Hurricanes: What Employers Should Do Before the Storm

May 30, 2008

Excerpted from Alabama Employment Law Letter written by attorneys at the law firm of Lehr Middlebrooks & Vreeland, P.C.

Hurricane season begins June 1 and experts are predicting 15 named storms in the Atlantic in 2008 – including 8 hurricanes and 4 intense hurricanes – and there is an above average probability of major hurricanes making landfall in the United States. So there is no time like the present to review the safety considerations that you need to know in case the worst happens at your workplace.

Workplace Catastrophes: An Employer's Guide to Workplace Violence, Terrorism, and Natural Disasters -- updated for 2009

Tap into seemingly unrelated OSHA standards
After the rain and wind of a hurricane subside, you can be sure that they will be quickly followed by another storm — a storm of legal issues. Hurricane cleanup efforts can expose workers to a maelstrom of safety problems. Just a few of the common hazards that workers may encounter when responding to a hurricane include downed power lines, flooding, hazardous chemical spills, contaminated drinking water, and heat stress.

Following hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released its Hurricane eMatrix to provide guidance for employers to keep workers safe during hurricane cleanup and recovery efforts. This e-tool provides a wealth of data, observations, and recommendations for employers to use in determining which OSHA standards may apply to their particular work site in a disaster, assessing the risks, and taking precautions to protect workers from injury.

While there is no single OSHA standard dealing with hurricanes, hazards that commonly result from hurricanes can implicate numerous standards. For example, let's say that workers will need to remove trees that have fallen onto a building. That situation alone could implicate OSHA standards on fall protection, personal protective equipment (goggles or hearing protection), and asbestos exposure (if it is an older building). Even if no specific OSHA standard applies, be mindful of the General Duty Clause, which requires you to maintain a reasonably safe workplace, and hurricane cleanup efforts are no exception.

In any hurricane response effort, OSHA recommends the following basic strategy. First, evaluate the work site to determine whether hazards are present and which OSHA standards apply. Mitigate hazards in the following order. First, if possible, eliminate the hazard from the area (for example, remove fallen electrical power lines before allowing other work in the area). If elimination isn't possible, use engineering controls, personal protective equipment, or work procedures to reduce or eliminate exposure to the hazard. For example, use guards to prohibit unauthorized access to hazardous areas, provide flotation devices in flooded areas, and ensure that first-aid supplies and medical care are readily available. If hazards such as asbestos, lead, or noise are present that are covered by a specific OSHA standard limiting exposure, you must conduct exposure monitoring when worker exposure is reasonably anticipated to be greater than the thresholds prescribed in the standard.

Audio Conference: Before Disaster Strikes: Crafting Your HR Crisis Plan

Enter the matrix
Although the Hurricane eMatrix would be a handy resource to consult at any time, OSHA hopes that employers will use it for advance planning purposes. OSHA standard 29 CFR 1910.38 requires employers with more than 10 employees to develop a written emergency action plan for evacuation during a fire or other emergency. The plans must address foreseeable hazards in the event of an emergency, so employers in hurricane-prone areas should consider the particular hazards that commonly occur after hurricanes. OSHA has more specific requirements (29 CFR 120(q)) for employees responding to a hazardous substance release.

OSHA's Hurricane eMatrix is a perfect tool to help identify the hazards you may encounter and how to address them. The eMatrix can be found online at www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/hurricane/index.html. The site provides:

• easy access to QuickCards with easy-to-read information on dozens of different employee hazards;
• fact sheets offering a comprehensive overview of safety precautions for various hazards and an explanation of OSHA's regulations applicable to them;
• safety and health information bulletins informing employers and employees of occupational safety and health issues concerning hazard recognition, evaluation, and control in the workplace and at emergency response sites;
• operation-specific activity sheets that help employers reduce the risk of hazard exposure during various cleanup tasks; and
• sampling and monitoring data taken from previous hurricanes.

Audio Conference: Crisis Management for HR: New Requirements for Avoiding Liability

Return to HR Hero Line e-zine for more tips and articles

Copyright 2008 M. Lee Smith Publishers LLC. ALABAMA EMPLOYMENT LAW LETTER. The Alabama State Bar requires the following disclosure: "No representation is made that the quality of the legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers."