Things to Remember When Assisting in Clean-Up and Recovery Efforts

Nearly two weeks after Hurricane Helene left a trail of destruction in upper East Tennessee, communities in the impacted areas are beginning clean-up and recovery efforts. And as you all so often do when friends and neighbors are in need, staff in many of your municipalities and agencies are preparing to provide aid and assistance in those communities. As checklists are being made of all the tools, equipment, and other tangible items that need to be packed, also include on the checklists a required review of the language below from the Mutual Aid and Emergency and Disaster Assistance Agreement Act of 2004 related to liability and workers’ compensation:

              T.C.A. § 58-8-102 Definitions:

                      “Aid” means the same as assistance, except that aid is provided in an occurrence during any period of time when a state of emergency has not been declared;

“Assistance” means the provision of personnel, equipment, facilities, services, supplies, and other resources to assist in firefighting, law enforcement, the provision of public works services, the provision of emergency medical care, the provision of civil defense services, or any other emergency assistance one governmental entity is able to provide to another in response to a request for assistance in a municipal, county, state, or federal state of emergency;

“Emergency” means an occurrence or threat of an occurrence, whether natural or man-made, that results in or may result in substantial injury or harm to the population or substantial damage to or loss of property and which results in a declaration of a state of emergency by a municipal mayor, a county mayor or executive, the governor, or the president;

“Employee” means paid, volunteer, and auxiliary personnel and emergency management workers of a governmental entity;

“Governmental entity” means any political subdivision of the state, including, but not limited to, any incorporated city or town, metropolitan government, county, utility district, school district, nonprofit volunteer fire department receiving public funds and recognized under title 68, chapter 102, part 3, rescue squad, human resource agency, public building authority, airport authority, and development district, or any instrumentality of government created by one (1) or more of these named governmental entities or the general assembly, or any entity otherwise recognized by state law as a local governmental entity;

“Occurrence” means the imminent threat of an event or an actual event and its aftermath, whether natural or man-made, that could lead to or results in bodily injury or property damage;

“Participating governmental entity” means any governmental entity in the state that requests or responds to a request for aid or assistance under this chapter;

“Responding party” means a governmental entity that has received and responded to a request to provide mutual aid or assistance to another governmental entity under this chapter; and

“Requesting party” means a governmental entity that requests aid or assistance from another governmental entity under this chapter.

T.C.A. § 58-8-106 Response to Request for Assistance or Aid

Any participating governmental entity may, upon receiving a request for mutual aid in an occurrence or for assistance from a requesting party in a municipal, county, state, or federal state of emergency, send its personnel and equipment outside its boundaries and into any other jurisdiction necessary to respond to the request.

T.C.A. § 58-8-109 Powers, Workers’ Compensation, and Liability

(a)  When employees of the responding party are sent from the employing jurisdiction to another jurisdiction or jurisdictions in response to a request for aid or assistance under this chapter, they have the same powers, duties, rights, privileges, and immunities as if they were performing their duties in the jurisdiction in which they normally function.

(b)  Employees of the responding party will be considered as the responding party's employees at all times while performing their duties under this chapter for purposes of the workers' compensation law and for that purpose will be considered as acting within the course and scope of their employment with the responding party [emphasis mine].

(c)  Under §29-20-107(f), for liability purposes only, employees of the responding party are to be considered employees of the requesting party while performing their duties under this chapter at the scene of the occurrence or emergency or other locations necessary for the response while under the supervision of the requesting party. At all other times in the response, including traveling to the scene and returning to the employing jurisdiction, such employees are to be considered for liability purposes to be employees of the responding party.

It is important to note that pursuant to T.C.A. § 58-8-109(c), the requesting party is responsible for the actions of the responding party’s employees from a liability perspective while the responding party’s employees are performing duties under the Act at the scene of the occurrence, emergency, or other location necessary for the response while under the supervision of the requesting party. As such, and to ensure that liability for any accidental property damage rests with the requesting party, the responding party’s employees must:

1.   Only perform those duties authorized by the Act, which means the provision of personnel, equipment, facilities, services, supplies, and other resources to assist in firefighting, law enforcement, the provision of public works services, the provision of emergency medical care, the provision of civil defense services, or any other emergency assistance one governmental entity is able to provide to another in response to a request for assistance in a municipal, county, state, or federal state of emergency or the provision of aid, which is defined the same as “assistance,” except that aid is provided when a state of emergency has not been declared;

2.   Perform the authorized duties set out in #1 above at the location of the occurrence, emergency, or other location necessary for the response; and

3.   Be under the supervision of the requesting party while performing the authorized duties set out in #1 above at the appropriate locations.

It is also important to note that T.CA. §58-8-110 explicitly states that nothing in this Act removes “any immunity from, defenses to, or limitation on liability provided by the Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act, compiled in title 29, chapter 20, or other law.”

We know that the Volunteer spirit permeates throughout your municipalities and agencies, and we stand ready to answer your liability and workers’ compensation questions as you prepare to assist friends and neighbors in need.

Please direct questions on this topic to your regional Loss Control Consultant.