The mission of the PEF Health and Safety Department is to achieve safe and healthy environments in every PEF represented worksite. We demand that employers comply with all applicable federal, state, and local health and safety standards and laws. However, the true measure of success is where we are able to go beyond the minimum standards and develop innovative approaches to health and safety.

To achieve our mission the Department works in tandem with elected leaders, staff, and committees in four main activities:

1. Providing service, information, technical assistance, research, and referral on health and safety matters;

2. Enhancing skills, knowledge, and awareness through training, education, and communications;

3. Developing initiatives to improve working conditions of the membership; and,

4. Participating in national, state, and local forums that advocate for improvements to occupational health and safety through legislation and political pressure.

The hallmark of the Health and Safety program has been its ability to mobilize the membership to design and implement proactive programs that address key hazards that are causing injuries and illnesses among our constituents.

The 2000/2001 NYS Department of Labor grant award is for $179,000 from August 1, 2000 - July 31, 2001, an increase of $29,000 from the last grant year. The department administered $250,000 per year in joint funds on behalf of the Article 18 Statewide Health & Safety Committee from 1995 - 1999. Once the successor agreement is in place, it is anticipated that this program will continue. PEF is participating in a three-year NIOSH grant to conduct a workplace violence prevention pilot intervention study at four OMH facilities under the direction of Jane Lipscomb, PhD, RN, University of Maryland. The department is a partner on a NIOSH research grant application to assess needlestick injuries for non-hospital healthcare workers. The grant, if funded, will assess the risk of needlestick injuries for PEF’s non-hospital based healthcare workers, as well as identifying intervention strategies for preventing them. PEF has also applied for a one-year OSHA grant to support ergonomics/back injury training in healthcare facilities.

• The Infection Control Certification Training has been ongoing since April 1994. The Department has trained a faculty of over 276 who have certified over 11,500 licensed healthcare workers. PEF has been re-certified by the State Education Department to provide this program for an additional four years.

• The Department is working with the Statewide Nurses Committee in facilitating a PEF Needlestick Prevention Task Force. The Task Force has been active in mobilizing members to get safer needles in the worksite, for passage of the Safe Needle Bill, and working with the Comptroller’s Office and OGS to get more safety devices on state contracts.

• We have updated the training curriculum on Infectious Diseases, Office and Laptop Ergonomics, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and Confined Spaces Entry and are conducting training sessions statewide.

• The department and the Article 13 Worker’s Compensation Committee conducted three PEF Navigator trainings in Albany, New York City and Syracuse. This program, established by the state AFL-CIO, is designed to assist injured members in dealing with the workers’ compensation system as well as mobilize members to fight cuts proposed in workers’ compensation legislation. A three hour add-on module on Article 13, benefit issues, and Civil Service Law Section 71 – 73 was developed to provide PEF-specific information. The program has attracted new people into PEF activity who have the time, energy, and commitment to work closely with injured members.

• A number of violence-prevention projects are underway. In OMH facilities a statewide advisory group has been established and local advisory committees have been formed at Buffalo PC, Rockland Children’s PC, Kirby PC, and Bronx PC. The Health and Safety Director has been working with labor and management at SUNY Stonybrook to develop violence prevention training for the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit and develop a violence prevention program in SUNY’s psychiatric units. In April 2000 the Director presented a white paper at a national research conference on workplace violence intervention research sponsored by the University of Iowa and NIOSH. His paper will be published along with the proceedings of the conference in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

• We provided background information and technical assistance for a press conference held by the State AFL-CIO Public Employee Safety & Health Committee on February 22, 2000 to expose the decline of the PESH program which is suffering from short staffing and lack of training. The press conference also publicly released the results of PEF’s survey of PESH inspectors. The survey revealed deficiencies in the PESH program from the viewpoint of the rank-and-file PESH inspectors.

• OSHA has proposed an ergonomics standard covering general industry. PEF has been fighting for passage of the standard as well as strengthening the language. PEF members Lenore Gensberg and Robert Purtell and Health & Safety staff testified in support of the standard as well as expanding coverage for office workers at the OSHA hearing in Washington DC in April.

• We trained well over 1,500 members, and responded to over 650 technical requests regarding confined space entry, infection control, asbestos, PESH complaint procedures, etc.

• The 2000 Health & Safety conference was postponed due to the absence of a successor contract. Tentative plans are to hold a conference in April of 2001 in Albany.

The Department currently has six full time-staff and one part-time staff and a Statewide Committee Co-Chair.