35 years of Occupational Safety and Health protection Leading the way to keep you safe and healthy on the job On Sept. 11, 2001, CSEA Metropolitan Region activist Frank Cosentino saw 9/11 victims jumping out of the burning World Trade Center towers from his work site at the State Liquor Authority, just two blocks away. Helpless to save the lives of those perishing that day before his eyes, Cosentino became determined to get involved in keeping workers safe from the site’s toxins and debris in the aftermath of the attacks. “9/11 was really what motivated me to get involved (in health and safety),” he said. Whether it’s coping with a catastrophic event, resolving a workplace safety issue or a simple desire to help others, the ongoing fight to ensure workplace Cosentino safety and health is personal to many CSEA members. “Protecting the safety and health of all of our members, and workers in general, is the single most important thing we do in our union. Nothing is more important than your safety and health, said CSEA President Danny Donohue. ” Workplace safety and health is not a privilege, a luxury or a benefit. It is one of the most basic workers’ rights. “Workplace safety and health is a right and a mandatory subject of bargaining,” CSEA Director of Occupational Safety and Health Janet Foley said. “It should be treated that way at every work site.” Technical assistance and a collective voice Protecting workers in public worksites also protects the public. The fight to protect workplace safety and health is ongoing, but for more than 30 years, CSEA members have had a powerful resource in that fight — an in-house Occupational Safety and Health Department. CSEA’s Occupational Safety and Health Department is considered one of the most experienced, respected safety and health departments in the labor movement and health and safety community in general. CSEA was instrumental in the introduction and passage of the NYS Public Employee Safety and Health Act (PESH) in 1980. Before enactment, public workers were second class citizens when it came to safety protections. It remains a model for the nation, but today only about half the States in America have laws protecting public workers on the job. In the mid-1980s, CSEA established the Occupational Safety and Health Department to address life and death needs. The department spearheads CSEA efforts to provide members with numerous resources and services, including workplace safety inspections, technical assistance, evaluation of testing and lab results, recommendations and guidance on numerous safety and health issues for members, safety and health committees and labor-management committees and education and training on numerous safety and health issues. But even in the department’s early days, fighting for workplace safety and health issues was nothing new for CSEA or the labor movement. “Unions were built more than a century ago because workers had concerns about their safety on the job,” Foley said. “When you have a union, health and safety issues are resolved with more protections so you don’t get fired for speaking up. You have a collective voice.” That collective voice is part of the department’s most valuable resource: a strong network of activist members dedicated to fighting for your safety. Teaching ourselves; teaching others One of the most important tools in a strong union safety and health network is training. CSEA’s safety and health activists are among the workers who are on the front lines at work sites and know what potential hazards they face. “Occupational safety and health is an issue of social justice,” Foley said. “You don’t need a technical degree to know if something is wrong at your work site. Our safety and health activists are the watchdogs and it’s important that they are trained in knowing what to look for. This is why our training programs are so essential.” One of CSEA’s most successful programs is its Peer Trainer Program, in which management and labor activists work together to provide site-specific training for their co-workers. New York State High CSEA members train for confined space entry. Just one of many areas CSEA’s OSH efforts address. Peaks Local activist John LeFebvre knows what it’s like to be in the trenches — literally. Now an electrician for the state Department of Environmental Conservation, LeFebvre continued on page 10 April 2015 The Work Force 9
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