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About NYCOSH and its
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Today, sweatshop working conditions aren't confined to sweltering
garment factories or auto plant assembly lines. Dangerous
jobs are virtually everywhere you look. And today's victims
come from all walks of life - they include transit workers,
carpenters, truck drivers, computer users, teachers, hospital
workers and electricians. The list goes on, but what is most
tragic is that many of these workers' injuries and illnesses
are preventable.
NYCOSH is at the forefront of
the growing movement to stop occupational injury, illness
and death. Founded in the late 1970's NYCOSH fights for every
worker's right to a safe and healthful job.
We educate workers and the public
about the growing number of hazards on the job. We provide
unions with safety and health training. And we maintain a
resource center and technical assistance Hotline to address
questions about hazards ranging from high-voltage electrical
power lines and asbestos removal, to less apparent threats,
such as radiation, indoor air pollution, and infectious disease
in the workplace.
What is NYCOSH?
NYCOSH, the New York Committee
for Occupational Safety and Health, is a non-profit coalition
of 200 local unions and more than 400 individual workers,
physicians, lawyers and other health and safety activists
- all dedicated to the right of every worker to a safe and
healthful job. Part of a nation-wide network of 25 union-based
safety and health organizations, NYCOSH fights job hazards
where the fight is needed most: on the shop floor.
For information about
joining NYCOSH, click here.
NYCOSH operates
throughout New York City, Long Island and the Lower Hudson
Valley. We also participate in safety and health policy debates
in Albany, Washington, D.C., and wherever safety and health
policy is decided or influenced.
During the past 15 years NYCOSH
has grown from a small group of volunteers operating on a
shoestring budget into a professionally staffed organization.
By pulling together union locals and health activists, NYCOSH
has helped foster a sense of shared goals and accomplishments.
Click
here for an index to the NYCOSH website
Top.
Union trainer
The NYCOSH staff helps workers
learn how to protect themselves by teaching them about the
hazards in their workplace, and by showing them ways to control
and eliminate the dangers. NYCOSH also helps unions develop
strategies for confronting management so that workers don't
have to choose between their job and their health.
Technical consultant
NYCOSH provides unions and workers
with technical assistance, from quick answers about specific
problems, to comprehensive advice about hazards and how to
prevent them. This information can be used to educate co-workers
and as a tool to pressure management into providing needed
safeguards.
NYCOSH also makes available
an industrial hygienist to conduct walk-through evaluations
of workplaces, critique management inspection reports, and
write detailed evaluations that provide a basis for resolving
problems.
Watchdog
To reinforce the struggles of
workers in the shops, NYCOSH monitors the Occupational Safety
and Health Administration and other agencies with safety and
health responsibilities. We also track safety and health matters
in the legislatures and the courts and keep members and the
public informed about important legislation and regulatory
developments at every level of government.
NYCOSH reminds lawmakers that
every day an estimated 300 Americans die from on-the-job accidents
or job-related illnesses. This vigilance has resulted in ground-breaking
legislation and standard-setting that has improved working
conditions for thousands of men and women in New York State.
For information about
joining NYCOSH, click here.
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The
NYCOSH staff
To contact NYCOSH, please send
a message to our general
mailbox, and we will forward the message to the appropriate
individual.
Below is a list of NYCOSH staff
members with a brief description of their areas of responsibility.
In general, a telephone call is preferable to e-mail
for urgent matters.
