Restoration companies and contractors in British Columbia poised to help launch a massive flood cleanup and repair effort should be aware of the risks and dangers their work could pose to employees, says the flood protection agency. workers of the province.
Risks can be different depending on flood and landslide damage, but potential problems include asbestos-laden building materials, chemical or biological contamination, structural or electrical damage, and animal carcasses, Barry Nakahara, senior field manager for prevention services from WorkSafeBC.
Numerous houses, farms, and infrastructure sites in southern British Columbia were damaged or destroyed in a series of so-called atmospheric rivers causing flooding and landslides, cutting off transportation routes, flooding agricultural operations and forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes.
“Employers have an obligation to ensure healthy and safe workplaces,” Nakahara said in an interview. “As we go through this cleanup, recovery and rebuilding effort, it will be very important for them to really think about the risks that exist and what dangers my workers will be exposed to as I continue with this work.”
Employers must conduct risk assessments to identify workplace hazards and how they could put employees at risk, WorkSafeBC said in a press release Tuesday.
Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said the floods were receding and repair work would begin with contractors, non-governmental organizations and specialized teams from BC Wildfire Service.
Farnworth was scheduled to visit Merritt on Tuesday, but canceled the trip due to weather issues. Merritt’s 7,000 residents were ordered to evacuate the city last month after its sewer and water system failed.
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Farnworth was in Princeton and surrounding communities last week, where he noted flood damage and initial cleanup and recovery efforts.
Later on Tuesday, the Department of Transportation announced the full reopening of Highway 1 between Abbotsford and Hope.
The ministry said in a statement that two separate lanes of traffic were moving in each direction, improving traffic flow from the Lower Continent to Highway 3 and into the interior of the province.
The BC safety agency issues hazard warnings for flood cleanup workers. #BCFlood #BCPoli #WorkSafeBC
The ministry said the full reopening occurred after cleaning, repairs and engineering evaluations of the highway. It also means that the management of countercurrent traffic through the Bridal Falls area was no longer necessary, according to the statement.
Nakahara said he couldn’t estimate the size of the work ahead, but suggested that restoration companies and contractors have many examples of post-disaster recovery efforts to review, including Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005.
“We have the opportunity to learn retrospectively about how things worked there collectively, so I really think that the messages that we are promoting are informed by the experiences of others in the past,” he said.
This Canadian Press report was first published on December 7, 2021.
Reference-www.nationalobserver.com