For an index to all NYCOSH in the News articles, click here.

• E.P.A. Panel Continues to Debate What to Do - Downtown Express, June 25, 2004
  
  
• Advocates Decry Workers' Deaths - Newsday, June 15, 2004
  
  
• NYU Union Presses Laboratory Safety Probe as Worker's Health Problems Intensify: Union Meetings, Newsletter Focus on Safety Info -New York Teacher, June 2, 2004
  
• 
  Mejia Receives Award - Staten Island Register, May 11-17, 2004
  
  
• In Health and Social Services, a More Violent Workplace - New York Times, April 25, 2004
  
  
• More Ground Zero Tests Needed, Says Panel - Disaster News Network, April 19, 2004
  
  
• E.P.A. Watchdog Panel Looks to Expand Testing - Downtown Express, April 16, 2004
  
  
• Labor to State Lawmakers: Increase Workers Compensation Benefits Now - Amsterdam News, April 14, 2004
  
  
• Protecting Vulnerable Workers - Occupational Hazards, April 8, 2004
  
  
• In National Emergencies, OSHA to Provide Assistance, Not Enforcement - Occupational Hazards.com, April 8, 2004
  
  
• 9/11 Blunders Left Workers, Residents Literally in the Dust - Inter Press Service, April 7, 2004
  
  
• Safety in Numbers: New Bill to Track City Job Injuries - City Councilmember James Gennaro Introduces a Plan to Help New York Save Money--and Lives - City Limits Weekly, April 5, 2004
  
  
• Residents, Workers Seek More Tests for 9/11 Toxins -Newark Star-Ledger, April 1, 2004

E.P.A. Panel Continues to Debate What to Do

By Elizabeth O'Brien
Downtown Express
June 25 - July 1, 2004

http://downtownexpress.com/de_59/epapanelcontinues.html

Members of the public told an Environmental Protection Agency panel on Tuesday that the agency was losing time and jeopardizing their trust in its efforts to determine whether World Trade Center toxins remain in their communities.

Residents and workers voiced their frustrations about the pace of the panel's inquiry during public comment periods at the June 22 meeting. Formed in March, the panel of government and independent experts is charged with recommending further action for the E.P.A. to take to measure the environmental impact of the World Trade Center disaster.

On Tuesday, panelists debated their responsibilities to sound science and to people who are anxious for answers about the health consequences of the Twin Towers' collapse nearly three years after 9/11. Many panelists acknowledged the public's support was critical to their efforts.

"If we spend a lot of money and a lot of time coming up with a program that the community has no faith in, then we've wasted our time yet again," said David Prezant, deputy chief medical officer for the New York Fire Department and a panelist.

The specter of the E.P.A.'s early response to 9/11 has hung over the panel since its inception. Last August, the agency's independent inspector general released a report judging the E.P.A. acted without sufficient evidence when it declared the air Downtown safe to breathe one week after the World Trade Center collapse. Then, in 2002, the agency instituted a residential cleanup program that many Downtowners found to be poorly designed and run.

"Once trust is lost, then it's very hard to regain, and I think some of the issues we're facing right now are because of that," said Micki Siegel de Hernandez, a labor representative who served at the meeting as an alternate for Catherine McVay Hughes, the panel's community liaison.

The panel has distanced itself from its original charge of overseeing the retesting of select Lower Manhattan apartments that registered for the E.P.A.'s voluntary cleanup, a program that sampled solely for asbestos in most of the approximately 4,200 participating apartments. Instead of the retesting approach, which would have gauged whether any recontamination occurred after the cleanup, panelists have recommended broader testing that would determine whether any W.T.C. toxins remain in areas exposed to the dust cloud, regardless of whether they resulted from recontamination or from the original event.

To this end, the panel has for the past few months discussed whether World Trade Center dust has a chemical fingerprint that would distinguish its origins beyond a doubt. Members continued to grapple with this topic at Tuesday's meeting, asking questions related to the design of a testing protocol: for example, would a certain proportion of man-made fibers, a characteristic element of W.T.C. dust, in a sample also indicate the presence of lead, mercury, or other contaminants of potential concern?

Community members pushed the panel on Tuesday to move beyond what they called its academic preoccupation with a W.T.C. dust fingerprint to the speedy application of a testing program that would sample for a wide array of contaminants.

"We know everyone has a day job and we're trying to cut down and solidify the discussions," de Hernandez said.

By the end of the day, panelists showed support for an investigation into a W.T.C. fingerprint along with testing for a broad spectrum of contaminants.

"I think it's perfectly reasonable for the labor and residential community to want to know after two and a half years, for the first time, what, if any, contaminants are in their workplaces and residences," Dave Newman, a panelist and an industrial hygienist with the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, said after the meeting. "I'm pleased the panel seems to be moving forward in a comprehensive and expeditious manner."

Dr. Paul Gilman, E.P.A. assistant administrator for research and development and chairperson of the panel, told Downtown Express that the group was doing its best to meet its "diffuse charges."

"Everyone would like to do it a bit differently, and it is a challenge," Gilman said.

In March, Gilman said he hoped to have recontamination testing completed by the end of June. The process has lengthened considerably since the panel decided it would not follow in the footsteps of the previous E.P.A. cleanup, but instead will recommend a broader testing program. Under a rough timeline presented by a panelist on Tuesday, collection of samples could begin in approximately five months.

Members of the public also asked for a more formal mechanism for their participation at the panel's monthly meetings, requesting among other provisions that funding be provided for an experienced facilitator to guide community involvement.

"The community does not wish to keep coming in here and making the same complaints," said Jo Polett, a Duane St. resident who has suffered respiratory problems her doctors attribute to the presence of World Trade Center dust in her apartment.

Michael Brown, an E.P.A. spokesperson, said after the meeting that the E.P.A. was exploring ways to engage an expert to facilitate community input and review of a sampling and testing plan. Brown also said the agency is also considering community members' demand for a transcript to be made of each panel meeting.

Gilman said the next steps for the panel include selecting laboratories to participate in the testing program and identifying already existing samples of World Trade Center dust that could aid in the investigation.

Panelists and the public have asked for a budget for their proposed efforts, citing the difficulty of planning in the absence of any financial guidelines.

Gilman said he has tried to focus panel members away from monetary concerns at this stage. He said some Federal Emergency Management Agency funds remained from the initial E.P.A. cleanup, but that he did not want to engage the scientific experts on the panel in financial discussions.

"I'm trying not to have people talk about a budget context," Gilman told Downtown Express. "I want to hear what people believe to be the best approach—not the cheapest."

The E.P.A. is not bound to act on the panel's recommendations. However, given that the panel was formed largely to restore public trust in the E.P.A. and its post-9/11 cleanup process, it is likely the agency will adopt whatever suggestions its resources will allow.

Elizabeth@DowntownExpress.com

Advocates Decry Workers' Deaths

By Bryan Virasami and Graham Rayman
Newsday Staff Writers
June 15, 2004

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/nyc-work0615,0,5982235.story?coll=ny-nynews-headlines

The death of a Chinese immigrant construction worker, the 14th such laborer killed in the city in the past five years, has triggered new calls for stiffer criminal charges against unscrupulous contractors.

The human cost of some contractors cutting corners to save money has become all too familiar, but few tangible changes have resulted even after the string of deaths.

According to a Newsday count, the 44-year-old immigrant who friends identified as Jian Quo Shen, killed when a concrete wall collapsed over him June 7, was at least the 14th such worker killed since Mexican laborer Eduardo Daniel Gutierrez drowned in wet cement at a Williamsburg site in November 1999.

"It's a recurring story," said Assemb. Brian McLaughlin (D-Flushing), president of the New York City Central Labor Council. "Nothing has been done. What's more alarming is the appearance that there is even more and more evidence of workplace tragedies."

Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau has successfully prosecuted several cases against contractors linked to worker deaths, including the October 2001 Park Avenue scaffolding collapse that caused five deaths.

