Lightning Safety for Florida Pool Professionals By Lauren Broom
Florida is known as the “lightning capital” of the country. Many employers do not always assume this as a workplace health and safety hazard to their employees. Florida pool professionals will soon be in the height of the summer months when lightning strikes are more likely to occur. Awareness and training on this hazard is an important step in reducing workplace incidents.
Pool professionals and their employers do not always think about lightning safety as a workplace issue that could affect them. Each year, lightning strikes kill people on or near bodies of water. In Florida, an average of 10 deaths and 40 injuries from lightning strikes occur per year. Lightning is the second most frequent cause of weatherrelated deaths. Pool industry employers should recognize lightning as an occupational hazard for their employees.
Exposure to lightning is a potential hazard for people who work outdoors. By law, employers are responsible for ensuring that staff are aware of the potential hazards of their workplace. Employers also have an obligation to train their employees on how to deal with those hazards. Precautions should be taken by employers and employees to help prevent worker exposure to lightning.
The employer should develop a written emergency action plan ( EAP) that includes lightning safety protocols for their outdoor pool professionals. The best protocol would be to require that all the pool professionals carry the EAP in their work vehicles. Essentially, an employer can use the EAP for training their staff. The employer should conduct training with all new staff and annual refresher training for all their existing employees.
The best safety measure that employees can follow is to postpone any outdoor work until the lightning has subsided. The best location for the employee is to go indoors or return to their work vehicle until it is safe to return to work outdoors. The employee should avoid areas with water, high ground, open spaces
Lauren Broom
Lauren Broom is a Certified Pool Operator Course, CPO
, instructor and a former health inspector for the Florida Department of Health. Lauren has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology and is a registered sanitarian.
She has 16-years of experience in commercial pool inspections and waterborne disease outbreak investigations.
Lauren lives in Palm Bay, Florida with her husband of 17 years and their 3 children.
Lauren can be reached at spacecoastpoolschool@yahoo.com and metal objects. Metal objects in the pool workplace can be found anywhere in the pool area, including the pool equipment pad, fences, and the pool service pole.
Even the fancy carbon fiber poles can conduct electricity. Carbon fiber is not as good of a conductor as most metals, but it can conduct electricity nevertheless.
Although there is some fiberglass within carbon fiber poles, they are still largely made up of graphite.
Planning is also an important part in keeping the pool professional safe from lightning strikes. The employee should be trained on resources that they can use out in the field to monitor the status of lightning storms. These resources could be a portable weather radio or phone application that uses radar so they can see the location of storms and if there are any lighting strikes.
The employee should also know how to visually determine when lightning storms are approaching. This will aid them in knowing when to avoid potentially dangerous work locations.
The employee should assess the lightning’s distance with the following rule of thumb: Count the time from the flash to the bang, and for each 5 seconds between, the lightning is 1 mile away. This should now activate the EAP safety plan at the count of 30 (or 6 miles away) and mean that they should not resume activities for 30 minutes.
This is called the 30-30 rule. This rule should be presented and taught at least annually to all employees.
Finally, remember that pool professionals are in the category of outdoor workers, and their safety and health is important not only for them, but also as an asset to your company.
If that thinking does not motivate you, then know that preventing workplace injuries and deaths will potentially keep OSHA off your doorstep for an inspection, and potential fines!
Know your resources. Access Storm Prediction Center on your phone at https://www.spc.noaa.gov/.
