Travelers plans building upgrades Project comes as more employees complain about

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Travelers plans building upgrades

Project comes as more employees complain about mystery illness

Glens Falls Post-Star - Glens Falls,NY*

By Don Lehman

dlehman@...

Sunday, October 21, 2007

http://www.poststar.com/articles/2007/10/21/news/local/doc471bd8d0d6a

de311864972.txt

QUEENSBURY -- Amid continuing complaints that Travelers Insurance

employees believe something in their building is making them sick,

the company announced Friday it plans to " replace and upgrade " a

number of heating and cooling units in the company's Northway Plaza

office complex.

Wislocki, a spokeswoman for Travelers, said the heating and

cooling work will be done as a " precautionary measure, " and the

systems have not been found to be responsible for the complaints.

The work is to begin this weekend, though there is no timetable for

completion.

Two employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity this week said

illness complaints they believe are related to the building have

increased in recent days. The employees said they feared retribution

from their employer if their names were published.

One estimated 10 to 15 people had gone home with unexplained

illnesses over the past week. The employee said the company brought

in " environmental representatives " to talk with employees Friday.

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" This has been ongoing since May, " one of the two said Friday

afternoon. " A lot of people are very discouraged. "

The building in Northway Plaza was closed for more than three days

in late May after an apparent odor caused respiratory problems for

dozens of people over a two-day period.

Subsequent air tests found no toxic substances,

according to both Wislocki and Bill Dutch, managing partner for

plaza owner Northway Plaza Associates LLC.

Wislocki acknowledged Friday that " in the past week we have had some

employees reporting they are not feeling well, " but she would not

say how many people left work because of illness.

Wislocki said Travelers, which leases the building, has been working

with the building's owner to frequently monitor the air since the

May closure.

" Numerous air quality tests have been conducted, and all of the

results have been within normal levels, " she said. " We are

continuing to work with the building landlord, outside agencies and

our own internal industrial hygiene specialists to make sure our

building is safe. "

Dutch said tests were performed this week, looking for things such

as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and mold.

Dutch said none of the symptoms the workers have complained of has

been verified by medical personnel.

" Conclusively, all of the tests have found nothing that is

detrimental to anyone's health in the air, " Dutch said. " There's

also never been any medical documentation of any of these symptoms

whatsoever. "

In addition to the heating and cooling system changes, Travelers

plans to move a number of employees from the basement of its

Queensbury building, the area where some employees say a majority of

the illness complaints have originated. Wislocki said the move was

being made so that the heating and cooling work could be done.

" That (illness reports) is not why we're moving them. We're moving

them so we can do the work so that we aren't disrupting them, "

Wislocki said. " We want to make sure it's a safe work environment,

and we are taking these extra steps. "

She said the company is also hiring its own maintenance staff and

will not use outside contractors.

Queensbury Code Enforcement Officer Dave Hatin said his office got a

call from a Travelers employee last week detailing concerns about

the building, but he said at this point the issues were

environmental and would not be the type of issue the Buildings and

Codes office handles. He said he contacted Travelers management.