"It's a big problem because the workers generally don't speak English, they need the work, and they are reluctant to complain," Morgenthau said.

The city's Buildings Department found that the owner and contractor of the Queens site, Yong Fa Cai, failed to provide proper structural support during excavation work.

He was issued a violation, and a stop-work order was plastered on the barricaded wall of the site on 92nd Street in Elmhurst. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Queens district attorney's office are investigating. Cai did not return several calls.

Shen was part of a growing cadre of Chinese workers who find work in construction by answering small newspaper ads or gather on Flushing street corners to wait for employers.

The list of the dead also includes several Mexicans, a Brazilian, an Ecuadoran and a Jamaican. The majority of day laborers whose main income comes from construction jobs are Latinos.

Most of the day laborers are undocumented immigrants and therefore are often forced to work in underground jobs under harsh conditions. Advocates say that sometimes, after a long work day, immigrants are not paid their agreed-upon wages or are abandoned by employers without pay.

Hector Cordero-Guzman, a sociology professor at the CUNY Graduate School who has studied day laborers extensively, said inadequate regulations leave day workers vulnerable.

"It's clear when you look at the day labor market in New York: Violations of wage laws, hour laws, health and safety rules and regulations are rampant," Cordero-Guzman said.

Call for higher penalties

The main players in worker safety here are OSHA and the city Department of Buildings.

Susan McQuade of the nonprofit New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health said OSHA has focused on training programs. What really is needed, she said, is stricter enforcement and larger fines and penalties. "Without strict enforcement, there's no onus on the contractor," she said. The workers' deaths should spark OSHA to establish a special enforcement program for residential construction in New York City, she said.

"I can't directly address the comments of NYCOSH, but there is no question that OSHA has a strong emphasis on enforcement," said John Chavez, a Department of Labor spokesman who is based in Boston because OSHA has no local press office. Chavez said 42 OSHA compliance officers, or inspectors, have the responsibility to cover the city, plus five counties in New Jersey and three upstate counties.

A law enforcement source said fines and penalties, both on city and federal levels, are not high enough to dissuade unscrupulous contractors from cutting corners and costs.

The maximum penalty for an OSHA violation is six months in jail. City fines are capped at $2,500 for some types of violations and $5,000 for others, but the actual fines often are substantially lower.

"There are a lot of unscrupulous contractors out there, and they do a cost-benefit analysis," the source said. "The money they save far outweighs the risk of getting caught."

Worker safety technically falls under OSHA's jurisdiction, city Buildings Department officials said.

"Clearly, there is a crossover, and we do have some concerns, but the resolution lies outside the city's authority," department spokeswoman Ilyse Fink said.

While city officials point to OSHA, the city itself does not require licensing of contractors.

Councilman James Oddo (R-Staten Island) has proposed such a bill. "The city licenses cigarette vendors, bingo parlors, motion picture operators, but not general contractors," Oddo said. "It makes you scratch your head."

Another measure to regulate scaffolding is pending in the City Council. Fink said a new focus by local prosecutors on worker deaths is a positive sign. "It seems that the district attorneys are focusing on it more, and that sends the message better than any fine or regulation," she said.

Indeed, prosecutors in Manhattan and elsewhere have successfully prosecuted a number of contractors linked to worker deaths in recent years. But the question of what to do before the fact -- to prevent or reduce the number of such deaths -- remains.

Morgenthau said the biggest challenge is the legal requirement that prosecutors prove that the contractor intended to cause the accident.

He said if that requirement was removed, and a strict liability standard was followed, it would be less difficult to prosecute contractors who violated safety rules.

"If you take out the intent provision, then if you violate the building code in a way that results in a death, then it's a crime," he said. "You don't have to prove intent, which is difficult."

Morgenthau also said more inspection of construction sites is needed. He is considering sending investigators to work sites to get a better handle on how widespread the problem is, he said.

Conditions surveyed

A report last year by the Community Development Research Center at New School University, titled "Day Labor In New York," found stark conditions in a survey of day workers at 29 of 57 gathering sites in the city and upstate.

The day labor population statewide is estimated at between 5,831 to 8,283, most being Latino men. Of those surveyed, 82.6 percent perform construction work, including what the survey called "tasks that may expose them to chemical waste and other occupational hazards."

Cordero-Guzman said another problem is inadequate state Labor Department inspectors and an organized way to hire workers, such as creation of centers where workers and potential employers can meet. While he supports stronger punitive action against unscrupulous employers, he said, requirements placed on contractors should not be so tough that employers shy away from hiring day laborers. "How can you provide worker safety and security and not, at the same time, make this thing so punitive and make it so underground?" Cordero-Guzman said.

Michael A. Arcuri, the Oneida County district attorney and president of the New York District Attorneys Association, said the issue recently was raised within the association.

"It's something of concern to us. It's something we think we would like to take a more in-depth look at," Arcuri said.

Meanwhile, almost every morning about 7 a.m., along 40th Road near Prince Street in Flushing, several dozen Chinese men can be seen waiting for contractors who are looking for laborers. Some in the roadside contingent, while reluctant to discuss their situation, say they prefer to answer classified ads because they're likely to get work that lasts more than a single day. On the other hand, they say, being hired off the street often results in jobs that may last only one day but bring in about $10 more per day.

But getting work through an advertisement does not mean a safer work environment. For the Elmhurst job that led to his death, Shen answered a newspaper ad. "These day laborers have almost no support or protection," said Chung-Wha Hong, advocacy director at the New York Immigration Coalition.

After the June 7 accident in Elmhurst, Shen's identity was a mystery for several days, even to the man who hired him. It was only after he did not return home that friends became worried and then notified police. By late yesterday, Shen's identity had not been officially confirmed by police.

An autopsy by the medical examiner's office showed the worker died from chest compression, rib fractures and injuries to organs of the chest. Hong said that incident cries out for some kind of redress. Government should require employers to keep some type of record -- at the least, a worker's name and address.

Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) agreed that there's a critical need for reform to protect workers. "There's a total lack of oversight over the employers that hire these day laborers," Liu said. "Unfortunately, this kind of situation is too common... there are many cases where people get hurt."

Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.

NYU Union Presses Laboratory Safety Probe as Worker's Health Problems Intensify: Union Meetings, Newsletter Focus on Safety Info

By Betsy Sandberg
New York Teacher
June 2, 2004

http://www.nysut.org/newyorkteacher/2003-2004/040602safety.html

When the academic year drew to a close at New York University , the staff union redoubled pressure to improve laboratory safety as a probe continued into one worker's exposure to formaldehyde.

Michelle De Paola, who worked in the NYU dental lab, says her health has only worsened since New York Teacher first reported her story in March. "There are medical personnel who believe my body is in a traumatic state and has responded in the breakdown of my system," said De Paola, 27. Besides her worsening asthma, she has been diagnosed with Type II diabetes, hypertension and two non-specific growths on her thyroid. "I now take around 10 pills and check my blood sugar daily, have 10 appointments weekly and sonograms every six months.

"I still have to sleep sitting up and am unable to do much of anything that requires physical exertion," she said.

The union says she was permanently disabled from lab overexposure. She resigned her NYU position so she could concentrate full-time on regaining her health.

Earlier this spring her local — the Union of Clerical, Administrative and Technical Staff at NYU — published a newsletter and held meetings on safety concerns while awaiting results of an Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation at the NYU Dental Center lab.

The union charges the university committed more than a dozen safety violations at the "seasonal lab" where De Paola, who prepared cadavers for dissection, breathed in formaldehyde fumes at seven times the rate considered safe. The NYU lab occupies rented space in the basement of a Hunter College dormitory .

"The university talks about how this was a temporary lab," said Stephen Rechner, president of the 1,700-member union. "Unfortu-nately, what happened to Michelle isn't temporary. In fact, this is a worst-case scenario all workers need to know because it illustrates how quickly you can become permanently disabled at work."

