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Public
Employee Press Union
safety pro named Woman of the Year Principal Program Coordinator Guille Mejia of
DC 37s Safety and Health Dept. was honored Dec. 11 with the Woman of the
Year Award by the Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Mount
Sinai Hospital.
The award acknowledged her special commitment to
the center and to workers in need. Center Co-director Dr. Jaime Szeinuk
presented the award, citing Mejias support for the COEM clinics, advisory
board and membership committee and her exemplary involvement with union members
who need clinic services.
Guille has been an advocate for these members,
Szeinuk said. She gets personally involved, follows through, and is always
there if we need any union intervention to get information about exposures or
accommodations for the patients and to prevent occupational disease among other
workers exposed to the same agents.
Dr. Szeinuk worked closely with
Mejia in setting up a program for the clinical evaluation of DC 37 members after
a fire at the DEP Water Treatment Plant at Bowery Bay, Queens.
Guilles
involvement was simply amazing, he said. She worked with all the parties
and always put the patients need first. Thanks to her, we were able to get
this program rolling, evaluate and test the patients, and then, together with
the DEP, implement practices to reduce risks, including changes in workplace practices
and protective equipment.
Im honored and very surprised,
said Mejia. The COEM has a major mission and we cant lose sight of
that. | |