Photo By Todd Plain | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District safety specialist Curtis Morris holds...... read more read more
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. – When U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District safety specialist Curtis Morris says that nothing happened in July, he has a big grin on his face.
When you’re a safety guy, nothing happening is a good thing.
During Morris’ month in Alabama working with the Corps’ disaster response effort after a disastrous series of tornadoes struck the state in April, two million worker hours passed with no one missing a day of work due to injury.
“My job was to make sure no one was injured while clearing all the debris from waterways, county roads and private residences after the tornadoes struck,” Morris said. “I’m very proud to be a part of any safety streak. The fact no one lost a day of work from injury in over two million hours is something special.”
At least 62 tornadoes tore through Alabama April 27, 2011. More than 65 percent of the state saw damage in the worst natural disaster in Alabama’s history. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, tasked by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, mobilized and began to clean up Alabama the very next day. The job was tremendous. If you stacked all the debris from the tornadoes six feet high across a highway, it would stretch for more than 170 miles – about the distance between Sacramento and Fresno.
To date, more than 90 percent of the debris has been cleared according to Jerry Balcom, safety officer in charge of the Corps’ debris team at the Recovery Field Office in Birmingham, Ala.
“I was very pleased to have Curtis on our debris team,” said Balcom. “We really needed that special person who was not afraid to get in the mud and make all the contractors do things the right way.”
Prior to his 30-day assignment, from July 5 to Aug. 3, Morris went to Jacksonville, Fla. for a week of training on how to keep the hundreds of Corps emergency workers and debris removal contractors working safely in the hazardous post-storm conditions.
Morris and the five other Alabama safety specialists trained for heat stress education and prevention, proper accident reporting should one occur, vehicle safety inspection procedures for the large debris trucks, proper cutting and trimming procedures for the fallen trees and all the required personal protective equipment standards listed in the Corps’ Safety and Health Requirements Manual.
Morris said there were bug bites, scrapes and bruises, of course; however, nothing serious enough to hinder the debris team’s overall mission: safely clearing the way for Alabama’s recovery.
“I was just one set of eyes and ears for Jerry in Birmingham,” Morris said, deflecting any personal recognition. “Everyone had a part in (reaching the milestone) … all the way from the safety officer to the contractors in the field. It was a total team effort.”
| Date Taken: | 08.25.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 08.25.2011 17:45 |
| Story ID: | 75937 |
| Location: | SACRAMENTO, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 129 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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