New York State United Teachers supported its local with expert help in filing complaints with OSHA and the federal Environ-mental Protection Agency. The statewide union also alerted other unions whose members work in the building to the safety concerns.

Family helps

"My family is supporting me financially on the aspect of my medical insurance and care," De Paola said. When she first fell ill, she

didn't realize the extent to which she would become disabled and that she would not be able to find work. "Being dependent on other people for everything bothers me terribly," she said, although the knowledge she's not alone also helps to sustain her. Besides her family, she has the union. "I appreciate everyone's well wishes and concern," she said of NYSUT and UCATS.

Raise awareness

Workers need more information on lab safety, said Ellen Steinberg, a member of the Professional Staff Congress, which represents faculty and staff at the City University of New York. Steinberg, who said she developed chemically related asthma several years ago, works in the same building where De Paola was employed.

Steinberg recalls the formaldehyde fumes being so strong in December that she had difficulty breathing, even though she worked several floors above. "I remember the fumes seemed to permeate the hallway and I had to take my albuterol medication," said Steinberg, a lab tech for 33 years.

"The real issue here is that these seasonal or temporary laboratories, and even classroom labs, are not designed correctly with adequate amounts of fresh air being circulated in," said Steinberg. "Walk into any classroom lab and there's never enough fume hoods, and air is just being recirculated."

'Could have been me'

This is not the first time lab safety has been an issue at NYU.

Susan Price works at the Morse Academic Plan science labs, where workers brought safety violations to the union. She said NYU converted what used to be a registrar's office into lab space in the 1990s without providing adequate chemical spill kits and eye-wash stations. With help from NYSUT, the union demanded a walk-through by a New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health representative. Only after the unions proved that the workers had legal rights to test the labs did NYU permit it. Among other violations, NYCOSH found air ventilation far below standards.

"What struck me was the difference in approach," Price said. "NYU initially refused us the right to test the air, ventilation and other equipment in the lab, while the union's first concern was to find out what staff, students and faculty were breathing in."

Price has joined the union in its fight to test dental lab work sites. "What happened to Michelle could have happened to any of us," she said.

That's what keeps UCATS working, notes Greg Succop, a union staffer. "Our initial discussions to find out about lab conditions revealed that procedures and standards are really different from one part of the campus to the other," Succop said. "We're advocating for one high standard that should apply to all workers."

Copyright New York State United Teachers.

Mejia Receives Award

By Angie Mangino
Staten Island Register
May 11-17, 2004

http://www.siregister.com/news_story.php?nid=369&eid=92

Rossville resident Guillermina Mejia will be one of five honorees at the May 14 award ceremony in Manhattan of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) which is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

Mejia is the principal program coordinator for safety and health, District Council 37, AFSCME. District Council 37 is the largest public employee union in New York City, with over 9,000 members and retirees living on Staten Island.

Register readers will remember her as one of the Staten Islanders in City Council chambers who witnessed the shooting last July 23 that took the life of Councilman James Davis. Ironically, while she was there in support of the Councilman as he was advocating a bill to prevent workplace violence, she found herself standing in the balcony four feet directly opposite Othniel Askew, the shooter.

NYCOSH will present the Karen Silkwood Award to Mejia for her day-to-day efforts to improve workplace safety for city workers.

"NYCOSH has been a great resource and partner for me in ensuring the well-being of DC37 members," said Mejia. "Through NYCOSH's timely information and updates on safety and health issues; their efforts to promote legislation that has a positive impact on the work environment; and its excellent development programs; I am better prepared and equipped to address the concerns and needs of DC37 members."

Each year NYCOSH presents this award, named for Karen Silkwood, to a rank and file safety activist.

Twenty-eight-year-old Karen Silkwood was a member of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers and a chemical technician at the Kerr-McGee plutonium processing plant in Crescent, Oklahoma. She died on Nov. 13, 1974 while driving from a union meeting in Crescent. The Oklahoma State Highway Patrol received notification an hour later of a single car accident seven miles south of Crescent with the driver, Karen Silkwood dead at the scene from multiple injuries.

Circumstances surrounding her death have been the subject of many books, articles and a motion picture entitled "Silkwood," with Meryl Streep portraying the union activist in the film. During the week just prior to her death, unexplainably exposed to plutonium, Silkwood was allegedly gathering evidence for the union to support her claim of negligence of Kerr-McGee in maintaining plant safety. Kerr-McGee closed its nuclear fuel plants in 1975.

The evening's other honorees include Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Roger Toussaint, Omar Henriquez, and the World Trade Center Medical Screening Program at Mt. Sinai Hospital.

"It is an honor to receive an award from NYCOSH," Senator Clinton said. "From defending OSHA's ergonomics regulation to providing Ground Zero workers with the best medical care available, it has been a pleasure to work with NYCOSH and I look forward to working with them in the future."

Roger Toussaint is the president of Transport Workers Union Local 100.

Omar Henriquez is the immigration campaign coordinator of Service Employees International Union, Eastern Region.

"Each of our five honorees has shown an unswerving commitment to protecting and promoting the workplace safety and health of workers and volunteers in the New York City area," said William F. Henning Jr., chair of the NYCOSH Board of Directors.

"Our awards ceremony will be an important opportunity for a broad cross-section of the occupational safety and health community – including political leaders, labor union officials, occupational healthcare workers, immigrant rights activists and rank and file safety and health activists – to share ideas and to socialize."

NYCOSH is a non-profit coalition of more than 250 union organizations and more than 400 individual workers, physicians, lawyers and other health and safety activists. Part of a nationwide network of 25 union based safety and health organizations, NYCOSH is dedicated to the right of every worker to a safe and healthful job providing occupational safety and health training, advocacy and information to workers and unions throughout the metropolitan New York area.

copyright 2002 Staten Island Register

In Health and Social Services, a More Violent Workplace

By EVE TAHMINCIOGLU
New York Times
April 25, 2004

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/25/jobs/25jmar.html

Phyllis Johansen, a nurse in the psychiatric wing at Stony Brook University Hospital, was assaulted on July 6 by a patient trying to break out of the locked ward. The patient, high on drugs, made his way to the nurses' station and attacked her around 4 a.m., near the end of her shift, she said.

"He told me three times he was going to kill me," Ms. Johansen, 50, said. "He threw a table into my stomach and body-slammed me several times into the wall." The patient was subdued by a security guard but died soon after of a drug overdose, she said.

As a result of the beating, Ms. Johansen, a nurse for 30 years, suffered a broken wrist and a back injury, and she has been out of work since then.

She plans to return in May - she loves her job, she said - but she is concerned with what she says is an escalation of workplace violence in the last three years. "We're constantly getting shoved, verbally attacked," she said. "It seems to be getting worse."

Incidents of workplace violence, from verbal abuse to assault, appear to be climbing in health care and social services, at a time when workplace homicides in those industries have been declining for about a decade, labor experts say.

"Clearly, workplace violence in these areas is beginning to come back up," said Lynn Jenkins, a branch chief in the division of safety research at the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety, a federal agency that researches ways to prevent work-related injury and illness.

Ms. Jenkins said that the reporting of nonfatal workplace crimes was fragmented, and workers in fields like social services or mental health care might accept acts of violence as part of their jobs. But anecdotal evidence gathered by the institute points to an increase, she said.

"Basically, you have fewer workers delivering fewer services to more people," Ms. Jenkins said. "It's a formula for disaster."

According to the most recent numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, cases of workplace violence in health care and social services in New York State dipped from 1998 to 1999, but increased from 2000 to 2001, when the economic downturn hit.

In health care, the bureau said, cases of workplace violence rose to 16.5 per 10,000 full-time workers in 2001 from 13.7 per 10,000 in 2000.

Cases of violence in social services increased to 35.4 per 10,000 employees in 2001 from 25.6 per 10,000 in 2000.

A preliminary report on workplace violence against nurses by the New York State Nursing Association, released in early February, found that 46.9 percent of the nurses who responded to the survey had experienced verbal insults or threats in the workplace; 20.7 percent had been physically assaulted; 9.9 percent had experienced inappropriate touching; and 4 percent had been physically assaulted with a weapon. About 26 percent lost time from work because of a violent incident.

Workplace violence ranges from verbal attacks to homicides, said Susan McQuade, a health and safety specialist for the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health. "Being verbally abused can bring on stress for a worker," she said, "and it is sometimes a precursor for some physical action."

Government agencies and employers are beginning to study ways to prevent workplace violence. Earlier this year, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration released a report titled "Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence for Health Care and Social Service Workers." It outlined a host of risk factors opening the door to more violence in the health care system: the use of hospitals by police and the criminal justice system for the care of disturbed and violent individuals; the lack of staff training to recognize and manage violent behavior; and a growing number of drug and alcohol abusers in the system.

New York City's Administration for Children's Services, which has about 7,000 social services employees who work to ensure the safety of the city's children, began a pilot project last year that teaches supervisors how to help workers handle potentially violent situations that could arise in their day-to-day jobs, a spokeswoman, MacLean Guthrie, said.

And at Stony Brook, where Ms. Johansen was assaulted, a panel of hospital administrators and union officials has been created to examine workplace violence, a spokesman for the hospital, Patrick Calabria, said. This year, the hospital plans to buy alarms that workers can wear so they can quickly alert security and other employees to any problems.

Last year, a group of unions proposed standards for diminishing workplace violence for public employees to the New York State Department of Labor's Hazard Abatement Board, which makes recommendations on health and safety standards.

The proposed standards include definitions of violence and steps employers should take to create a safe workplace, ranging from drafting antiviolence policies to employee training. The board held public information sessions on the proposed standards and is reviewing the information it gathered, according to a spokeswoman for the Labor Department, Christine Burling.

Labor advocates say it is important for workers to recognize that workplace violence can take many forms.

"If someone is yelled at, spat at or pushed around, all this can have long-term effects on an individual. It leads to stress, and some people may end up unable to work," said Susan A. Randolph, president of the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses.

There is often a pattern to escalating workplace violence, said Jim Crumbley, a senior security consultant at Amsec International, a security firm that works with corporations.

He said workers should be aware of signs that someone is getting anxious and try to offer support. When a patient or co-worker is getting overly defensive or having verbal outbursts, it is best to be direct with the person and explain that their behavior is disruptive, he said.

"Tell them, 'I understand you are upset, but your outburst is creating problems with other patients. Why don't you take a few minutes and gather your thoughts, and then I'll come back and talk to you about this.' "

If none of these measures defuse the situation, he said, workers should maintain a safe distance from the disruptive person, keep an eye on a possible exit route from the room and tell co-workers and the security staff.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

More Ground Zero Tests Needed, Says Panel

By Heather Moyer
Disaster News Network
April 19, 2004

http://www.disasternews.net/news/news.php?articleid=2210

NEW YORK CITY (April 19, 2004) — Air quality and contaminant testing around Ground Zero should be expanded, said experts who reviewed the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) response to the World Trade Center attacks.

A new testing area should be broader than the originally tested geographical area, and the tests should screen for other contaminants besides asbestos, the 17-member panel decided last week. The panel serves as an advisory board to the EPA.

The EPA has been receiving heavy criticism since a report by the agency's independent inspector general said the EPA did not have enough evidence to declare the air in lower Manhattan safe to breathe one week after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Several local health organizations quickly suspected the air quality was unsafe when relief workers and local residents began to have respiratory ailments. The Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) worked together to set up clinics to screen people who thought they were affected.

These efforts were supported by the United Church of Christ (UCC). UCC Executive for National Disaster Ministries Florence Coppola said the panel's recommendation is a step in the right direction. "I think this move is late, but it's still a good thing," she said. "And at least they'd be testing for toxins beyond asbestos - this community still needs a lot of help."

Panelists said community members who attended the meeting were pleased with the recommendations, but will still watch the panel closely to see what actions will result.

"The public there was pleased with the notion that the EPA is open to broadening the investigation," said Dave Newman, panel member and industrial hygienist for NYCOSH. "So were many of the activist groups involved in this since 9/11, including NYCOSH. I think many are surprised that this is moving so quickly."

Newman said the next step for the panel is to work directly with the EPA to implement a plan of action, adding that the EPA had already contacted panel members to solicit plan implementation ideas. "(The EPA) wants to know how we want the testing to happen and where the testing should be expanded to," said Newman.

Many advocacy groups want the testing to expand to previously excluded places, like businesses, schools, and firehouses.

The panel's next meeting is May 24, but there's also a conference call May 12, and many additional community groups want to participate in that call, said Newman. "The process is definitely moving along," he said.

Coppola added many people are closely watching the process. "We don't know where it will lead," she said. "But we'll take it one step at a time and see where it ends up."

Posted April 19, 2004 4:12 PM

E.P.A. Watchdog Panel Looks to Expand Testing

By Elizabeth O'Brien
Downtown Express
April 16-22, 2004

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_49/epawatchdog.html

[For an archive of more than 300 articles and documents concerning 9/11-related occupational and environmental safety and health, visit http://www.nycosh.org/linktopics/WTC-catastrophe.html]

Experts charged with reviewing the Environmental Protection Agency's response to the World Trade Center collapse have recommended broader testing to determine what, if any, contamination remains from the disaster.

In its second public meeting on April 12, the 17-member panel of government and independent experts moved away from its initial plan to retest only those Lower Manhattan apartments that were originally cleaned as part of the E.P.A. voluntary residential cleanup program. Instead, panelists recommended that the E.P.A. sample workplaces and buildings outside the agency's prior boundary of Canal, Pike and Allen Sts. Panelists also discussed testing for toxins other than asbestos, the only substance sampled in the majority of apartments the E.P.A. cleaned.

"This is a very important development," said Kimberly Flynn, a spokesperson for 9/11 Environmental Action, a community group. "This is something we didn't necessarily anticipate."

The panel, formed largely to restore public trust in the E.P.A. response to 9/11, resulted from negotiations among Senator Hillary Clinton, the E.P.A. and the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Many lost faith in the E.P.A. after a report by the agency's independent inspector general judged the E.P.A. acted without enough evidence when it declared the air Downtown safe to breathe one week after 9/11.

In addition, critics have called the agency's cleanup program, which began in June of 2002 and ended last year, poorly designed and executed. While the program found few cases of asbestos levels exceeding the E.P.A. benchmark — 6 percent of apartments that received "aggressive" testing, where a leaf blower agitated settled dust, were found to have elevated asbestos levels, compared with only 0.5 percent of apartments that received "modified aggressive" testing—critics have questioned the methodology that generated the results.

At its first public meeting on March 31, the panel discussed testing already cleaned apartments to determine whether recontamination had occurred through building ventilation systems or other means. But two weeks later, panel members shifted towards screening for 9/11-related toxins in general, regardless of whether they resulted from recontamination.

One reason for the change in focus was the challenge of obtaining enough sample data to ensure statistically valid recontamination results, said Dr. Paul Gilman, chairperson of the panel and assistant administrator for research and development at the E.P.A. Another reason, one panelist told Downtown Express after the meeting, was simply because 9/11-related toxins pose concerns regardless of whether they resulted from recontamination or from the original event.

Panelists also found inadequate the E.P.A.'s working assumption that cleaning for asbestos would adequately remove other potentially dangerous toxins such as lead, even if workers did not test for other contaminants in most homes. They debated which contaminants should be included in the retesting program, set to begin this summer.

"When we have proof it's not in someone's system, we should move on," said David Prezant, a panel member who is also deputy chief medical officer with the New York Fire Department. For example, Prezant said, high levels of lead have not been found in first responders' blood, so lead should not be included in the retesting.

Panelists and the public alike cheered the new direction taken at last Monday's meeting.

