Protecting the Health and Safety of Workers and Communities Following Hurricane Irma

Just two weeks after Hurricane Harvey devastated large portions of Texas, Hurricane Irma has damage properties up and down the coast and in many inland parts of Florida. The historic hurricane made initial landfall in Florida as a category 4 storm with wind speeds in excess of 130 miles per hour.
 
As the hurricane continues to hammer parts of northern Florida, people in southern Florida are beginning to assess the damage done to homes, schools, businesses and institutions. It will likely be days to weeks before the full extent of the property damage is known, but it is already clear that countless buildings have been damaged to varying degrees due to wind, rain, flooding and storm surges along the coast.
 
“Residents of Florida are no strangers to hurricanes, but it has been many years since a storm as powerful and destructive as Hurricane Irma has hit many parts of the state,” said David Roskelley, CIH^® and Chair of ABIH^®. “As mandatory evacuations and curfews in some regions are lifted, people need to be aware of health and safety issues that may now be present in the storm’s aftermath. Due to this reality, ABIH^® strongly encourages businesses, institutions, schools and government agencies to look to the expertise of Certified Industrial Hygienists (CIHs) to help safeguard their workers and communities as they begin the process of getting back to business.”
 
Industrial hygiene professionals who have earned the CIH^® designation are uniquely qualified to anticipate, recognize, evaluate and control health hazards, both seen and unseen. These could range from altered work environments and industrial processes in damaged institutions and commercial businesses to exposure hazards to chemicals and biological contaminants caused by flooding in these same properties or in people’s homes and communities. CIHs offer crucial support in managing the risks associated with rebuilding and their knowledge of air sampling, chemicals and biohazards, community exposure, health-risk analysis and work environments all contribute to the critical skills needed following a natural disaster of this magnitude.
 
To learn more about the American Board of Industrial Hygiene^®, Certified Industrial Hygienist^® credential or to locate a CIH^® to perform industrial hygiene services, please visit www.ABIH.org, email abih@ABIH.org or call (517) 321-2638.
 
About the American Board of Industrial Hygiene ^®
Since 1960, ABIH^®, a not-for-profit corporation, has been the world’s largest organization for certifying professionals in the practice of industrial hygiene. ABIH^® is the premier credentialing body responsible for ensuring high-quality certification including education, experience, examination, certification maintenance and ethics enforcement.  Currently, more than 6900 people in 32 countries are certified to use the CIH^® credential.
 

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Paul Cochrane

President

Cochrane & Associates, LLC

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