If they had happened in any other year, the California wildfires and Atlantic hurricanes that struck in August would perhaps have garnered more attention than they did. By Sept. 1, the two largest California wildfires—the second and third largest in the state’s history—had burned more than 765,000 acres and destroyed nearly 1,400 structures, and resulted in the deaths of at least five people, with thousands more forced from their homes. While the fires were burning, Hurricane Laura caused destruction across the Caribbean before making landfall along the Louisiana coast on August 27. The total damage from the storm amounted to $8.9 billion and 59 total deaths in Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas.

But these disasters occurred against the backdrop of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which by Sept. 1 had resulted in 852,000 deaths and 25.5 million cases worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. In the United States, with the attention of the public health community and the occupational and environmental health and safety professions focused on the pandemic, the natural disasters were a reminder that, as one contributor to a recent article put it, “The fact that we’re in the middle of a crisis doesn’t mean that any of your other risks go away.” Even in a normal year, cleanup activities following disasters rely on volunteers who need to be trained on how to stay safe when working in unstable outdoor settings. Conducting cleanup activities amid a pandemic increases the hazards faced by cleanup workers. While many organizations have developed pandemic-related guidance for engaged in cleanup activities, a need exists for similar guidance directed to unpaid , who play a vital role in any response. That’s why AIHA has partnered with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Worker Training Program to develop guidance specifically for volunteers during a natural disaster. The guidance presents control measures to protect against exposure to SARS-CoV-2 before, during, and after natural disasters. Among the topics covered in the guidance are issues related to communal eating, shelter, transportation to and from the disaster site, disinfection of tools, equipment, and workstations, personal protective equipment, and exposure to other people. The guidance also discusses legal protections for volunteers and presents illustrative case studies.