"I'm hopeful we can implement science-based testing efforts to broaden the geographical scope of the testing and look for a suite of possible contaminations so that we can finally know exactly what we are or are not dealing with in Lower Manhattan," said Dave Newman, an industrial hygienist with the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, who serves on the panel.

The E.P.A. is not obligated to follow the panel's recommendations, but given the group's mandate of bolstering public trust in the agency it is likely the E.P.A. will adopt its suggestions to the extent possible within budgetary constraints. At the panel's next meeting, scheduled for May 24, members will further discuss their recommendations for the retesting program, in terms of specific contaminants and buildings to be included.

At two public sessions during the April 12 meeting, community members let the panel know they were following its every move. Kelly Colangelo, a resident of 41 River Terrace in Battery Park City, said she had taken a vacation day off work in order to attend the meeting.

Colangelo told panelists they must work hard to earn the public's respect: "I think careful planning and clear communication are essential."

Elizabeth@DowntownExpress.com

By Zita Allen
Amsterdam News
April 14, 2004

http://www.amsterdamnews.org/News/article/article.asp?NewsID=41884&sID=4

Things are heating up in Albany on workers compensation reform, and labor leaders are calling for the passage of matching bills introduced in both the Senate and Assembly that would increase benefits for injured workers in New York State. New York State AFL-CIO President Dennis Hughes says, “A full and serious discussion to reform the workers compensation system in this state” has begun.

For many labor leaders, the system is clearly broken and badly in need of repair. Hughes says the state AFL-CIO is working with the Labor Committee chair in the Assembly, Susan John, and in the Senate, Guy Velella, “on speedy passage” of the Workers Compensation Benefit Increase Bill. In the Assembly, labor leaders are calling for support of A-9736 sponsored by John, Catherine Nolan and Peter Abbate, and the Senate-6135, sponsored by Guy Velella.

The New York City Central Labor Council has also passed a strong resolution in support of the legislation.

“It’s shameful that New York State has the same maximum workers compensation benefit now as it had in 1992,” says Public Policy Director Ed Ott. The CLC is urging every union member in the city to let their Albany representatives know that they are “counting on them to support this bill.”

The New York Committee on Occupational Safety and Health is distributing 180,000 postcards to union locals and Committees for Occupational Safety and Health as fast as possible, according to William F. Henning Jr., chair of the NYCOSH Board of Directors. And, once collected, they will be delivered to Governor George Pataki, who is threatening to veto the legislation if it is passed. The idea is to send a message to the governor that if ever there was a time to increase workers compensation benefits, it is now.

In 1992, the maximum benefit of $400 was only 66 percent of New York’s average weekly wage. Today, that same $400, an amount only awarded to some 3 percent of injured workers, is only 44 percent of the average weekly wage. For many, that is an outrage that creates a tremendous hardship for workers who are already suffering.

“Workers injured on the job should not be forced into poverty, lose their house or be forced to have their children drop out of college,” according to DC 37 Political Action Director Wanda Williams.

Teamsters 237 Political Action Director Patricia Stryker says an increase in workers compensation would “restore an injured worker’s ability to provide for his/her family.”

New York State United Teachers union leaders say “there has been no workers compensation benefit improvement over a decade, and New York injured workers are now expected to support their families on a 1992 wage replacement benefit, clearly and impossibly.”

For labor leaders around the city, it is time to reverse the injustice forced on workers injured or killed on the job, and their families, “by increasing the workers compensation benefit to reflect the economic reality of a new century.”

These labor leaders say they don’t want to hear arguments about the fine points of “premium computations,” which only serve to “further compound the current economic injustice that is our New York workers compensation system as currently legislated.” Likewise, the leaders of the New York Police Investigators Association urge speedy passage.

This is not the first time New York labor leaders have insisted that it is time to fairly compensate workers who play by the rules, work hard to provide for their families and end up being injured, maimed or even killed in the process. This year, as always, the business community is on the other side of the issue, unleashing a torrent of rhetoric and a barrage of dollars in order to get a fair hearing.

State AFL-CIO leader Dennis Hughes says that each year the business community and insurance industry read from the same playbook. The business folks complain about the high cost of doing business in the state while the insurance industry bemoans the length of time injured workers collect workers compensation benefits.

All too often, Hughes says, “They conveniently ignore the fact that it has been twelve years since the last increase in benefits for injured workers.” Others say they also conveniently ignore some of the things they might do to help fix the system. This time, Hughes says he’s encouraged by that fact that “this year’s proposal mirrors the New York State AFL-CIO’s recommendations.” Namely, this year’s proposals call for making all parties in the system more responsible; reward good participants and punish the bad; and instill competition as a motivator for better delivery of services.

For that reason, labor leaders think they see light at the end of the tunnel. But, they aren’t taking any chances as they urge everyone to contact their state senator and Assembly representative by calling toll-free 877-255-9417 to express support for their vote on this bill.

By Sandy Smith
Occupational Hazards
April 8, 2004

http://occupationalhazards.com/articles/11629

Vulnerable workers – young workers, older workers, women and immigrants – are at higher risk of injury. Efforts to protect these workers are yielding results, but more needs to be done, say experts.

A 17-year-old bagger employed at his family's grocery store was asked for ground beef by a customer. None was available, so he decided to operate the grinder, despite the fact that workers under the age of 18 are prohibited by OSHA from operating meat grinders and slicers.

When the meat became stuck in the grinder bowl, he used his hand to push the meat down into the "worm," a rotating machine part shaped like a corkscrew. The worm caught his hand and fed it into the grinder's barrel, amputating his hand and part of his lower right arm.

If he had been older and better trained on the hazards of that equipment and the importance of lockout/tagout, he would not have reached into an energized machine. As a young worker, he was more vulnerable for a serious injury. Young workers, older workers, women and immigrants are all considered vulnerable workers.

"Vulnerable workers have one trait in common," says Joe Reina, deputy administrator for OSHA Region VI. "They are unprepared to deal with the hazards in the workplace. It might be because of a lack of education and information. It might be that the workplace equipment or personal protective equipment (PPE) wasn't designed to fit them. It might be because of physical limitations. It might be because of cultural reasons; they don't feel comfortable saying "no" to an employer."

The group that experts agree has the most difficulty saying "no" to employers or questioning the safety of job tasks is young workers – those 18 years old and younger. "When you're 17 years old, your primary job is school. In school, you learn reading, writing and arithmetic. You don't learn about workplace hazards," says Dawn Castillo, supervisory epidemiologist and chief of the Surveillance and Field Investigations Branch at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

Young Workers

Emotionally, young workers think they are invulnerable, notes Barbara Lee, Ph.D., RN, director of the National Children's Center for Rural and Agricultural Health. Plus, she adds, "They are still at the age where they want to please adults, even if it means doing a job that they are forbidden by law to do. In agriculture, this is particularly challenging, because they are employed to do the same jobs as adults, with no special considerations: minimal breaks, hard work and little supervision."

Elise Handelman, RN, M.Ed., COHN, director of OSHA's Office of Occupational Health Nursing, says young workers "don't have a sense of empowerment and often, don't realize they are protected by workplace health and safety laws."

The news is improving, however. From 1992 to 2000, there were 70 deaths per year of young workers. By 2002, there were 41.

"It's a significant drop," said Corlis Sellers, the regional administrator for the Department of Labor's (DOL) Wage and Hour Division in the Northeast Region, "but to what extent it has to do with the employment rates of young people, we don't know."

Part of the drop in fatalities is due to stepped-up efforts from OSHA and DOL, notes Sellers, who is also the national child labor coordinator.

For example, Dan Corcoran, a compliance assistance specialist in OSHA's Region VII, is involved with a special program at the Center for Construction Excellence, part of the University of Missouri in Kansas City. Thousands of high school and vocational students from Missouri and Kansas compete to design and spec out a construction project. Now, as part of the competition, they are expected to incorporate safety, including costs and return on investment.

Emphasizing safety in the construction industry is particularly important, says Corcoran, because "When the boss says 'Jump down that hole,' young workers jump down a 20-foot-long, unshored trench without a second thought."

A Youth Rules rally held last spring in Philadelphia (and scheduled again for May) attracted 1,000 young people and their parents to a fun event aimed at educating them about workplace health and safety rules for young workers. Held at a major mall, the event included popular local disc jockeys, t-shirts, information booths and handouts. Schools, community organizations and libraries promoted the event. A similar event was sponsored in New Jersey, where the governor issued a proclamation declaring it "Youth Rules Day."

Immigrant Workers

Such help came too late in Florida, where a 17-year-old immigrant worker, Fernando Paramo, was told by his supervisor to enter a sewer shaft. He was overcome by fumes and his older brother, Miguel, climbed down into the shaft to save him. Miguel managed to pass Fernando up to a third brother before he lost consciousness.

Fernando recovered, but Miguel died. The company was fined nearly $69,000 by OSHA. The Paramo family claimed Fernando was given no respirator or training in confined space entry and that no air monitoring was conducted, while Miguel's only "safety" equipment was a broken ladder. The brothers had several things working against them: the age and lack of training of Fernando Paramo, and the fact they were immigrants who were afraid to speak up to their employer about safety concerns they voiced to family members.

A representative from UNITE, a union that represents a large number of women and immigrant workers, comments, "Seasoned health and safety professionals know that workers... are a rich source of information and insights about workplace hazards and possible solutions to those hazards." However, the spokesperson adds, when workers are silenced by their lack of experience, training, language skills or education:

• Malfunctioning equipment and hazardous conditions often go unreported
  
• Injuries that can point to poorly designed workstations or tasks go untreated or treated outside of the system, and
  
• Dangerous procedures are performed without question.

Joe Reina serves on OSHA's Hispanic Task Force, which was launched in response to reports that the fatality rate for Hispanic workers was 14 percent, yet they made up 11 percent of the work force. He says that until recently, OSHA never asked about the ethnicity of the worker on the 300 Log. "Now, on Supplemental Form 170, we ask, 'Was language a barrier?' We are finding out that the language barrier was a factor in many fatalities of immigrant workers," Reina reveals.

OSHA has launched a number of efforts to reach immigrant workers, says Reina, including creating a Web site dedicated to Spanish-speaking workers – www.osha.gov/as/opa/spanish/index.html – and publishing "Todo Sobre La OSHA," the Spanish-language version of "All About OSHA." The agency has also started reaching out to community centers and churches to get the safety message across. "Many Hispanic workers are Catholic. We reached out to priests to teach them what OSHA is and how we can help. We also needed to reassure them that we are not immigration," says Reina.

Vulnerable workers are primarily low-wage, non-union workers of color and immigrant workers, says Beverly Tillery, coordinator of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH). "They work extremely long hours at dangerous jobs, which puts them at high risk for injuries, illnesses and fatalities. Many of them work in the 'informal' work sector doing day labor or domestic work or other jobs where they are getting paid cash or are 'off the books,'" she adds.

At particular risk, says Tillery, are women workers who fit that profile. "A range of low-wage jobs held by women such as cleaners, laundry and dry cleaner workers, garment factory workers and home health aides involve hazardous chemical exposures and back-breaking repetitive motion jobs."

Women Workers

Jeanne Stellman, Ph.D., is the founder and executive director of the Women's Occupational Health Resource Center at Columbia University. "What makes women vulnerable is not their biology. Women's multiple roles [mother, family caregiver, worker] and relative lack of power in the workplace make them vulnerable," says Stellman.

According to NIOSH, women currently comprise 46 percent of the 137 million workers in the United States, with their share of the labor force projected to reach 48 percent by 2008. Of employed women in 1999, 40 percent held technical, sales and administrative support positions; 32 percent worked in managerial and professional specialties; and 17 percent worked in service occupations.

"[Our society] perceives heavy construction and factory work as hazardous and women's work as being much safer," says Stellman. "The nature of women's work is that it is much more repetitive work and that it often requires standing or sitting for long periods of time. In Europe, cashiers sit while customers unload and bag the groceries. As a nation, we've chosen to ignore repetitive strain injuries."

Adds Karen Johnson, executive vice president for the National Organization of Women (NOW), "The fact of the matter is, carpal tunnel syndrome from this 'light' work is a debilitating, work-related injury – as debilitating as an injury suffered doing 'heavy' work."

Both women are quick to point out that the situation is slowly improving for some women workers. Up until a few years ago, many employers issued their female employees PPE that was designed to fit small men. When NIOSH researchers conducted interviews with 475 tradeswomen across the country several years ago and asked about personal protective equipment (PPE), one respondent said, "They gave me gloves so humongous, I couldn't even pick anything up."

"Women aren't mini men," observes Stellman. "They have different body frames, different body structures." She notes that while "there has been a huge improvement in the availability of PPE that is designed to fit women, that doesn't mean we've solved" all workplace problems facing women. Issues such as indoor air quality, chemical exposures and musculoskeletal disorders remain challenges for women workers.

Older Workers

A new challenge for safety professionals is the rising age of the work force. Tomorrow's work force will be older, heavier and unable to retire, says Mark Marsters, senior vice president, CIGNA Disability Management Solutions. He says health care will continue to drive costs for businesses, a problem that will become even more urgent with the aging work force. And, he says, "The aging work force will drive greater incidences of disability. The economy may force companies to push their employees even further to boost productivity, which may in turn result in greater stress-related disability."

In 2006, baby boomers will begin to turn 60. By 2008, 40 percent of the labor force will be 45 or older, with older workers up to five times more likely to submit claims for short- or long-term disability, and on average absent longer following an injury than younger employees.

"We need to ask ourselves if we have enough in the way of disease management, medical specialists and vocational rehabilitation experts to meet this population's needs," says Marsters.

Dr. Don Wright, director of OSHA's Office of Occupational Medicine, says older workers often suffer from a loss of visual acuity, hearing loss, decreased coordination and balance, and medical conditions that put them at greater risk of suffering workplace injuries.

Employers should not count on workers to notify them when they are having problems reading instructions because of failing eyesight or cannot do as much bending and lifting because of conditions such as arthritis, says Wright. Instead, he suggests employers offer periodic physicals for all employees and examine their OSHA 300 logs to determine if there are clusters of injuries occurring to older workers. "It might be necessary to periodically adjust work to accommodate physical changes," he advises.

Employing Vulnerable Workers

Despite special considerations some vulnerable workers might require, such as limiting work hours and tasks (young workers), modification of job tasks (older workers), providing special emphasis on training (young workers, immigrant workers) or ensuring proper ergonomics (older workers, women), all the experts agreed that the outcome is well-worth the investment.

"The experienced worker has a great deal to offer the workplace, but employers need to know their limitations and be aware of how physiological changes may affect their ability to do assigned job tasks," notes Wright of older workers.

Barbara Lee points out that a company that invests in training young workers could end up with loyal employees for years. "Especially in agriculture, where the work force is so transient, an employer who really takes the time to mentor a young worker could end up with an excellent employee who wants to continue in agriculture, rather than move on to another occupation," she says.

Providing a safe and healthy workplace for vulnerable workers is really no different than providing one for a work population that is not considered vulnerable, says NYCOSH's Tillery. "Employers who take seriously their legal responsibility to provide workers with a safe and healthful workplace should assess the hazards workers may be exposed to and take steps to eliminate those hazards from the workplace. They should also train workers about how to protect themselves and make it clear they should have no fear of reprisal for exercising their rights," she advises.

Young Workers

NIOSH has issued a special report, "Preventing Deaths, Injuries and Illnesses of Young Workers" (DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2003-128) which can be found at www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2003-128/2003128.htm. The report urges employers to:

Recognize the hazards by assessing and eliminating hazards in the workplace. Make sure equipment used by young workers is safe and legal. Visit www.dol.gov/dol/topic/youthlabor/hazardousjobs.htm or call 1-866-4-USADOL.

