[http://www.nycosh.org/Update13_Apr-Jun_2002.html]
NYCOSH Update on Safety
and Health Archive
April - June
2002
The
Update on Safety and Health is published every two weeks by NYCOSH.
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NYCOSH UPDATE May 17, 2002
Eight Months After World Trade
Center Catastrophe, EPA Plans to Oversee Professional Cleanup
of Lower Manhattan Residences
On May 8 the EPA abandoned its
previous position that it had no responsibility for indoor spaces
that were contaminated when the World Trade Center collapsed.
The agency announced that in June it would begin a program to
clean living quarters below Canal Street, upon the resident's
request.
While many welcomed the EPA reversal,
some public health activists also criticized it sharply as being
"too little, too late."
Several hours after the EPA announced
its reversal, NYCOSH published this statement:
"We are pleased that the
EPA has decided to accept responsibility for protection of residents
of Lower Manhattan," said Joel Shufro, executive director
of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health
(NYCOSH), a coalition of unions and health professionals. "This
is not only a step in the right direction, it is a reversal of
EPA's policy."
"However, it is a shame
that these measures were not taken at a time when they could
have prevented the heavy exposure to the toxic dust that covered
Lower Manhattan. For nearly 8 months the EPA has denied that
it has authority to protect people from exposure to toxic substances
indoors," said Shufro. "Now the EPA is taking responsibility
for protecting Lower Manhattan residents – an action which
it could have taken months ago."
During the 34 weeks that have
passed since the attack on the World Trade Center, workers, residents
and students in Lower Manhattan have been exposed to dust that
is contaminated with asbestos, fiberglass, lead, highly alkaline
concrete dust, and many other toxic substances.
"The EPA should accept that
responsibility, and announce a plan to clean up all indoor spaces,
including workplaces and schools, of all WTC-related contamination,"
said Shufro.
In addition to its lack of coverage
for workplaces and schools and its lack of any mention of contaminants
other than asbestos, the plan has many other major shortcomings.
The EPA plan lacks any provision
for oversight from outside the same government agencies that
have shirked their responsibility for all this time. "We
believe the plan must include the appointment of an independent
advisory committee, including representatives of tenants, workers,
students and elected officials, with the authority to intervene
if government agencies are not acting to protect public health,"
Shufro said.
The EPA plan lacks any protocols
for testing, cleanup and post-cleanup clearance. Such protocols
must be produced and published.
The EPA plan would permit individuals
to clean up asbestos contaminated dust by themselves, with EPA
advice. For an untrained person to attempt such a cleanup is
inappropriate – possibly creating a health hazard not only
for themselves, but also for their neighbors.
It should not be the responsibility
of individual tenants to request, or not request, testing and
clean ups. Testing and appropriate clean-up of all effected indoor
spaces should be the responsibility of the government.
The EPA plan lacks any provision
for creating a health registry and for medical surveillance of
people exposed to toxic substances in Lower Manhattan. A health
registry and medical surveillance are absolutely essential.
--
From the May 17, 2002 NYCOSH Update on Safety and Health
http://www.nycosh.org
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Most
Cars Caught in WTC Collapse Will Be Destroyed, but Others Face
Uncertain Fate
Hundreds of cars and trucks that
were contaminated with asbestos-laden dust from the World Trade
Center collapse are at the center of a controversy that has pitted
government officials, unions, insurance companies and public
health advocates against each other.
On May 13 the issue was partially
settled when the EPA announced that more than 700 of the contaminated
cars would be destroyed. But city Sanitation Department spokesperson
Kathy Dawkins told NYCOSH that at least 68 cars are salvageable
and will be returned to their owners after the city and EPA could
reach an agreement on "how to make them safe, on whether
they must be professionally cleaned or not."
According to EPA spokesperson
Mary Mears, "The city has agreed that the 68 vehicles will
have to be professionally abated before they are returned to
the owners."
"There is no protocol for
abating an asbestos-contaminated car," said NYCOSH executive
director Joel Shufro, "and I remain troubled that the city
and EPA would reach an agreement about releasing the cars without
spelling out the protocol they will use for a professional abatement,
one that is stringent enough to protect the health of any unsuspecting
person who might buy such a car or be asked to repair one."
"When you're talking about
interior carpets, upholstery and engine insulation, just to name
three problem areas that might be contaminated with asbestos,
there is no completely effective method of cleaning," said
NYCOSH industrial hygienist Dave Newman. "All those materials
must be removed and discarded, by workers who are trained, licensed
and equipped to work safely with asbestos."
