Places that have been flooded – open lots or building of any type – should be considered as hazardous sites. These places may contain chemicals, mold, damaged building materials that are structurally unsafe, vermin, including poisonous snakes, and other hazards. Depending on the post-flood weather, specifically temperature and humidity, there are risks of hypo- or hyper-thermia (body temperatures that are too low or too high). Adults working at such sites must be properly trained to deal with the potential hazards and must wear appropriate personal protective equipment.

Many chemicals cross the placenta from a pregnant person to the fetus. Moreover, should a pregnant person become ill or injured as a result of working in a hazardous cleanup environment, the health of the fetus may be compromised. In addition, it may be difficult to provide pregnant people with well-fitting personal protective equipment. For all these reasons, it is strongly recommended that pregnant people not participate in cleanup activities.

While civic organizations, religious organizations, or schools may want to provide children and adolescents with opportunities for community service, disaster cleanup should not be an option. The adults who supervise children and adolescents rarely receive adequate training about cleanup of hazardous sites. Often, appropriately sized personal protective equipment (PPE) cannot be provided for the children and adolescents who would be involved. Children, and many adolescents, will not have the judgment capacity to determine what is safe for them to do as they move through a post-disaster cleanup site. 

Toxic materials can often be brought home to a volunteers’ (or workers’) home and family on their hair, skin, clothing, and/or shoes.ii,iii To protect their families, adult workers should have PPE which they put on before entering the site and remove before returning home. Workers need to be able to leave their shoes at the worksite.