Page 6 - Work Force November 2025

CSEA addressing safety concerns in DOCCS CSEA addressing safety concerns in DOCCS
ALBANY — With concerns over
exposure to illegal drugs and other
dangerous substances ramping up in
New York’s state prisons, our union
has been proactive in elevating
CSEA members’ concerns and
recommending measures to keep
workers and inmates safe.
State Department of Corrections
and Community Supervision
(DOCCS) staff at multiple facilities
have been
exposed to
potentially
dangerous
contraband that
outsiders are
trying to smuggle
into the prisons.
Staff from
CSEA’s State
Operations and
Occupational
Safety and Health
departments have
been working with
local officers and
region staff to
address incidents
at DOCCS
facilities and
to recommend
broader
preventive
measures aimed
at lowering the risk to workers
from accidental drug or chemical
exposure.
Those efforts have included
alerting the state Public Employee
Safety and Health Bureau (PESH) of
potential safety violations.
“Because our union invests in
trained staff who are experts on
industrial safety, we’ve been able to
advocate on members’ behalf and
“Because our union
invests in trained staff
who are experts on
industrial safety, we’ve
been able to advocate
on members’ behalf
and offer solutions
that reduce the risk
to DOCCS staff. CSEA
members working in
our state correctional
facilities already have
challenging jobs without
the added worry of
exposure to illegal drugs
and toxic chemicals.”
offer solutions that reduce the risk
to DOCCS staff,” said CSEA President
Mary E. Sullivan. “CSEA members
working in our state correctional
facilities already have challenging
jobs without the added worry of
exposure to illegal drugs and toxic
chemicals.”
Contraband arriving in new ways
Efforts to smuggle contraband
into state prisons
are hardly new,
but attempts by
outsiders have
gotten bolder and
more dangerous.
Some of the
increases in
exposure from
contraband stem
from legal-related
mail, which the
state had once
required that
inmates have
actual legal
mail sent to
them through
representatives.
Mail from family
and friends is
typically scanned
and the inmate
gets a copy, but the
only way get a piece of paper soaked
in drugs to an inmate was through
what appears to be legal-related
mail.
Limitations have been placed on
incoming mail after mailroom staff
suffered exposure to substances
including synthetic cannabinoids,
which are often used in vapes. Media
outlets have also reported possible
fentanyl exposure.
Those sending mail have
devised unusual alternatives to
help incarcerated individuals get
high, including soaking pesticides
such as wasp spray onto paper,
letting them dry, and then smoking
them. Airborne exposure from
such incidents has led to reported
medical emergencies at several
state prisons. Elected officials have
said that these incidents put a
strain on local emergency services
due to hazmat precautions, which
require ambulances transporting
potentially exposed individuals to be
temporarily taken out of service.
Perhaps the most brazen attempts
at smuggling drugs into New
York’s state prisons have been via
drone. Reports of drones dropping
packages containing hidden drugs
into prison yards have surfaced at
several facilities.
All of these instances put
workers at potential risk. For CSEA-
represented staff, that is particularly
true for mailroom employees and
medical unit workers.
Outreach leading to
new precautions
Progress is being seen following
CSEA and other unions representing
DOCCS workers advocating for
increased safeguards for mail and
packages, as well as proper training
and use of protective gear for the
workers handling these materials.
“DOCCS and CSEA have been
having ongoing, transparent
discussions in statewide labor-
management meetings regarding
foreign substances coming in
through the mail,” said CSEA
Occupational Safety and Health
Director Matthew Kozak. “It can
be challenging
to keep up with
incarcerated
individuals and
their accomplices
on the outside.
It’s almost a game
of cat and mouse
regarding sneaking
in controlled
Kozak
substances. New
isolation and testing procedures
have been developed, and
DOCCS has been receptive to our
suggestions.”
Measures include a push for
accountability and prosecution
of incarcerated individuals found
possessing illegal substances and
the people sending them. That
accountability includes a proposal
from DOCCS officials to amend the
Humane Alternatives to Long-Term
Solitary Confinement (HALT) Act,
which has limited penalties for
inmates and made it more difficult to
maintain order inside facilities.
Advocacy efforts by all unions
representing DOCCS employees
have made a difference. DOCCS
officials issued a memo in late
September outlining added screening
measures the agency implemented
for incoming packages and mail,
including piloting newer technology
to more effectively screen items.
Our union will continue to work
with the state to advocate for DOCCS
workers, with local officers and shop
stewards serving as a vital presence
in workplaces, ensuring concerns
and risks are properly elevated and
addressed with the agency.
— Jessica Ladlee
6 The Work Force November 2025