Public Employee Press

Health and safety committee revived at HHC

DC 37 Exec. Dir. Lillian Roberts with Local 1549 Pres. Eddie Rodriguez and Safety and Health Dept. Dir. Lee Clarke at HHC safety meeting on May 28.

DC 37 leaders met with Health and Hospitals Corp. representatives May 28 to re-establish the corporationwide health and safety committee. The meeting focused on setting parameters of the committee’s structure and agenda items.

“HHC will be better off with a functioning committee that communicates on critical issues,” said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts. “Having a health and safety committee will only strengthen HHC.”

Lee Clarke, director of DC 37’s Safety and Health Dept., reviewed the achievements of the committee in its prior life. She said, “We did some fabulous work with HHC.” The committee implemented procedures and policies for dealing with the onset of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, with blood-borne pathogens, asbestos and the tuberculosis epidemic. “The policies and procedures developed out of that committee work became statewide guidelines for TB,” Clarke said.

All agreed that coordination, communication and continuity are critical in dealing with issues such as workplace violence, bomb scares, emergency responses, bio-terrorism, needle pricks and safer equipment, heavy-lifting procedures and ergonomics. These issues should be addressed in a holistic way, not facility by facility. Barbara Ingram-Edmonds, director of field services, said worker safety and patient safety go hand in hand. “This has been a long time in coming, but it can only be positive for each side.”

HHC is in the process of hiring a point person for safety and health issues who will also serve as the committee liaison. Communication will be a vital component for the success of the re-established committee.

“The networks in HHC need to know that we—that is, the committee—exists,” Clarke said. “In the past, we had input on policies that were both state and national and we hope we can do that again. We want to make sure that there are no barriers to communication.”