vigilence for safe workplaces to share their safety concerns with the region and Standing committees as needed. “One thing that is important about having OSH committees at every level of the union is that we can better figure out what issues need to be addressed, and allow us to form a plan to address it,” he said. Cosentino believes health and safety committees are also important in educating members and sharing important information. “By educating members, you make them aware of what resources are out there, what they need to ask management for and keep management accountable,” he said. CSEA activist Jane Meunier-Gorman urges a proactive approach to dealing with workplace safety issues. Meunier-Gorman has worked hard to bring together CSEA, other county unions and management as a team dedicated to ensuring safe and healthy workplaces. The county also showed its commitment to safety and health by hiring a full-time safety officer who works closely with the unions and management. “This is really a collaboration for all of us,” she said. “We all need to work together and everybody has to be on the same page for this to work. It’s also important that we work together to help prevent the problem.” Preventing workplace violence One of CSEA’s most important safety and health initiatives was the fight to enact a workplace violence standard at public work sites. Too many CSEA members face violence on the job every day, between workplace assaults on them by the public or attacks by patients or inmates in institutions. But it was the 1992 work site murders of four CSEA members employed by Schuyler County CSEA members take part in an Occupational Safety and Health Conference workshop. Department of Social Services that galvanized the union into making change. Fourteen years later, the state enacted legislation requiring most public employers to have a written workplace violence prevention plan that is regularly reviewed by labor and management, updated as needed and enforced. But the work for CSEA members hardly ended with Gov. George Pataki’s signature on the law. Meunier-Gorman helped Putnam County comply with the standard by offering the county’s personnel director free employee safety and health training through CSEA’s Occupational Safety and Health Department. Management accepted the offer, leading to a strong relationship between the unions and management — and a strong workplace violence prevention program. “Working together on the workplace violence initiative brought us together,” Meunier-Gorman said. “We have not only brought a lot of training into the county, but it has become a great collaboration.” CSEA helps ensure enforcement of safety and health laws New York’s public employees are safer at work thanks to the Public Employees Safety and Health Act (PESH), one of the strongest state safety and law laws in the nation. CSEA helped lead grassroots efforts to enact the law, which Gov. Hugh Carey signed in 1980.Thirty-five years after that landmark legislation was enacted, CSEA still plays a strong role in ensuring state enforcement. CSEA and PESH recently made a huge difference after CSEA members Anthony Ruggiero and John Kelly died on Sept. 6, 2010 in the Village of Tarrytown in Westchester County from asphyxiation after becoming overcome by toxic gases in a village manhole. Investigations into their deaths showed that Tarrytown officials had known the requirements of entering a permit-required confined space, yet failed to follow the regulations, including providing training and protective equipment. PESH issued several rare “willful” violations to the village. The citations recently were upheld in a state appellate court after several appeals by Tarrytown officials. More common PESH citations include “violations” and “serious violations.” “(The recent court decision) shows that it is first and foremost the employer’s responsibility to provide safe working conditions and the training,” said CSEA President Danny Donohue. “The court has reinforced that workplace safety is a right. CSEA will continue to fight to ensure employers provide all workers with safe working conditions.” — Janice Gavin “It’s a neverending fight, but a worthwhile one. If you can save one life, you are successful,” Cosentino said. — Janice Gavin April 2015 The Work Force 11
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