Supervise young workers and make sure that supervisors and adult coworkers are aware of tasks young workers may perform. Label equipment that young workers cannot use, or color-code uniforms of young workers so that others will know they cannot perform certain jobs.

Provide training in hazard recognition and safe work practices. Have young workers demonstrate that they can perform assigned tasks safely and correctly. Ask young workers for feedback about the training.

Know and comply with child labor laws and occupational safety and health regulations that apply to their business. State laws may be more restrictive than federal laws, and they vary considerably from state to state. These regulations should be posted for workers to read. For information about federal child labor laws, visit www.dol.gov/dol/topic/youthlabor/index.htm or call 1-866-4-USADOL. Links to state labor offices are available at www.ilsa.net or www.youthrules.dol.gov/states.htm.

Develop an injury and illness prevention program and a process for identifying and solving safety and health problems. OSHA consultation programs are available in every state to help employers identify hazards and improve their safety and health management programs. Visit www.osha.gov/oshprogs/consult.html.

The Department of Labor offers information to young workers, employers, parents and educators at the Youth Rules Web site, www.youthrules.dol.gov.

Immigrant Workers

OSHA offers a Spanish-language Web site for workers at www.osha.gov/as/opa/spanish/index.html.

States under federal OSHA offer consultation and compliance assistance and can help with training and education of immigrant workers. Visit www.osha.gov/dcsp/smallbusiness/consult.html for more information about federal OSHA programs or, if you're in a state-plan state, visit www.osha.gov/fso/osp/index.html to find a consultation office in your area.

OSHA has signed agreements with employer groups and associations pertaining to alliances and partnerships to improve safety for immigrant or Hispanic workers. For more information, visit www.osha.gov/fso/vpp/partnership/index.html (partnerships) or www.osha.gov/dcsp/alliances/index.html (alliances).

Aging Workers

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety offers a Web page devoted to issues related to aging workers at www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/psychosocial/aging_workers.html. It includes information about accommodations, specific health and safety concerns for older workers and the changes that occur in cognitive functions with age.

Women Workers

For a variety of information about occupational safety and health for women workers, visit the NIOSH topic page for Women's Safety and Health Issues at Work at www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/women. This page contains links to related NIOSH topic pages, as well as additional resources related to women's health, research on occupational safety and health for women and women at work.

Vulnerable Workers in General

There are Committees for Occupational Safety and Health (COSH) groups in 25 cities. You can find NYCOSH at www.nycosh.org or by calling (212) 627-3900. The NYCOSH Web site includes links to labor organizations and government resources.

Many unions provide training on workplace safety, workers' rights, and communication skills. Union representatives are available to speak on behalf of their co-workers who may not be able to speak out on their own. Union contracts often provide structures for labor/management co-operation on health and safety issues. UNITE (Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees) says that with a union contract, vulnerable workers can become full partners in the safety process in their plants. For more information, visit www.uniteunion.org.

© 2004 Penton Media, Inc.

By James L Nash
Occupational Hazards.com
April 8, 2004

http://occupationalhazards.com/articles/11624

Soon after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, OSHA announced it would provide technical assistance to rescue and recovery workers, but would not enforce its safety and health regulations.

OSHA employees worked long hours during the emergency operation, and there were no fatalities at one of the nation's most hazardous sites. In the years that followed 9/11, however, the decision to suspend OSHA's traditional enforcement authority has aroused controversy.

As the work around the old World Trade Center (WTC) proceeded, critics claim some workers did not wear proper respiratory protection and were not protected from the toxic atmosphere that was present.

"Now, literally 6,000 heroic workers who responded in that emergency are seriously ill," according to Joel Shufro, executive director of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH), a leading critic of OSHA's handling of safety and health at the former WTC site.

In its new National Emergency Management Plan (NEMP), the agency has clarified that in the future, OSHA will not enforce safety rules, but will instead "provide technical assistance during large-scale emergencies," according to an OSHA official. A major part of OSHA's assistance role during the emergency phase of nationally significant incidents "includes the assessment and the management of the risks faced by first responders and recovery workers," the official explained.

The management of these risks includes using OSHA standards, but this will be done within the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the National Response Plan (NRP), which are administered by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The OSHA regional administrator in whose region the incident occurs may seek to regain OSHA's traditional enforcement authority, but this shift must be based on "the incident's unique set of conditions and risks" and only after consultation with the politically-appointed assistant secretary of labor for OSHA.

"OSHA's NEMP has some shocking flaws," commented Shufro. "OSHA's role will be limited to providing 'advice and consultation' with the result that standards that are specifically designed for emergencies, such as the Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response standard will be treated as merely advisory."

Donald Elisburg helped prepare a report for the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences on the lessons learned from the recovery operations at the WTC. "The question is not whether someone will get cited," Elisburg contended, "but who in fact is responsible for the health and safety of first responders and skilled support personnel. Someone has to say: 'You are required to wear a respirator,' and assure it's done."

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appears to be following Elisburg's advice. In March, DHS released a memorandum spelling out NIMS, "a core set of principles" that will "enable effective, efficient, and collaborative incident management at all levels. The document provides for a safety officer (SO) who has the ultimate responsibility for the safety of workers and who reports directly to the incident commander. The SO has "emergency authority to stop or prevent unsafe acts during incident operations."

The Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), a part of DHS, has been charged with carrying out the management of future emergency recovery operations. A FEMA official explained that NIMS requires compliance with all OSHA regulations. Aside from the SO's emergency power to stop unsafe acts, however, it not clear how safety and health standards will be enforced.

"FEMA is not a regulatory agency," the official explained, "and therefore it has no role in enforcing workplace safety regulations."

9/11 Blunders Left Workers,
Residents Literally in the Dust

By Katherine Stapp
Inter Press Service
April 7, 2004

http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=23226

[For an archive of more than 300 articles and documents concerning 9/11-related occupational and environmental safety and health, visit http://www.nycosh.org/linktopics/WTC-catastrophe.html]

NEW YORK, Apr 7 (IPS) - Even as the White House scrambles to defend its handling of the terrorist attacks of Sep. 11, 2001, the poisonous gas and dust unleashed by the disaster continue to settle in the lungs of thousands of recovery workers and New York City residents.

They are particularly exasperated with the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), because it quickly reassured people that the air around the World Trade Centre site in New York's Manhattan was safe to breathe, when in fact EPA scientists lacked sufficient data to draw this conclusion.

An internal investigation later found that the White House Council on Environmental Quality "convinced EPA to add reassuring statements and delete cautionary ones" in its press releases.

In the months following the collapse of the centre, the EPA helped clean some 4,000 apartments in the area through a voluntary programme. However, tens of thousands of other sites, including offices and schools, have never been officially checked for toxins like asbestos, mercury and lead.

"The question remains that thousands of homes could still be contaminated," said Dr. Paul Lioy, one of the lead authors of a study released in February by the National Institutes of Health on the environmental and health impacts of the 9/11 attacks. "It's a very complex, unprecedented situation."

With pressure building to assuage public fears, an expert panel of scientists, doctors and one resident of Lower Manhattan is now in the midst of re-evaluating the agency's actions.

"Nobody knows what people were exposed to," said Joel Shufro, the executive director of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH), a coalition of labour unions and workplace safety experts.

"The testing just hasn't been done. It's our assessment that the EPA and Health Department never considered dust to be a public health hazard," he said in an interview.

"The programmes they did create to deal with it were purely for political cover. From day one, the primary concern was to reopen Wall Street."

According to the latest figures from Mount Sinai Hospital's occupational health clinic, which has screened more than 9,000 rescue and recovery workers, about one-half still suffer from respiratory problems and other injuries. More than 40 percent have post-traumatic stress disorder.

"Those of us who responded to Ground Zero are in crisis," Jimmy Willis, a member of the Transport Workers Union, recently testified before a congressional subcommittee on national security.