Joel Shufro, Executive Director -- NYCOSH policy and operations
in general
Susan O'Brien, Associate Director, NYCOSH training program, staff
development
John Raymond, Public Affairs Director -- media relations, publications
and internet site
Jeanne Blomberg, Administrative Director -- internal
operations, including information technology
Gladys Correa, Administrative Assistant -- mailing
list management
Luzdary Giraldo, Safety and Health Specialist
-- immigrant workers
Susan McQuade, Safety and Health Specialist -- infectious
diseases, workplace violence, young workers
Max Neuberger, Safety and Health Specialist -- health and safety
rights and regulations, workers' compensation
David Newman, Industrial Hygienist -- 9/11-related
contamination, asbestos, lead, indoor-air quality
Tony Straka, Safety and Health Specialist -- hazardous waste,
emergency response, safety hazards
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What
others say about NYCOSH:
November 2002
American Public
Health Association Occupational Health Section bestows its Lorin Kerr Award on NYCOSH for
- being the first to contact
OSHA regarding the lack of protections for rescue workers
at the World Trade Center, leading to OSHA's more visible
and aggressive involvement in getting contractors to improve
protections for all workers at the site,
- effectively calling media
attention to the concerns of immigrant workers at the site,
- facilitating meetings with
unions, leading to a NIOSH [National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health] Health Hazard Evaluation for several
locations around Ground Zero, and
- providing medical screenings
and evaluations to the immigrant day laborers working in
cleaning up dust and debris in buildings around the site.
The annual award "recognizes
activists for their sustained, outstanding efforts and dedication
to improving the lives of workers." For more information
on the award, click
here.
November 2002
NYCOSH receives Outstanding Service award "for its outstanding
work in protecting the health of workers and the public in the
aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks," from the
National Network of Committees for Occupational Safety and
Health
April 2002
"NYCOSH is the living model of how trade unionists, safety
and health activists and professionals, and community groups
can and must come together to fight for the rights of workers
to have a voice and protection."
— Peg Seminario, AFL-CIO Safety and Health Director
March 2002
"I want to salute NYCOSH people for trying to ask the hard
questions and seeking the answers, while bringing together all
the right people and trying to make an important contribution
to the development of good public policy based on scientific
objectivity and transparency of policymaking. New York is fortunate
to have NYCOSH at a time like this."
— Barry Castleman, ScD, Environmental Consultant
"Another excellent source of information is the New York
Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH), 275 Seventh
Avenue, 8th floor, New York, New York 10001. NYCOSH, is a pro-labor/nonprofit
organization that focuses on the prevention and treatment of
workplace injuries."
— United
Federation of Teachers
April
1997
"Outstanding health
educator"
— New
York State Department of Health
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NYCOSH members
elect new Board of Directors
IIN DECEMBER 2006 the NYCOSH membership
held its biennial election of directors, choosing
- Chair | William Henning, Jr., Vice-President,
Communications Workers of America Local 1180
- Co-Vice Chair | Lee Clarke, Senior Safety Coordinator,
American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees
District Council 37
- Co-Vice Chair | Pat Leonetti, Labor Relations
Specialist, New York State United Teachers
- Organizational Secretary | Wendy Hord, Director
of Safety and Health, New York State United Teachers
- Treasurer | John Ziv, National Field Representative,
National Treasury Employees Union
- John M. Diaz, Sr., Chairman, Board of Trustees, International
Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Union Local 1
- Janet Foley, Director of Safety and Health, CSEA
- Robert Grey, Esq., Grey and Grey
- Mickey Kelly, Director, New York State Laborers’
Health & Safety Trust Fund
- David Kotelchuck, Safety and Health Committee Co- Chair,
Professional Staff Congress of CUNY, AFT
- George Miranda, Vice-President, International Brotherhood
of Teamsters Joint Council 16
- Steve Mooser, Safety & Health Director, Retail, Wholesale
and Department Store Union
- Dom Tuminaro, Esq., Brecher, Fishman, Pasternack, Popish,
Heller, Rubin & Reiff
- Randi Weingarten, President, United Federation of Teachers
- Long Island Delegate | Ernie Mattace, Jr., Political
Director and Health & Safety Director, Retail, Wholesale
and Department Store Union Local 338
- Westchester Delegate | Anne D’Orazio, President,
Westchester Community College Federation of Teachers
After the results of the election were announced, Board Chair
Henning said, “NYCOSH has been heavily involved in many
significant safety-and-health-related developments over the
last two years, from EPA’s refusal to test and clean
contaminated Lower Manhattan workplaces to our exciting new
collaboration with the New York City Central Labor Council.
The board has worked hard to help lead NYCOSH during this
period. I’m confident that the all the members of the
board join me in looking forward to continuing that work.”
For information about joining NYCOSH,
click here.
Click here for
the NYCOSH website site map.
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