Public Employee Press

Waiting for PESH

By JANE LaTOUR

The state Labor Department’s Public Employee Safety and Health Bureau is like a glacier, very powerful but extremely slow.

PESH can cite violations, set deadlines for compliance and — unlike many regulatory bodies — PESH can levy fines on other public agencies. PESH can get action, as it did this year at the city’s Pier 76 Tow Pound. Some of the serious hazards PEP found there in March 2003 have been fixed (see photos).

But in many areas, this vital enforcement mechanism for safety and health violations seems frozen in place.

The Department of Finance proudly hailed 66 John St. as a state-of-the-art facility when it opened in Spring 2001. City agencies there — including the Administration for Children’s Services and the Departments of Consumer Affairs, Health and Mental Hygiene and Environmental Protection — often sell permits and collect fines. DOF installed tight building security measures, designed to protect money and office equipment but not the employees.

It takes an electronic keycard to open many of the doors, even those that lead to emergency exits. These doors do not automatically unlock unless someone triggers a fire alarm or the power goes out. In October 2001, right after the 9/11 attack, DC 37’s Safety and Health Dept. filed a PESH complaint, charging that these security measures violate emergency escape standards.

It took almost two years for PESH to inspect and issue violations. The city demanded a re-inspection and PESH withdrew its violations and re-inspected the building in July. No new report has been issued and the dangerous doors remain locked.

The Dept. of Transportation failed to include Highway Repairers in its required Exposure Control Plan to minimize the threat of blood borne diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis B to the agency’s workers.

In October 2002, an HR was stuck by a needle while he cleaned up debris under Bruckner Boulevard. The
employee, a member of Local 376, was taken to a hospital that was unfamiliar with the correct HIV post-exposure protocol.

The union requested a PESH inspection, which finally began eight months later. Debris clearing was suspended during this time, but DOT did not revise its ECP, assess the hazards or write a plan to minimize the danger.

In August 2003, PESH outlined five Serious Violations. On Oct. 31, 2003, a full year after the worker was stuck, PESH issued a Notice of Violation and Order to Comply. Only then were new procedures implemented.