"Transit workers toiled for weeks at Ground Zero without respirators. Unfortunately, New York City Transit, the Department of Health and New York State deferred site air quality and safety to the EPA," he said. "Of the 4,000 transit workers who responded to Ground Zero, as many as half of us are now seriously ill."

Many also lack health insurance, and must rely on a handful of special programmes to get treatment. The situation is especially bleak for the undocumented day labourers who cleared dust from the apartments and office buildings surrounding the World Trade Centre, without the benefit of protective equipment.

A mobile clinic set up at Ground Zero in January and February 2002 saw 416 labourers, most of them from Colombia and Ecuador, while by last October the Latin American Worker's Project had documented more than 600 day labourers who helped in the clean-up.

Advocacy groups, like NYCOSH and the Puerto Rican Legal Defence and Education Fund, are helping some of them to apply for workers compensation, a state-run programme that provides medical treatment and cash benefits for workers injured on the job -- regardless of their legal status.

But despite government promises that Sep. 11 cases would be expedited, advocates say insurance companies are conducting business as usual, meaning the cases will likely take years to resolve.

"The main problem is that insurance companies have learned how to work the system so that it takes so long, workers get discouraged and give up," said NYCOSH's Beverly Tillery, who is coordinating some of the World Trade Centre cases.

"We've seen that happening, where the energy it takes to get through the process just isn't worth it for some people."

"Also, the response letters that the Workers' Compensation Board sent out are all in English, and the one worker advocate we talked to didn't speak Spanish."

In March, a group of recovery workers and downtown residents sued the EPA to demand further testing and cleanup, as well as the creation of a fund to pay for medical monitoring of affected individuals.

Kelly Colangelo, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, lived just one and a half blocks from the World Trade Centre the day the towers collapsed. She says that personal testing later found relatively high levels of fibreglass, asbestos and other toxins in her home, and she worries she is at increased risk for deadly illnesses like asbestosis and mesothelioma.

"Thick grey dust, mixed with burnt papers, pervaded the apartment through the open windows," she told IPS. "I contracted a rash on my face, and began suffering from severe headaches, sinus problems, and a deep cough after I was allowed to enter my building on Sep.12. The air in my apartment was cloudy with suspended dust, and I had trouble breathing."

Last week, two members of Congress proposed expanding federal health insurance to downtown residents and all workers to cover their physical and psychological treatment, as well as the cost of prescription drugs. The bill would increase the number of people now being monitored from 12,000 to 40,000.

Unions and worker advocates applauded the proposal, but noted that other, larger issues must also be addressed.

"Workers -- for utilities, sanitation, transportation -- who were not considered 'first responders' really were and need training" (in the event of another incident like 9/11) Shufro said.

"We also need to sort out the issue of who's in charge. OSHA (the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration) deferred to local authorities on the pile. For nine months, OSHA standards were not enforced, and that's unacceptable." (END/2004)

National Institutes of Health Study

EPA Response to Sep. 11

New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health

City Councilmember James Gennaro Introduces a Plan to Help New York Save Money--and Lives.

By Geoffrey Gray
City Limits Weekly
Week of April 5, 2004

http://www.citylimits.org/content/articles/
weeklyView.cfm?articlenumber=1485

Where are the city's most dangerous jobs? What are they, and who works them? City officials aren't exactly sure.

Over the last four years, New York has dished out over $400 million for workers' compensation payments, but to date there has been no system in place to track the types of injuries suffered by city employees—or find ways to avoid them.

On Thursday, a handful of union leaders and City Council members, led by James Gennaro of Queens, sought to change that by reintroducing a bill called the Workplace Safety Act (Intro 527). It would require the city to keep a detailed tally of its workers' injuries and cobble that information into an annual report, somewhat similar to the Police Department's online Compstat system.

New York's public workers were twice as likely as private-sector workers to suffer injuries on the job in 2001, according to statistics from the state Department of Labor. Workers most vulnerable to harm include firefighters, cops, highway and transit workers, along with city nurses and sanitation workers, who tend to suffer back problems, and mental health workers, who are prone to patient violence.

There's also a spate of repetitive stress injuries, which plague over 600,000 workers nationally and cost the country's economy an estimated $50 billion every year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Academy of Sciences. So, how many city workers have filed claims this year for repetitive stress? "We don't really know," said Joel Shufro, executive director of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, an advocacy group that has pushed for the legislation.

While the Department of Labor collects aggregate data on public-sector accidents, it doesn't track workers' comp payouts, explained Lee Clarke, director of safety and health for District Council 37, the city's largest public employee union. "It's not their job," she said. But without that information, she added, the city has no way of managing its risk.

The city could have saved $7.8 million if it had reduced last year's payout by just 5 percent, said Shufro. Just a fraction of that would cover the cost of administering the program. If the city took steps to prevent future injuries, he said, it would save millions more.

Shufro said he first approached the mayor's office with the idea three years ago, but never got a response. Last year, he succeeded in getting the bill introduced, but it languished in committee and never reached a vote.

The mayor's office did not respond to City Limits' calls seeking comment by press time. Nor did the city's law department, which handles workers' compensation claims.

This year, with a new committee chair and 19 council co-sponsors, the bill may have a better chance. "We think it's a no-brainer," Gennaro said. "And we hope the administration will support it."

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Residents, Workers Seek More Tests for 9/11 Toxins

By Alexander Lane
Newark Star-Ledger Staff
April 1, 2004

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1080803514121350.xml

A new federal expert panel charged with studying 9/11-related health problems yesterday heard from angry, ailing Lower Manhattan residents and workers at its first meeting in New York.

Seething over what they said was an inadequate response to the attacks by the Environmental Protection Agency, a dozen speakers from the audience of 70 urged the panel to press the EPA for more thorough sampling and cleanups of downtown apartments and offices.

"We have waited to have our office buildings tested for 2 1/2 years," said Robert Gulack, 50, of Fair Lawn, a lawyer for the Securities and Exchange Commission downtown. "Each day the attacks of Sept. 11 become more and more successful as more people are harmed."

Gulack said he started suffering from asthma two days after returning to work in the wake of the attacks, and in subsequent months suffered a half-dozen episodes of bronchitis and a case of pneumonia that left him with permanent scarring in his lungs.

Pat Evangelista, who managed the Apartment Cleanup Program for the EPA, said later the agency had determined that businesses had insurance policies and other resources and could handle their own cleanups.

"We felt the businesses could provide for themselves," Evangelista said.

Nevertheless, some on the 17-member panel assembled by the EPA and made up of scientists, physicians and officials from inside and outside government were clearly concerned as a string of workers and residents spoke of persistent rashes and respiratory problems.

"The comments that were made were very compelling and disturbing," said David Newman, a panel member who is an industrial hygienist with the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health. "I urge my fellow panel members to take them into account."

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) had pushed for the formation of the panel. In August, the EPA's own inspector general an internal watchdog released a report that was critical of the agency for issuing premature, unfounded reassurances that the air in Lower Manhattan was safe to breathe shortly after the attacks.

The charge to the group, known as the World Trade Center Expert Technical Review Panel, is to characterize any lingering health risks from the dust, glass and toxins unleashed when the towers fell, and recommend how best to address them.

The first order of business at yesterday's meeting held at the auditorium of the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House near Battery Park was to evaluate the EPA's plan for testing some of the 4,167 apartments the agency helped decontaminate in 2002, to see if they have been recontaminated by toxins that lingered in the ventilation systems or elsewhere.

Several panel members suggested more aggressive testing than the EPA had planned, recommending swipe samples rather than just air samples, and direct testing of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning units.

There was spirited discussion of whether the EPA had been wise to use asbestos as an indicator for cement and glass fibers, which are more likely to cause coughing, breathing problems and other short-term ailments that have been grouped together as "World Trade Center Syndrome."

No easy answers seemed to present themselves as the day wore on.

"This is the most complex mixture I've ever seen in my life," said Paul Lioy, a panel member and environmental health expert who teaches at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

Later, the