Public Employee Press

Poltical Action 2006
Local 420 wins safety award

The New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health honored Municipal Hospital Employees Local 420 June 7 at its annual awards celebration dinner. Local 420 and five other honorees were acknowledged for their years of work addressing critical health and safety issues on the job.

“We are very proud of this award,” said Local President Carmen Charles at the NYCOSH dinner. “Our efforts help not only our members, but also every person who walks through the doors of a city hospital.”

NYCOSH praised Charles for establishing an Education Dept. and a Safety and Health Dept. in the local “to achieve workplaces free from health and safetyhazards.” The local provides ongoing training on issues such as Workers’ Comp, Safety and Health Awarenessand Safety and Health contract enforcement.

In the battle against AIDS, the local was in the forefront of efforts to protect members’ health and safety. The local’s successful campaign won the right to enforce appropriate bloodborne pathogen and infection control procedures in every public hospital in New York City and led to the Bloodborne Pathogen Standard adopted by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

During the outbreak of tuberculosis in the 1990s, Local 420 sprang into action with the DC 37 Safety and Health Dept. and fought to establish testing procedures to determine if healthcare workers had been exposed. As a result, safety and health training, isolation control procedures and improved ventilation were implemented at all city hospitals.