{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"","title":"Flood Restoration House Clean-up: Protection from Hazards","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/5ec63e77c5681e7d353f580b/04f02ff29925fc5d0ffcd5a6ba5a7af9.jpg?height=200","description":"This is Kenneth Hellevang agricultural engineer with the NDSU Extension Service and we're going to be doing a series of five short video clips related to the flood restoration house cleanup process. The first one is going to be on protection from hazards, as you're going in and doing the cleanup it's important that we be aware of what we're going to face and take appropriate protection to so that we don't get hurt. As we're doing that cleanup, it's important that we start into this process that we're aware that there are going to be companies that come in to help you, do the cleanup and it's critical that if you are going to utilize some of those services, make sure that those contractors have the local licensing bonding insurance training and certifications, that are required to do the work for you. Most of these companies are certainly legitimate companies that come in but it is important to make sure that you verify with them that they have the appropriate credentials to be doing the work for you.
As you get in and making decisions about the disaster restoration cleanup, it's important to seek help. This is a task that we've never phased before and it's important that we learn how to do it correctly and that if there are questions that we're seeking out help, not only help for the actual. Nuts and bolts part of doing the cleanup, but also there's a lot of financial and emotional aspects related to the water disaster cleanup, so it's important that we don't be making hasty decisions and that we work our way through the process and we really need to be thinking of this as a marathon. It will go and take us some time to get that home recovered for us and if we don't do the cleanup immediately. It's important that we take steps and try to minimize the amount of damage that will continue to occur in the home. One of the major issues that were going to be facing is mold growth with the moist conditions in the home. In the building that worm the impair is going o cause mold to grow extensively and as shown on this right slide, as we look here you can see that there is a mold that is occurring not only on the lower level, where there might have been moisture but throughout the structure. So it's critical that we try to do a drying out of the structure, as quickly as we can and also when things are still damp maybe we want to be looking at some major cleaning of some of the mold and muck that will come in.
As part of that flood event and try to move some of that away from the structure as much as we can. While it is still wet, but do that initial assessment and determine really what it is that we're going to be tackling, first and how we're going to proceed through the water cleanup process. There's a lot of hazards associated with doing a cleanup in a home that has been flooded and I've listed a number of them. Here, there are structural issues we need to make sure that the floor is still sound and it's not going to cave in underneath and us as we come into the home, we need to be concerned about electricity making sure the electricity is shut off so that we don't get electrical shocks or electrical electrocution. There's also going to be some issues related to telephone and cable, they're both carrying electricity as well and we need to be aware of that concern. Mold is a major health hazard in the home and we'll be focusing on that quite a bit their biological contamination and we'll have water that contaminated with sewage. In many cases, we need to be making sure that we're protecting ourselves so that we don't end up with health problems because we're working in that flooded. However, that have lead dust as a hazard and was used in paint extensively before about 1975, so it's important that if we're doing removal of paint. Surfaces that were painted before, that we keep the surface wet and that we're not creating dust that will create a lead hazard. The same thing is true with as best if we have a boiler or some ductwork that is insulated and has asbestos in its tiles.
Again, be aware of that hazard and make sure that we're using personal protective equipment and keeping that material. Wet carbon dioxide will be an issue and we'll touch on that and a car is just the normal cuts and punctures associated with working in these flooded homes. When we're dealing with floodwater, they categorized flood water in different categories depending on what was in the water. A category one is clean water, such as might come from a broken water pipe or a rainwater grey. Water or category two contains some contamination and microorganisms such as might come from dishwashers sump and pump toilets, with here. Category three is water that contains pathogenic agents and that is sewage surface water flooding there, which be pesticides in that. We really don't know what's in that water and that's really what we're looking at when we're doing a flood damage cleanup and category three flood event and need to be using caution because of what might have been in that water. There are certainly health effects due to exposure to mold and I'm just going to read this right off of the slide.
Scientific evidence links, mold and other factors related to damp conditions and buildings to asthma symptoms and those with the chronic disorder and it doesn't cause asthma but if you have asthma it's a trigger. For asthma attacks, those that have asthma or other respiratory problems really need to be very careful about working around flooded disaster homes, because of the mold exposure. Mold can cause coughing, wheezing, and not for respiratory symptoms and otherwise healthy individuals can create or cause hypersensitivity, pneumonitis, and susceptible. People typically see this and it would be with people who are whose immunity is reduced. For some major reason and any lower respiratory illness and children and there are very documented health effects due to working in a moldy environment.
The World Health Organization has also looked at a number of studies and determined that evidence is available in different countries and that shows that occupants of damp or moldy buildings are at increased risk of respiratory problems. There's also clinical evidence that exposure to mold and other dampness related to microbial agents and increase the risk of various conditions such as, sinus irritation, sinusitis, and also evidence that supports that there are diverse inflammatory reactions things that can lead to infections, so it's critical that we take care as we're working in these mold-infested environments and to protect ourselves and to make sure that we are doing the cleanup properly so that we don't have future mold growth and mold remediation in our homes.
One of the main things that we're going to do, is to provide protection for us and to wear a respirator or mask. The minimum that you should look for is on the mask and it should n95 rating or a HEPA filter or a PRN100, indicating that it's going to be filtering out mold spores. We need to make sure that it has a proper fit and realize that there is going to be some labored breathing associated with breathing and through that mask it helps us to overcome some of that labored breathing. There are some masks that have a valve in it, that allows you to exhale or through the valve and then as you inhale. It comes through the mask and is filtered and I really strongly encourage you to be using respiratory protection whenever you're doing any of the flood cleanups and it's also important to use goggles to protect your eyes when you're going to be working in a very dirty environment. Some types of coveralls are good idea rubber gloves, so you have protection for your feet your, hands, and the body is protected. As you're working in these homes and whenever there's have a flood event, it seems like there's a tendency for people to look for easy or solutions quick solutions to some of these problems. We'll be found in our homes and it's important to realize that there's very limited benefit from air cleaners filters and remove only some of the spores do not and remove the volatile organic compounds. We'll only marginally beneficial units that produce ozone and many times it's referred to as a kind of cleaning the air like rain. Those units are not effective against mold and now there are hydroxyl units, that are somewhat similar again. These may be effective but not in the environment that will typically be working in. Our homes must very very cautious about using any of these and we really need to focus on thorough cleaning of that. Home has been that first segment of the flood cleanup presentation and we'll be looking now at the process or steps that we go through and in the next segment.
","author_name":"Disaster Restoration Masters"}