"On behalf of all the workers
and the members of the general public who will come into contact
with these cars, we are calling on the city and the EPA to subject
the cars to stringent post-abatement clearance testing before
they are released," said Shufro. "We will provide
the government agencies involved with a detailed description
of a minimally acceptable abatement and post-abatement clearance
protocol."
If the cars are released with
asbestos in their interiors and their ventilation systems, anyone
riding in them will be exposed to cancer-causing asbestos dust.
If they are released with asbestos lodged in the nooks and crannies
of the engine or the body, anyone who ever repairs them will
potentially be exposed to the dust. While the risk of adverse
effect from such exposure is not high, it is elevated above normal
levels.
In addition to the cars, there
is a growing controversy about another 500 pieces of fire apparatus,
which were returned to normal service without having been completely
cleaned of dust from the collapse, as reported in the Daily News
on May 15.
According to the Daily News,
"‘Our rig was parked on West St. right in front of
the financial buildings and survived,' said a Manhattan firefighter,
who asked not to be named. ‘Every time we go on a run,
it blows dust in our faces. It's not safe.' Union officials are
adamant that all of the 500 or so fire vehicles used at Ground
Zero — not just the trucks there on the first day —
should be professionally cleaned. ‘This is a serious health
issue,' said Thomas Manley, health and safety officer of the
Uniformed Firefighters Association. ‘It's not being taken
care of for one reason: money.'"
--
From the May 17, 2002 NYCOSH Update on Safety and Health
http://www.nycosh.org
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Scammers
Exploit Lower Manhattan Environmental Fears
Many New York City residents
have recently received e-mail messages or leaflets telling them
that they can get a "free" air conditioner, HEPA vacuum
cleaner or air purifier by buying one and applying to FEMA for
reimbursement. It isn't true.
FEMA has a program that is designed
to assist Lower Manhattan residents who need to purchase equipment
to improve air quality, but eligibility for the program is determined
on a case-by-case basis. If an individual is found to be eligible,
FEMA will issue a voucher to be applied to a purchase. "We
do not reimburse anyone for a purchase they have already made,"
said FEMA spokesman James McIntyre. "If someone would like
FEMA assistance, they must register first, and apply for a voucher,"
McIntyre explained. The number to call to register is 800-462-9029.
Is FEMA concerned about the scam?
"We have vendors who take advantage of people when there
is a disaster, and there isn't much we can do about it if they
don't commit fraud," McIntyre told NYCOSH. "We put
out press releases in New York to let people know it isn't a
FEMA program in November and February and we investigate any
complaints that we receive," he added.
--
From the May 17, 2002 NYCOSH Update on Safety and Health
http://www.nycosh.org
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
New
York State Firefighters Win Safety Protection in Court
In an important ruling that is
expected to promote safer working conditions for the 17,000 firefighters
in New York State, the appellate division of the State Supreme
Court ruled last week that a local government is financially
liable if a firefighter is injured as a result of a condition
that is a violation of OSHA safety and health regulations.
"In this case, McGovern
v. The City of New York, the firefighter was burned because his
personal protective equipment did not meet OSHA standards,"
explained attorney Michael Barasch. "The city argued and
the lower court ruled that OSHA standards were irrelevant to
deciding whether the employer is liable, which meant that employers
could violate the standards without fear of significant financial
consequences. This ruling finally makes it clear that fire departments
in New York must comply with OSHA standards, and I'm hopeful
that will result in better equipment and safer working conditions
for firefighters throughout the state."
--
From the May 17, 2002 NYCOSH Update on Safety and Health
http://www.nycosh.org
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Comings
and Goings: Omar Henriquez, Marie Diven Stelluti
Omar Henriquez, coordinator of the NYCOSH Youth and
Immigrant Project since October 2000, is leaving the NYCOSH staff
to accept the position of immigration program coordinator for
the Eastern Region of the Service Employees International Union.
"Omar will be part of our national immigration policy team,"
said SEIU Eastern Region Campaign Support Director Bob Kirkman.
"It is a dynamic program that focuses on immigrant rights
and reform of government immigration policy. It is crucial to
many of our members and to the labor movement as a whole, and
we are extremely pleased that Omar has agreed to work with us."
NYCOSH assistant director Susan
O'Brien commented: "Omar has helped NYCOSH reach a whole
new level of providing safety and health-related training, information
and advocacy to New York's huge community of immigrant workers.
We look forward to expanding and deepening the program even
further, building on the foundation that Omar helped to construct.
We are very sorry that he will not be on our staff any more,
but we are confident that our program will benefit from the work
he does at SEIU."
