Support Annex - Worker Safety and Health

Owned by Wayne Martin
Apr 18, 2022
3 min read

Support Annex – Worker Safety and Health

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Coordinating Agency

 

Harrisonburg Fire Department

Rockingham County Department of Fire & Rescue

City of Harrisonburg Department of Human Resources

Rockingham County Department of Human Resources

 

Cooperating Agencies

 

Virginia Department of Labor and Industry

Virginia Department of Health

Central Shenandoah Health District

 

Introduction

 

Purpose:

 

This annex provides guidelines for implementing worker safety and health support functions during potential or actual incidents. This annex describes the actions needed to ensure the health and safety of responders. Threats to health or safety are anticipated, recognized, evaluated, and controlled consistently so that responders are property protected during incident management operations.

 

Scope:

 

This annex addresses critical functions for supporting and facilitating the safety and health of emergency responders and response organizations during potential and actual emergencies or disasters. This annex addresses providing and coordinating technical assistance for incident safety management activities. It does not address public health and safety. Public health is addressed in Emergency Support Function (ESF) 8 – Public Health and Medical Services.

 

Coordinating and implementing incident safety and risk management includes identifying and characterizing incident hazards, assessing and analyzing responders health risks and exposures and, medical monitoring.

 

Policies:

 

Emergency Support Function (ESF) 5 – Emergency Management, in cooperation with Human Resources, activates the position of Safety Officer. The Safety Officer coordinates with ESF 5 to implement the activities described in this annex.

 

Private sector employers are responsible for the health and safety of their own employees.

 

The City of Harrisonburg, Rockingham County, and the State of Virginia are responsible for worker health and safety pursuant to respective regulations and statutes. This responsibility includes allocating sufficient resources for safety and health programs, purchasing protective clothing and equipment, training staff, correcting unsafe or unsanitary conditions, and employing infection control measures as needed.

 

This annex does not replace the primary responsibilities of the government and employers; rather, it ensures that in fulfilling these responsibilities, response organizations plan and prepare in a consistent manner and that worker health and safety are primary considerations across agencies.

 

Several State and Federal agencies may respond to an incident. These agencies retain oversight and authority for their responders and response operations. They are expected to work cooperatively with City and County personnel as well as other state, federal and private sector responders prior to and during response and recovery operations to ensure the protection of all.

 

Concept of Operations

 

General:

 

The Harrisonburg Fire Department and the Rockingham County Department of Fire & Rescue coordinate safety and health assets and provide proactive consideration of all potential hazards. They ensure availability and management of all safety resources needed by the responders and share safety-related information. They also coordinate the health and safety activities of City ,County, state, and federal agencies, and private sector organizations involved in incident response and recovery.

 

Organization:

 

The Harrisonburg Fire Department and Rockingham County Department of Fire & Rescue, as well as the Departments of Human Resources for the City and County, support worker safety by:

 

Providing occupational safety and health technical advice.

 

Undertaking site-specific occupational safety and health plan development and implementation and ensuring that plans are coordinated and consistent among multiple sites, as appropriate.

 

Identifying and assessing health and safety hazards and characterizing the incident environment.

 

Monitoring responder’s personal exposure to chemical, biological, or radiological contaminants, and physical stressors (e.g., noise, heat/cold).

 

Assessing responder safety and health resource needs and identifying sources for those assets.

 

Coordinating and providing incident-specific responder training.

 

Assessing and provide services for behavioral health needs during and after an incident, considering both the immediate and cumulative stress resulting from the incident.

 

Identifying, in coordination with the Virginia Department of Health, appropriate immunization and prophylaxis for responders and recovery workers.

 

Responsibilities:

 

Provide technical advice on responder health and safety.

 

Identify hazards and risks associated with response and recovery.

 

Employ hazard/risk elimination or mitigation efforts.

 

Ensure appropriate immunizations and provide them to the responders.

 

Provide psychological and physical first aid.

 

Provide Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM).

 

Monitor responders for chemical, biological, and/or radiological contaminations; and

 

Provide appropriate workplace safety and health maintenance training.

 

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