and suspected hazards, including full disclosure of known hazards by the client in cases where a contractor is taken on to do the work. Details of this obligation will depend on the national or state legislation relevant to the locality. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

Personal protective equipment Equipment designed to help protect an individual from hazards

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, electrical, heat, chemicals, biohazards, and airborne particulate matter. Protective equipment may be worn for job-related occupational safety and health purposes, as well as for sports and other recreational activities. Protective clothing is applied to traditional categories of clothing, and protective gear applies to items such as pads, guards, shields, or masks, and others. PPE suits can be similar in appearance to a cleanroom suit.

Firefighter Rescuer trained to extinguish fires

A firefighter is a rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also animals from dangerous situations. Male firefighters are sometimes referred to as fireman.

Coal dust is a fine powdered form of which is created by the crushing, grinding, or pulverizing of coal. Because of the brittle nature of coal, coal dust can be created during mining, transportation, or by mechanically handling coal. It is a form of fugitive dust.

Silicosis Pneumoconiosis caused by inhalation of silica, quartz or slate particles

Silicosis is a form of occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of crystalline silica dust. It is marked by inflammation and scarring in the form of nodular lesions in the upper lobes of the lungs. It is a type of pneumoconiosis. Silicosis is characterized by shortness of breath, cough, fever, and cyanosis. It may often be misdiagnosed as pulmonary edema, pneumonia, or tuberculosis.

Occupational hygiene Management of workplace health hazards

Occupational hygiene is the anticipation, recognition, evaluation, control, and confirmation of protection from hazards at work that may result in injury, illness, or affect the well being of workers. These hazards or stressors are typically divided into the categories biological, chemical, physical, ergonomic and psychosocial. The risk of a health effect from a given stressor is a function of the hazard multiplied by the exposure to the individual or group. For chemicals, the hazard can be understood by the dose response profile most often based on toxicological studies or models. Occupational hygienists work closely with toxicologists for understanding chemical hazards, physicists for physical hazards, and physicians and microbiologists for biological hazards Environmental and occupational hygienists are considered experts in exposure science and exposure risk management. Depending on an individual's type of job, a hygienist will apply their exposure science expertise for the protection of workers, consumers and/or communities.

Firefighting Actions to protect people, animals, goods, lands, and other objects from fire

Firefighting is the act of attempting to prevent the spread of and extinguish significant unwanted fires in buildings, vehicles, and woodlands. A firefighter suppresses fires to protect lives, property and the environment.

Carbon black Chemical compound

Carbon black is a material produced by the incomplete combustion of heavy petroleum products such as FCC tar, coal tar, ethylene cracking tar, or vegetable matter. Carbon black is a form of paracrystalline carbon that has a high surface-area-to-volume ratio, albeit lower than that of activated carbon. It is dissimilar to soot in its much higher surface-area-to-volume ratio and significantly lower polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) content. However, carbon black is widely used as a model compound for diesel soot for diesel oxidation experiments. Carbon black is mainly used as a reinforcing filler in tires and other rubber products. In plastics, paints, and inks, carbon black is used as a color pigment. It is used in some places, such as the EU, as a food colourant if produced from vegetable matter (E153).

Chemical hazard Non-biological substance that has the potential to cause harm to life or health

A chemical hazard is a (non-biological) substance that has the potential to cause harm to life or health. Chemicals are widely used in the home and in many other places. Exposure to chemicals can cause acute or long-term detrimental health effects. There are many types of hazardous chemicals, including neurotoxins, immune agents, dermatologic agents, carcinogens, reproductive toxins, systemic toxins, asthmagens, pneumoconiotic agents, and sensitizers. In the workplace, exposure to chemical hazards is a type of occupational hazard. The use of protective personal equipment(PPE) may substantially reduce the risk of damage from contact with hazardous materials.

Sawdust Byproduct or waste product of woodworking operations (sawing, sanding, milling, etc.)

Sawdust is a by-product or waste product of woodworking operations such as sawing, sanding, milling, planing, and routing. It is composed of small chippings of wood. These operations can be performed by woodworking machinery, portable power tools or by use of hand tools. Wood dust is also the byproduct of certain animals, birds and insects which live in wood, such as the woodpecker and carpenter ant. In some manufacturing industries it can be a significant fire hazard and source of occupational dust exposure.

Occupational lung diseases are work-related, lung conditions that have been caused or made worse by the materials a person is exposed to within the workplace. It includes a broad group of diseases, including occupational asthma, industrial bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchiolitis obliterans, inhalation injury, interstitial lung diseases, infections, lung cancer and mesothelioma. These diseases can be caused directly or due to immunological response to an exposure to a variety of dusts, chemicals, proteins or organisms.

Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 United Kingdom legislation

The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 is a United Kingdom Statutory Instrument which states general requirements imposed on employers to protect employees and other persons from the hazards of substances used at work by risk assessment, control of exposure, health surveillance and incident planning. There are also duties on employees to take care of their own exposure to hazardous substances and prohibitions on the import of certain substances into the European Economic Area. The regulations reenacted, with amendments, the Control of Substances Hazardous to Work Regulations 1999 and implement several European Union directives.

The use of podiatry drills, in the absence of engineering controls and personal protective equipment, is an occupational hazard to the healthcare provider. Nail dust collected during foot care procedures performed in office settings has been found to contain keratin, keratin hydrolysates, microbial debris, and viable fungal elements, including dermatophytes and saprotrophs. Exposure to nail dust and the associated risk will vary with the policies and practices in place, the type of podiatry drill used, therapy technique, frequency of procedures, personal protective equipment utilized and the use of ventilation systems.

The Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance is a German institute located in Sankt Augustin near Bonn and is a main department of the German Social Accident Insurance. Belonging to the Statutory Accident Insurance means that IFA is a non-profit institution.

The Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) was founded in 1969 by the National Coal Board (NCB) as an independent charity in the UK and retains this charitable purpose and status today. The "Institute" has a subsidiary, IOM Consulting Limited, which became fully independent in 1990 and now celebrates its 25th year within the IOM Group as an independent consultancy and also the commercial part of the IOM organization. It specializes in asbestos surveys and services, occupational hygiene services, nanotechnology safety, laboratory analysis and expert witness consulting services. IOM is therefore one of the UK's major independent "not for profit" centres of scientific excellence in the fields of environmental health, occupational hygiene and occupational safety. Its mission is to benefit those at work and in the community by providing quality research, consultancy, surveys, analysis and training and by maintaining an independent, impartial position as an international centre of excellence.

Occupational cancer is cancer caused by occupational hazards. Several cancers have been directly tied to occupational hazards, including chimney sweeps' carcinoma, mesothelioma, and others.

Many laboratories contain significant risks, and the prevention of laboratory accidents requires great care and constant vigilance. Examples of risk factors include high voltages, high and low pressures and temperatures, corrosive and toxic chemicals and chemical vapours, radiation, fire, explosions, and biohazards including infective organisms and their toxins.

Occupational dust exposure

Occupational dust exposure can occur in various settings, including agriculture, forestry, and mining. Dust hazards include those that arise from handling grain and cotton, as well as from mining coal. Wood dust, commonly referred to as "sawdust", is another occupational dust hazard that can pose a risk to workers' health.

The health and safety hazards of nanomaterials include the potential toxicity of various types of nanomaterials, as well as fire and dust explosion hazards. Because nanotechnology is a recent development, the health and safety effects of exposures to nanomaterials, and what levels of exposure may be acceptable, are subjects of ongoing research. Of the possible hazards, inhalation exposure appears to present the most concern, with animal studies showing pulmonary effects such as inflammation, fibrosis, and carcinogenicity for some nanomaterials. Skin contact and ingestion exposure, and dust explosion hazards, are also a concern.

Hurricane response is the disaster response after a hurricane. This response encompasses assessment and repairs to buildings and infrastructure, removal of debris, and providing public health services. Hurricane responders may be exposed to many hazards such as chemical and biological contaminants, and injuries from work activities.

Research on the health and safety hazards of 3D printing is new and in development due to the recent proliferation of 3D printing devices. In 2017, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work has published a discussion paper on the processes and materials involved in 3D printing, potential implications of this technology for occupational safety and health and avenues for controlling potential hazards.

References

  1. 1 2 Beaucham, Catherine; Eisenberg, Judith (August 2019). "Evaluation of fire debris cleanup employees' exposure to silica, asbestos, metals, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons" (PDF). U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health .
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Worker Safety and Health During Fire Cleanup". California Division of Occupational Safety and Health . April 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Worker Safety During Fire Cleanup". U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . 27 December 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  4. ↑ "Health effects of occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica". U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. 2017-05-13. doi:10.26616/NIOSHPUB2002129.
  5. ↑ "NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards". U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. 2018-10-18. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  6. ↑ 29 CFR 1910.1001
  7. ↑ Some nonheterocyclic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and some related exposures. Monographs on the evaluation of the carcinogenic risks to humans. 92. World Health Organization, International Agency for Research on Cancer. 2010. ISBN   978-92-832-1592-9.
  8. ↑ "Personal Protective Equipment During Fire Cleanup Operations". California Division of Occupational Safety and Health. Retrieved 2020-03-28.
  9. ↑ "Respiratory Protection During Fire Cleanup". California Division of Occupational Safety and Health. Retrieved 2020-03-28.
  10. ↑ Republic of South Africa (1993). No. 85 of 1993: Occupational Health and Safety Act as amended by. Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Act, No. 181 Of 1993 (PDF). Pretoria: Government Printer. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-09-21. Retrieved 2020-04-11.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.