Marie Diven Stelluti has been appointed Director of Policy,
Development & Outreach for the Mt. Sinai - Irving J. Selikoff
Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine, where she
will be involved in strategic planning and serve as legislative
and labor liaison for the Center, a diagnostic and treatment
clinical service that is oriented toward preventive intervention
of work-related diseases, such as asbestosis, lead poisoning
and carpal tunnel syndrome. Stelluti is a long-time public policy
and communications advisor working in New York City government,
including recent work as director of public policy and communications/policy
adviser to Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer.
--
From the May 17, 2002 NYCOSH Update on Safety and Health
http://www.nycosh.org
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
What's
New in the NYCOSH Website
On the home page at http://www.nycosh.org/
Links to the latest news coverage in the local and national media
of the growing controversy over safety and health hazards in
lower Manhattan, including a major article in the latest Occupational
Hazards, "Cleaning
Up After 9/11: Respirators, Power and Politics."
In "The Clipping File"
at http://www.nycosh.org/clipping-file.html
Links the recent safety and health-related news concerning asbestos-related
disease, the "union safety effect," and much more.
Of special interest: "A Killer's Stealthy Advance"
from the May 9 Los Angeles Times and "EPA's Plan to Clean
Up Insulation Is Too Limited, Some Say" from the May 10
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, both at http://www.nycosh.org/clipping-file.html#anchor8166
In "NYCOSH in the News"
at http://www.nycosh.org/NYCOSHNews/2002-april-News.html
Fire Truck Danger: Union Says
WTC Dust on Rigs a Health Risk - Daily News, May 15
EPA Rapped for NYC Cleaning Program - Associated Press, May 14
EPA to Clean WTC Apartments - United Press International, May
8
WTC Minority Workers' Ills Persist - Newsday, April 28
Trabajadores sin protección - Hoy, 8 de abril
and more than 30 other articles published in the media during
2002
--
From the May 17, 2002 NYCOSH Update on Safety and Health
http://www.nycosh.org
NYCOSH UPDATE April 12, 2002
OSHA Issues Press Release Concerning
Plan to Develop Voluntary Ergonomics Guidelines
The Occupational Safety and Health
Administration's announcement last week of its "comprehensive
program" to protect workers from repetitive strains and
other ergonomic injures received almost uniformly negative reviews,
except for praise from a small number of employer organizations
and from politicians aligned closely with the Bush administration.
"When the Bush administration
killed OSHA's ergonomics standard last year, it claimed that
the repealed standard was the wrong solution to a very serious
problem, and promised to produce an alternative program within
six months to control musculoskeletal hazards," said NYCOSH
Executive Director Joel Shufro. "No one in the labor movement
had expectations that the Bush substitute would amount to anything,
but I am frankly surprised at the Labor Department's display
of what is effectively contempt for the urgency of preventing
more than 600,000 lost-time injuries a year."
"It took them 12 months
instead of the promised six, and the result of a year's work
is not any kind of program, but merely a press release about
a plan to develop a program," Shufro added. "At this
rate, the Bush administration could well be over before OSHA
has funded its first new ergonomics training program or issued
its first citation based on new ergonomic enforcement guidelines."
“Instead of an enforceable
regulation, OSHA says that it will now start to develop ‘industry-specific
guidelines’ to prevent ergonomic injuries,” said NYCOSH
Assistant Director Susan O’Brien. "Which industries
will it target? OSHA says it will only begin to find an answer
to that question now. How many industries? OSHA doesn't know.
How many workers will be covered? OSHA has nothing to say. It's
hard to believe how little they have to show for something that
has allegedly been in the works for nearly a year," O'Brien
added.
When Labor Secretary Elaine Chao
announced the plan to develop an ergonomics program on April
5, she claimed that the Labor Department's policy was superior
to the repealed ergonomics standard in two ways: "This plan
is a major improvement over the rejected old rule," Chao
said, "because it will prevent ergonomics injuries before
they occur and reach a much larger number of at-risk workers."
"I'd like to give her the
benefit of the doubt, but I can't imagine what she was talking
about," says NYCOSH ergonomics coordinator Elizabeth Kelleher.
"Training is an essential element of any program to prevent
ergonomic injuries," Kelleher continued. "The repealed
ergonomics standard required that workers receive a small but
critical amount of introductory training concerning ergonomic
hazards and injuries. OSHA's new plan admits that training is
effective and desirable, but it will not require any training."
