Abstract
In times of crisis, several people are involved. The first responders, recovery, as well as clean up groups, get into direct contact with several hazards. After their respective works, they report mental, social, and physical health problems. These issues can be curbed by ensuring that occupational health and safety services are offered to these people. Counseling and bio-monitoring are also crucial services during these moments. The medical health department, as well as the government, should strive to ensure that Occupational Health and Safety Act (OSHA) is enforced at every place of work including crisis sites. This would protect every individual involved in rescue and recovery during a crisis. Lessons from the September 2011 attacks should be used to ensure these services are promoted.
Key Words: Bio-monitoring, Occupational Health and Safety, Counseling, Crisis
The terrorist attack on the world trade center on September 11, 2001, led to the suffering of the human population. Properties worth billions were destroyed, lives were lost, and some people sustained life-long disabilities. The first responders reacted quickly to the attacks, rescuing several people. However, the health and safety of the first responders were not completely secured. Even after the first responders, the recovery groups also suffered from the health effects of the attacks. This paper is set to analyze the occupational health and safety services that should be offered during a crisis concerning the September 2001 attacks.
During the attacks, 2800 people were killed, survivors, as well as rescuers, suffered major health effects (Robert, 2015). During a crisis, occupational health and safety services are essential to the first responders and those who do recovery and clean-up services. These people face physical, social, and mental health issues during and after their work. Therefore, occupational health services must be in place to ensure these life-long morbidities, as well as disabilities, do not occur. For the first responders, it is essential to provide them with personal protective equipment. These would protect them from physical, chemical, and biological hazards (Robert, 2015). It is believed that during the attacks, the dust from the building was ‘wildly toxic.' This dust affected most of the first responders. Several first responders were not provided with the nose and mouth guards. To protect them from other hazards, the first responders should have been given full body personal protective equipment.
Apart from the physical hazards, the first responders and recovery groups faced mental health issues. From the different exposures, several health effects emerged, but the mental health issues were more pronounced. These led to short as well as long-term effects on first responders and the recovery group. Chemicals that were at the site of the attacks are believed to be too toxic capable of affecting the cognitive functioning of the brain. It is essential to open up a counseling and bio-monitoring center. This would ensure that the first responders, as well as clean-up group, are counseled to avoid any occurrence of mental health issues. It emerged that during the attacks, these centers were not in place (Ciottone, Darling, Biddinger, & Keim, 2015). This is the reason most individuals who worked at the site either as first responders, clean-up, or recovery groups had mental health issues.
Bio-monitoring centers are essential in such crises. These centers enable the medical health department to check on the level of toxicants that have found themselves into the bodies of first responders, recovery, or clean-up groups (Quitangon & Evces, 2015). It is crucial to monitor these toxicants to ensure they do not end up harming the workers. During bio-monitoring, body fluids, as well as tissues, are sampled for analysis. When the results show that an individual has taken in large amounts of toxicants, such a person should have a rest for the body to eliminate the toxic. This would help in reducing physical, mental, and social effects. In any site of crises, it is important to have a monitoring department from the health sector.
Several lessons were learned from the attacks regarding occupational health and safety. These lessons should be used in any crisis. It is important to ensure that all the workers at the site are protected from the hazards that result during and after the crisis. In times of such crisis, the health department should also have bio-monitoring as well as counseling centers. This would ensure that the effects of the attacks on the workers are curbed. Proper counseling of the staff must also be done. The government and the medical department should also work hand in hand to curb all the negative effects. Occupational health and safety professionals and companies should use these lessons. Training should be done to all groups that respond to a crisis.
References
Ciottone, G. R., Darling, R. G., Biddinger, P. D., Keim, M. E., & Molloy, M. S. (2015). Ciottone's Disaster Medicine. Amsterdam: Elsevier Health Sciences.
Robert H. F. (2015). Occupational Health and Safety for the 21st Century. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Quitangon, G., & Evces, M. R. (Eds.). (2015). Vicarious Trauma and Disaster Mental Health: Understanding Risks and Promoting Resilience (Vol. 50). London: Routledge.
