Hurricane Idalia

Hurricane Idalia caused significant damage to many counties in Florida, but unfortunately, the potential for injuries and hazards didn’t stop with the storm itself. As facilities and frontline restoration crews go through the recovery process, there are many dangerous scenarios along the path to restoration. 

Looking to minimize any further injuries, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has begun efforts to provide on-site technical assistance and outreach to help protect workers conducting recovery and response activities in areas of Florida hardest hit by the hurricane. 

OSHA has ceased scheduled enforcement inspections in select counties that were in the hurricane’s path. OSHA also deployed safety and health professionals after the storm passed to help employers and workers engaged in recovery operations eliminate serious hazards.  

While this work continues in heavily impacted areas, OSHA retains the right to perform enforcement inspections related to fatalities, catastrophic incidents, employee complaints, incidents involving life-altering injuries and employers who expose employees repeatedly to serious hazards during cleanup and recovery.

Currently, OSHA has suspended scheduled inspections and is providing outreach and technical assistance in the following Florida counties: Hamilton, Lafayette, Madison and Suwannee. 

Employers and employees working in these areas should call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or visit the agency’s website to contact an area office representative and request on-site assistance. 

The agency maintains a comprehensive webpage with safety tips to help employers and workers prepare and respond to a hurricane, including an alert on keeping workers safe during flood cleanup. 

OSHA provides free on-site consultation services to help employers identify and correct hazardous conditions at their worksites, as well as improve occupational safety and health management systems. To schedule an on-site consultation visit, please contact the University of South Florida On-Site Safety and Health Consultation Program.

Read more on tropical storm recovery tips here.