Update on Health and Safety Inspections and Projects from the DC47 Health & Safety Office  January 24, 2002

Regular implementation meetings continue at the Youth Study Center to monitor improvements called for by Urban Engineers. The asbestos abatement project was cut short when it was discovered that there was much less asbestos in the building than they thought. That part of the work is now complete and Improvements to the ventilation system are ongoing.

The Library H&S Committee will meet again on Tuesday, January 29. In November, I provided ergonomic training in the Collection Development Office at the Central Library. I have also lent them many of my furniture catalogs as they need a wide range of accessories and some new furniture. No word yet on what, if anything, they have decided..

The Health & Safety Committee at DECYWH (DPH) continues to meet. A final draft of the Workplace Violence Policy has been completed. The Commissioner’s Office submitted some suggestions which have been incorporated and it has been returned to his office and the Union Local Presidents for final approval. The next meeting will be Thursday, February 21. Also at this office, the longstanding recommendations on ergonomic improvements have never been implemented. Therefore, I have been asked to come back, do refresher training and re-evaluate each workstation and make individual recommendations. There is a new director who promises to move this along this time.

The BLS H&S Committee continues to meet regularly. Minutes are available on the website. The next meeting is February 27.

Employees working in the building leased by the Mental Retardation Office of the Health Department at 105 S. 7^th Street are still housed elsewhere. All repairs have been completed. Though the City told us that the lease would not be renewed, even if employees had to move back into the building temporarily, that now has changed. Apparently a great deal of money was borrowed from the landlord at the time of original occupancy to make many renovations required for the agency. Though the lease expires soon, several hundred thousand dollars are still owed the landlord for the repairs. That money will become due immediately if the lease is not renewed. This is a new wrinkle which may compel the City to renew the lease after all. A final decision should be made in the next two weeks.

All repairs Controller’s Office in the School District Building at 21^st & BF Parkway have been completed. The final test results from air samples came back negative. The new chairs have not been ordered after all, because the office is waiting to find out whether they will continue to perform the School District audit. Saidel is meeting with the new Commission next week to try to get an answer. There are 20 employees who work six months out of the year performing this audit, so it will be a significant decision.

A comprehensive ergonomic study was conducted and a report issued by AV Consultants at the Immunology Laboratory at HC1 at Broad & Lombard. A status meeting was held this week with Risk Management reps, lab reps, Terry Adkinson from Health Dept. Personnel, Jerry Roseman and myself. Dr. Churi was out sick. A number of changes have been made already to provide more space to work and move. A few ergonomic pieces of machinery are being ordered which will help alleviate some strain for employees. However, the lab needs a major renovation to provide an ergonomically safe environment. This will cost several hundred thousand dollars. We hashed out a procedure of advocating for the funds and that it be made a priority for Capitol Programs. Barry Scott will meet with Health Dept. Commissioner or designee, write a report of recommendations and try to move this. Meanwhile, two employees have serious repetitive motion injuries. The report on the Rabies Lab there has still not been finalized.

A meeting was held earlier this month at 1801 Vine Street with management representatives, facilities people, Diana Williams, steward and myself. Many of the items we identified for repair have been taken care of. Most of the rest are being tackled in a major renovation of the entire second floor that is being undertaken now. Employees are being moved, unit by unit, into temporary basement quarters while their offices are renovated. There will be a major electrical upgrade which will resolve most of the problems we raised. I’ll be checking in periodically to see how it’s going.

There is nothing new to report about 34 S. 11^th Street, unfortunately. It is up to the Law Department to negotiate something and they are moving very slowly.

The Health & Safety Committee at L&I continues to meet. The last meeting was poorly attended so there is no update on the evacuation procedures, except that new fire captains are being recruited. Defibrillators are being ordered for three locations. The mission statement was completed and has been submitted to the Commissioner’s office.

Fears of anthrax contamination seem to have subsided and the response teams are being disbanded. No legitimate threats were detected among City employees.

A quarterly meeting was held with Risk Management in December, preceded by a meeting of the Union’s Health and Safety Advisory Committee. A separate report was prepared and distributed about the quarterly meeting, most of which dealt with the coming changes in facilities under the CompServices network. Most notably, Hahnemann will no longer be used for occupational injury treatment effective February 4.

The Union committee discussed the agenda for the quarterly meeting; agreed to try to recruit additional interested members before our next meeting; and began discussion of the contents of fact sheet for members about the rights and responsibilities under the IOD system. I will be working on a draft of this item, to review with the committee, the union leadership and the law firm, in the coming weeks.