"What Chao said about reaching
more at-risk workers than the repealed standard is equally strange,
because it turns reality on its head," said Kelleher. "The
repealed standard applied to all 93 million general-industry
workers, but it exempted 19 million other workers in the construction,
agricultural, and maritime sectors. Now the Labor Department
says it is going to develop industry-specific ergonomic guidelines
that could, in theory, apply to all 112 million workers, including
the 19 million who were exempt from the repealed standard. But
if they are going to develop the guidelines industry-by-industry,
there are probably more than 300 industries they will need to
produce guidelines for. They haven't even identified any of the
industries to target, so it is going to be a very, very long
time before they have developed guidelines that apply to as many
workers as were covered by the repealed standard."
"Fortunately, the public
and the media have to a great extent recognized the emptiness
of the Labor Department's announcement," said Shufro.
--
From the April 12, 2002 NYCOSH Update on Safety and Health
http://www.nycosh.org
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Comings and Goings: Jim Corcoran, Janet Foley
Jim Corcoran has retired after
18 years as safety and health director of the Civil Service Employees
Association. "It was great to have been involved in so many
improvements in the safety and health of public-sector workers,"
Corcoran says, "but unfortunately the progress has stalled
and now it looks like we're even slipping back. The ergonomics
standard was so close, the workplace security standard was so
close, but now PESH [the New York State Public Employees Safety
and Health Bureau] is an absurd joke, which not only does a miserable
job of enforcement, but actively violates the law as it applies
to them as an employer." (See "Court
Upholds Unions' Right to See OSHA Illness and Injury Logs,"
Update on Safety and Health, March 21, 2002.)
Janet Foley has been appointed
acting safety and health director of Civil Service Employees
Association. During her 15 years as CSEA safety and health project
development coordinator, Foley has played a leadership role is
protecting New York State workers from tuberculosis and ergonomic
hazards. "My number-one focus will be to strengthen our
local safety and health committees and build our members' activism
and knowledge of ways to defend their right to safe and healthful
workplaces," she says.
--
From the April 12, 2002 NYCOSH Update on Safety and Health
http://www.nycosh.org
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Last Chance! NYCOSH Awards Celebration Wednesday, April 17
NYCOSH will honor four individuals
and a local union for their outstanding contributions to the
development of occupational safety and health over the last year:
Tony Mazzocchi, Peg Seminario, Stuart Appelbaum, Eric Frumin
and the Professional Staff Congress.
The ceremony will take place
in Manhattan at the Cherkasky/Davis Conference Center of the
National Benefit Fund beginning at 6pm. Tickets are $75. For
tickets and information, contact Symona Johnson at 212-627-3900
ext. 10 or nycosh@nycosh.org.
--
From the April 12, 2002 NYCOSH Update on Safety and Health
http://www.nycosh.org
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Workers Memorial Day Event April 26 Honors NYC Workers Killed
on September 11
Thousands of local union members
will join national and New York City labor and community leaders
on Friday, April 26 to mourn for the workers killed on September
11, as well as those killed and injured across New York last
year. Under the banner of "Mourn for the Dead and Fight
for the Living," hundreds will hold a Workers Memorial Day
service at Trinity church. They will then have a bagpipe-led
procession to the World Trade Center site.
Firefighters, construction workers
from the World Trade Center site, telecommunications workers
who have rebuilt the Lower Manhattan infrastructure, health care
professionals, Windows on the World workers, janitors from the
World Trade Center, and other union members will attend the event.
They will gather to recognize that though nothing could have
saved the workers killed on September 11, one of the best ways
to honor them is to work for safer workplaces and to help workers
improve their lives through unions.
The union members are calling
for all workers in Lower Manhattan to observe a minute of silence
at noon on Friday, April 26 to honor the workers who died on
September 11 and on the job last year. They will pass out 100,000
leaflets and stickers at subway stops on Thursday, April 25 and
Friday, April 26 to ask people to observe the minute of silence.
Speakers will include: John Sweeney,
President of the national AFL-CIO; Harold Schaitberger, President,
International Association of Firefighters; Brian McLaughlin,
President, New York City Central Labor Council; Ed Malloy, President,
Building and Construction Trades of Greater
New York; family members of workers killed on September 11; a
union construction worker from the World Trade Center site; a
worker concerned about safety at work; and others.
Workers Memorial Day is a worldwide
annual event to honor workers killed and hurt on the job. Hundreds
of similar events nationwide will also feature yellow and black
ribbons -- black signifies mourning and yellow signifies hope
and the fight for the living. Workers Memorial Day is officially
on Sunday, April 28.
