Debris removal is classified as the removal of personal items, appliances, furniture or vegetation that were damaged or destroyed by the disaster and are found outside of the physical structure. This step is considered complete when all items to be discarded have been removed from the property being worked on and any remaining undamaged items are salvaged and placed in a safe location. For information on removal of items within the structure, see Mucking and Gutting.

Debris removal is essential in creating a safe environment around the structure being worked on and ensuring disaster-damaged items/vegetation do not pose a health and safety threat to individuals within the immediate area.

Health and Safety
All Hands and Hearts make the safety of the people we work for, and that work with us, a priority. We employ a risk-based approach to health and safety, which studies the possible dangers of a workplace and seeks to minimize those dangers through controls, such as usage guidelines, training, supervision and the enforcement of appropriate protective equipment. Each of our worksites have specific operational standards and risk controls to reduce the likelihood of a hazard occurring and contingency plans to reduce the severity of a hazard if it does occur.