About
Don Godfrey
With four water certifications issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and a degree in chemistry from Eastfield College, Don Godfrey knows water. His career with water first began in 1979 while serving in the Navy and working in a water test lab where he ensured the safety and potability of the drinking water for a several ships of 650 to 2000 personnel. He then went on to a 25-year career at the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons where he ensured the water quality for 3,000 personnel (inmates and staff) through the operation of a water distribution system and maintained a backflow prevention/cross-connection control program.
In 2002, Don Godfrey launched his own company, C2 Services, where he initially worked as a backflow tester before discovering his true calling as a professional backflow prevention trainer in 2008. Since then, Don has trained thousands of irrigators, fire-line contractors, city employees, and utility contractors in backflow prevention and cross connection control. Don is passionate about inspiring his students to visualize water in a different perspective and to protect our drinking water.
Information
The TCEQ recommends that water utility workers take the precautions they are taught in their safety classes for protection from exposure to pathogens, biohazards, and bloodborne infectious diseases. See the following link for a list of Water and Wastewater Operator courses and providers: http://www.tceq.texas.gov/licensing/training
Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that workers who handle medical waste follow special precautions to prevent exposure outlined in CDC’s “Interim Guidance for Environmental Infection Control in Hospitals” for the Ebola Virus at: http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/environmental-infection-control-in-hospitals.html
The TCEQ received notice that the CDC is working on an “Interim Guidance for Workers Handling Untreated Sewage from Ebola Cases in the United States” document that should be available soon and recommends that interested persons visit the CDC website often for updates at: http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/
The following links are provided to obtain additional guidance and infectious waste precautions from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the Electronic Library of Construction Occupational Safety and Health. · Ebola – Safety and Health Topics, OSHA https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/ebola/standards.html
Bloodborne Infectious Disease Precautions, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/bbp/
Garvey, Donald J., Exposure to Biohazards-An Emerging Concern for Construction Workers in Sewer Lines and Wastewater Treatment Plants, August 2005, Professional Safety, Electronic Library of Construction Occupational Safety and Health, http://www.elcosh.org/document/1916/d000734/Exposure%2Bto%2BBiohazards.html?show_text=1