10:00 am -- Service at Trinity
Church, Broadway at Wall Street. 11:15 am -- Procession from
Trinity church to WTC site. 11:45 am -- Program at World Trade
Center site with thousands of workers -- Cortlandt Street, between
Church and Broadway, 3 blocks north of Trinity Church, adjacent
to WTC site.
- For a printer-friendly leaflet that
promotes the New York City event, suitable for duplication, click here
.
- For the same leaflet in Spanish,
click here.
--
From the April 12, 2002 NYCOSH Update on Safety and Health
http://www.nycosh.org
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Major Conference on Occupational Safety And Health for Immigrant
Workers Slated For April 27 in Queens
On April 27, more than 150 people
are expected to attend a major conference, "Immigrant Labor
at Risk - Occupational Hazards: Old Problems, New Possibilities,"
sponsored by a coalition of community, educational and labor
organizations.
The wide-ranging all-day conference
at the City University of New York School of Law in Flushing,
Queens, will be addressed by leaders in the fields of immigrant
and labor organizing, occupational medicine, journalism, labor
law and politics.
Speakers will include the head
of the New York City Central Labor Council, the chair of the
State Assembly Labor Committee, the head of the state's largest
occupational medicine clinic, doctors who provided free medical
examinations to hundreds of immigrant workers who became ill
after doing cleanup work in the vicinity of the World Trade Center,
and the heads of major immigrant organizing and labor safety
and health organizations.
"There are many signs that
our society is failing immigrant workers when it comes to safety
and health protections," says New York City Central Labor
Council President Brian McLaughlin, who will address the conference
at 9:15. "We can see it in the headlines about scaffold
and building collapses, we can see it in the finding that so
many lower Manhattan cleanup workers are sick, we can see it
in the statistics," he adds. "We must do something
to reverse this trend, and I see this conference as an important
step in that direction."
The conference is sponsored by
the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH)
and Workers' Employment Law Program (WELP) at CUNY Law School,
in collaboration with the CUNY Coalition for Labor & Economic
Justice, the City Central Labor Council, the New York State AFL-CIO,
and the New York Immigration Coalition.
Even though the lack of safety
and health protection for immigrant workers is an old problem,
it has recently been put into sharp relief by the discovery that
virtually all the day laborers who did cleanup work in buildings
around the World Trade Center have become ill and by sharp increases
in fatality rates for immigrant workers.
The conference agenda includes
the presentation of two medical studies: one by Dr. Robin Herbert
of Mt. Sinai, who will present "Overcoming Barriers to Workplace
Safety and Health for Low-wage Immigrant Women in Queens"
while the Queens College-based Center for the Biology of Natural
Systems, which with NYCOSH operated the famed "medical van"
at Ground Zero, will report the results of tests performed on
area workers.
There will be a panel discussion
of various models of organizing around occupational safety and
health issues, a discussion of the role of OSHA at the WTC site,
and workshops aimed at developing a plan of action to use the
occupational health and safety laws, regulations, and practices
to help immigrant workers organize and protect themselves.
The conference will run from
9 am- 5:30 pm; breakfast and lunch will be provided. The conference
will take place at the CUNY School of Law, 65-21 Main Street,
Flushing, Queens.
Thanks to the generosity of the
sponsors, admission is free to all, and breakfast and lunch will
be provided. BUT… pre-registration is required! Space is
limited! Click here
to view a complete conference agenda and registration instructions.
For more information, contact
Dennis Torreggiani 718-340-4483 or Omar Henriquez 212-627-3900
ext. 19.
--
From the April 12, 2002 NYCOSH Update on Safety and Health
http://www.nycosh.org
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
May 9 Conference - Beyond September 11: Implications for Environmental
and Public Health Policy
A working conference for leaders
and activists from environmental, labor, public health, education,
immigrant, community and tenant organizations, Thursday, May
9, 9 am - 5 pm.
Panel I - Environmental Health
Occupational Health and Safety: Emergency Preparedness &
Response; Panel II Physical and Mental Health; Panel III - Access
to Information: Community and Worker Right to Know; Panel IV
- Long Term Planning for Environmental Health
Sponsored by New York Committee
for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) and CUNY Graduate
Center, Continuing Education and Public Programs. The conference
will take place at CUNY Graduate Center, 365 5th Avenue (between
34th and 35th Streets).
For conference agenda, speakers
and endorsers, and registration information, visit http://www.nycosh.org/9-11conference.html.
For more information contact David Levine at 212-817-7292 or
Dave Newman at 212-627-3900 ext. 16.
--
From the April 12, 2002 NYCOSH Update on Safety and Health
http://www.nycosh.org
This page was last
updated on May 17, 2002.