Protect Outdoor Workers From Tick Bites

As the warm weather brings workers outside to maintain facility exteriors and grounds, their risk of contracting diseases caused by ticks increases. The incidence of tickborne diseases in the United States is increasing with the latest statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reporting cases more than doubling from 22,000 in 2004 to 48,000 in 2016. Ticks are responsible for approximately 95% of all locally acquired vectorborne diseases reported nationwide, with Lyme disease accounting for more than 80% of those cases. Other diseases caused by ticks include Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Colorado tick fever, and tickborne relapsing fever.

If your work takes you outdoors in grassy, brushy, or wooded areas, follow these practices to avoid ticks: 

• Treat clothing and gear with products containing 0.5% permethrin.
• Use U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered insect repellents containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus (OLE), para-menthane-diol (PMD), or 2-undecanone.
• Wear long pants, long-sleeved shirts, and boots with socks while working outdoors.
• After you come indoors check your clothing for ticks. Tumble dry clothes in a dryer on high heat for 10 minutes to kill ticks on dry clothing. If the clothes require washing first, hot water is recommended.
• Check your body for ticks after working in tick-infested areas.
• If possible, shower within two hours of coming indoors.

 If you find a tick on your skin, Follow these tips for removal:

• Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin’s surface as possible.
• Pull upward with steady, even pressure.
• After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol or soap and water.
• Never crush a tick with your fingers. Dispose of a live tick by putting it in alcohol, placing it in a sealed bag/container, wrapping it tightly in tape, or flushing it down the toilet.