August/September 2022 Volume 2 | Issue 3:

Back to School: Standing Up for School Safety

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Help Rebuild CSEA’s Safety Network!

Download or print this newsletter in bulletin format to post in your workplace: cseany.org/safetynet

Get Featured in the Safety Net!

Share your content by responding to the Safety Net newsletter’s Reader’s Response, Member Spotlight, or “Dear Bernie” Advice Column sections and get featured in the following edition!

*All participants will receive a prize for submitting their content.*

Submissions can be emailed to bernadette.foley@cseainc.org.

SAFETY NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

With new guidance, CDC ends test-to-stay for schools and relaxes COVID rules

August 11, 2022 | By Will Stone and Pien Huang (NPR)

“The revised guidance, recently released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, lifts the requirement to quarantine if exposed to the virus, deemphasizes screening people with no symptoms and updates COVID-19 protocols in schools, eliminating a recommendation for test-to-stay after potential exposure.”

Read the full article here: https://www.wbur.org/npr/1116991600/with-new-guidance-cdc-ends-test-to-stay-for-schools-and-relaxes-covid-rules

LOOKING TOWARD THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR

The school year will be here before we know it, as schools prepare for yet another year with new challenges concerning safety and health.

Since schools first reopened after the pandemic shutdown in 2020, student violence has been increasing and remains a touchy, yet vital, issue. On a national level, gun violence incidents have been rising in number, which has also provoked increasing anxieties around school safety and the potential for violence in communities.

While most school administrators recognize the need to develop strong safety plans in response to the increased risk for violence,these plans are ineffective for keeping everyone safe. District-wide school safety plans and building-level emergency response plans are required for each building in New York State through NYS Project SAVE. While these plans focus on student safety as a means to provide a safe environment for all, unfortunately, this is not the case.

CSEA members working in schools are among the most vulnerable to potential violence when it comes to worker safety. There are a number of safety and health hazards school bus drivers, monitors, aides, custodians and clerical staff face daily; workplace violence is just one that happens to affect everyone. Teachers and other school staff are likely to take on the responsibility of deescalating violent incidents, which have led to serious worker injuries and even death.

Schools are not included under Workplace Violence regulations in New York State. If schools were included, CSEA members employed at school and other school staff would fare much better in these cases. CSEA has been pushing legislation to change this law and continues to fight for stronger worker protections in schools.

STAND UP FOR SCHOOL SAFETY: ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE

• You have the right to request your school district’s SH 900-Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses. Review them to identify hazards and advocate for protections.
• Establish a workplace safety committee.
• Take trainings offered by CSEA’s Safety & Health Department (see below) and encourage others to do so.

CSEA Safety & Health Webinars on School Safety

Topics discuss best practices and regulations for infection control, workplace violence, and cover job specific hazards in transportation, working with special needs students and more.

View all school safety webinars and watch on-demand: https://cseany.org/osh-webinars

Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE)

This training course, rooted in the ‘run, hide, fight’ method, will go into further depth on ways people can protect themselves and others and respond correctly in the event they are in an active shooter situation. This workshop will include emotional testimonies and case studies from victims of previous active shooter incidents.

Watch and share the CRASE webinar on-demand:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8666650139324401936

Helpful Resources

View/download from the NYS Education Department:

Plan Development Resource Packet – July 2022

Building-Level Emergency Response Plan Self-Assessment

View/download New CDC Guidance for COVID-19:

New CDC Guidance – COVID-19 8.11.22

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Share your story, meme, or photo for chance to be featured in the Safety Net Newsletter!

Submissions can be emailed to bernadette.foley@cseainc.org. *All participants will receive a prize for submitting their content.*

“Dear Bernie” Advice Column

Write to “Dear Bernie” with your questions or concerns relating to workplace safety and health and receive advice from our OSH professionals!

*Submissions will be published anonymously.*

MEMBER RESOURCES

School Safety-Related Fact Sheets

Find all these and more at cseany.org/safety-resources

• Active Intruder
• Bullying Prevention
• Colds & Flus
• Emergency Preparedness at Work
• Hazard Control & PPE
• Hazard Communication
• Reporting & Recordkeeping
• Physical Effects of Stress
• Workplace Stress
• Workplace Violence 

Publication Print Orders

Order occupational safety & health publications for your workplace and we will print & ship them for free!

Submit an order for any materials linked in the Safety Net newsletters or listed on our webpage at www.cseany.org/safety-resources by emailing bernadette.foley@cseainc.org

Materials & Trainings

View/download our A-Z list of fact sheets: cseany.org/safety-resources

CSEA Occupational Safety & Health trainings: cseany.org/member-resources

Access content from this year’s conference: On-demand webinars, plenary sessions, and workshop materials available to all at cseany.org/safety-conference-2022

CSEA Occupational Safety & Health (OSH) Specialists

CSEA OSH Specialists can provide training, technical assistance, labor-management services, and even help establish a safety and health committee in your workplace.

Contact your OSH Specialist: cseany.org/member-support

Clean Up Safety Mobile App

The app is full of great information for anyone engaged in any sanitation or cleanup operations. The information can also help you at home to help keep you and your family safe!

Find more information/download: cseany.org/clean-up-safety

CSEA’s Occupational Safety & Health Activist’s Guide to Safety in the Workplace

This guide is full of great information and resources designed to directly assist safety activists in the field. Whether you are looking for inspection checklists, sample letters to request safety and health information, or information on how to make the best arguments to gain safety improvements at your workplace, you can refer to the Activist’s Guide.

View/download at cseany.org/safety or contact CSEA’s Occupational Safety & Health Department to order print copies.

Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine Update

Novavax has received emergency use authorization (EUA) for their COVID-19 adjuvanted vaccine. This represents a new type of vaccine, different from the mRNA (Pfizer and Moderna) and virus vector (Johnson & Johnson) that are currently available. This vaccine may appeal to individuals that were concerned about how the other three vaccines worked inside the cell.

This vaccine, termed a protein subunit vaccine, does not enter the cell to activate the body’s immune response. It comprises a small piece of protein that is covered in the virus spikes, which the immune system detects and then creates antibodies to block the spike’s ability to attach to cell and begin the infection process.

One other concern about this vaccine could be the presence in this vaccine of an adjuvant, which is a chemical compound added to the vaccine to boost the body’s immune response. Adjuvants have been a concern in the past because some have contained potentially harmful elements, like mercury, creating concern about potential toxicity. The adjuvant in this vaccine is an extract from the Soapbark tree that grows in Chile, Peru and Bolivia and is used in food products and stimulated the activity of the immune system, according to the National Library of Medicine.

According to the FDA, the reported efficacy from the vaccine’s trials is 90.1%. This vaccine is administered as a two-dose sequence, three weeks apart. It has also not yet been approved to be used as a booster in combination with the other vaccines. This vaccine can be updated to address future variants by substituting newer spikes onto the base protein.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY