Transforming Your Business By Going Green

When you are a person who is active in your community and wants to get involved in helping create a better world around you, you may find yourself wanting to join in on both national and international disaster relief efforts as these disasters occur. However, before you do so, there are some things you should know and do to prepare yourself for what you may experience while assisting in disaster relief work. Get to know some of these steps you should take to prepare yourself so that you can go into your volunteer work with the knowledge, skills, and safety precautions you need.

Get HAZWOPER Certification

One of the biggest issues when working in a disaster area is the potential of being exposed to dangerous or hazardous conditions. OSHA, also known as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has strict regulations and guidelines for working in such hazardous situations. These guidelines go by the acronym HAZWOPER which stands for Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response.

In order to ensure that you do not place yourself in any unnecessary danger and to know how to handle situations that are potentially dangerous, you will want to go through a HAZWOPER certification class that is accepted by OSHA. This will help you learn all of the proper safety and health procedures that you should follow when you are helping to clean up disaster areas as a volunteer. These classes are generally between 24 and 40 hours of coursework and will help you to become well-versed in professional safety procedures.

Be Sure That You See A Medical Professional Before You Go

Whether the disaster relief efforts you plan to volunteer for are local or international, you will need to consider your own safety and health before you head out. After all, you do not want to get to the site and be another person who needs help rather than the one providing help.

As such, you should see a medical professional before you head off to the disaster zone. Remember that different areas of the country and world have different prevalent medical conditions and environmental considerations that may affect your health. For example, if you use a nebulizer for asthma-related emergencies, you may be heading to an area without electricity. Talk to your doctor about other treatment options in case you have a flare-up on-site and the like.

Of course, updating and getting vaccinations will be important before you head out as well. Even within the United States, you will want to make sure you have had vaccinations such as a flu vaccine as well as updated vaccinations like your tetanus shot. International travel can require a great deal more vaccinations and immunizations that your doctor will be able to advise you of.

Now that you know more about what you will need to do before you join in on any disaster relief efforts, you can be sure to get the process started. Just remember that your health and safety are also important, even when you are volunteering to help others in dire situations.

To learn more about HAZWOPER certification, contact a company like National Environmental Trainers .