OSHA Protections Extended to State Workers in Massachusetts!

[Guest guest]

Greater Boston Central Labor Council,

Massachusetts AFL-CIO and

Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (MassCOSH)

PRESS RELEASE

April 28, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACTS:

Tim Sullivan, Massachusetts AFL-CIO Marcy

Goldstein-Gelb, MassCOSH

(781) 324-8230 (office)

(617) 825-7233 x15 (office)

(617) 680-2344 (day of event) (617)

642-1878 (day of event)

_tsullivan@..._ (mailto:tsullivan@...)

_marcy.gelb@..._

(mailto:marcy.gelb@...)

Governor commemorates Workers’ Memorial Day with executive order

extending OSHA protections to state employees

Rebuffed by previous administrations, safety advocates and unions hail the

effort as critical to preventing workplace deaths and injuries

_Click here to read the Executive Order_

(http://cts.vresp.com/c/?MassCOSH/8a617afca8/d6eb7bd208/1a3556276a)

_Click here to read the Workers' Memorial Day Report _

(http://cts.vresp.com/c/?MassCOSH/8a617afca8/d6eb7bd208/7abc8c302a)

April 28, 2009, Boston - At a ceremony commemorating Massachusetts workers

killed and injured on the job in 2008, Governor Deval announced a

new executive order that could help prevent state employees from meeting a

similar fate. The executive order calls for the establishment of safety

committees in all state agencies to document workplace hazards and safety

measures needed. Safety experts and unions have been calling for the state

to establish safety protections for public employees for years, but prior

to the administration had been rebuffed.

“This Executive Order demonstrates the Governor’s commitment to

protecting the health and safety of state employees in a truly meaningful

way,â€

announced Suzanne M. Bump, Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development,

Commonwealth of Massachusetts. “We look forward to working closely with our

employees’ representatives to improve the safety of our state workforce.â€

Unlike their counterparts in the private sector, public employees in the

Commonwealth are not covered by safety requirements under the federal

Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). When OSHA was enacted in the

1970’s,

it gave states the option to extend safety protections to public employees.

Though twenty-seven states already apply these regulations to public

employees, Massachusetts does not.

“State employees do jobs that are just as or more dangerous than those in

the private sector, " said Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, Executive Director of the

Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health, “We applaud the

Governor for taking this essential step toward instituting safety measures

that will most certainly prevent more needless workplace injuries,

illnesses and deaths. "

State employees include highway workers exposed daily to lead dust,

maintenance workers who work with heavy machinery, and electrical workers

exposed to electrical hazards. In fact, the call from unions and safety

activists

for health and safety protections for public employees escalated after the

death of a Logan Airport electrician, LeBlanc in 2004, whose

electrocution may have been prevented had OSHA safety measures been

implemented.

" It's long past time that our Commonwealth's government begin to hold

itself to the same workplace safety standards as the private sector and begin

the work of providing safer workplaces for our public employees. Our public

employees are under enough fire in these difficult times. The very least we

can do is get this Executive Order signed and give workers these

protections. The Administration deserves a great deal of credit for

taking

this important step,†said Haynes, President of the Massachusetts

AFL-CIO. “This is a great victory for the Labor Movement and workplace

safety

advocates, but there's much more to be done and we're committed to see it

through. "

Each year, Commonwealth residents spend more than $50 million in workers’

compensation costs for injuries and illnesses incurred by state employees

alone. According to data provided by New Hampshire’s Department of Labor,

after implementing OSHA protections to state employees in 1998, the state of

New Hampshire reduced their workers comp claims by an average of 51% - and

between the years 2001 and 2004 they saved $3.3 million.

“This is a great day for public employees in Massachusetts who are finally

going to be protected by the same safety rules that have protected

employees in the private sector for almost 40 years,†said Preston,

Massachusetts director of the National Association of Government Employees

(NAGE).

“On behalf of the 20,000 state employees represented by SEIU Locals 888

and 509 and SEIU/NAGE, we want to thank Governor for taking this long

overdue step. With more effective safety rules, employees will have fewer

on the job injuries and taxpayers will enjoy considerable savings from each

accident that doesn't happen. It's good policy and its good business.â€

A report released yesterday by MassCOSH and the Massachusetts AFL-CIO

highlighted a state electrical worker who suffered an injury in 2008. An

investigation by the Massachusetts Division of Occupational Safety found that

the accident might have been prevented had the state instituted a number of

basic safety measures which would have been required under OSHA.

“Today, professional state employees can feel gratified to know that the

hard work they do and risks they take for all of us who live in

Massachusetts is held in the high regard it deserves,†said Joe Dorant,

president of

the Massachusetts Organization of State Engineers and Scientists (MOSES). “

Ensuring the protection of every worker’s health and safety should be a basic

and fundamental right.â€

The Massachusetts AFL-CIO is the largest umbrella labor organization in

the Commonwealth, representing hundreds of thousands of working families from

member unions and serves as the voice of working families in

Massachusetts.

MassCOSH, a nonprofit coalition representing over 100,000 workers, health

and safety professionals and unions, promotes safe, secure jobs and healthy

communities throughout eastern and central Massachusetts.

**************An Excellent Credit Score is 750. See Yours in Just 2 Easy

Steps!

(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1221621499x1201450105/aol?redir=http://\

www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072 & hmpgID=62 & bcd=Apr

ilExcScore428NO62)