Government Affairs

ASSE Government Affairs Update Highlights

ASSE Action Alert: Support Reappointment of John Howard to Lead NIOSH

Dear ASSE Member:

ASSE is deeply troubled that a highly valued leader of the occupational safety and health (OSH) community is set to lose his job. From information that ASSE has learned, John Howard will be forced out as director of NIOSH on July 5 unless Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Michael Leavitt personally reverses a decision by Centers for Disease Control (CDC) leadership not to reappoint Dr. Howard.

For the last several years, CDC leadership has engaged in an effort to limit NIOSH through budget cuts and reorganizations. During that time, ASSE has consistently supported John Howard's leadership of NIOSH and championed the need to keep NIOSH a strong and independent resource for OSH research and education. Examples of this support can be found at

Failing to reappoint John Howard could prove to be a final blow to NIOSH's effectiveness. What is there to lose? ASSE fears these achievements will be lost --

  • The active outreach to safety and health practitioners and ASSE that has brought research results funded through NIOSH directly to the job site where our members work.
  • Greatly improved integration of the OSH community in setting NIOSH’s research agenda as evidenced by the significantly increased involvement of our members and others in OSH in the NORA agenda-setting process.
  • Leadership in addressing the safety and health risks of emerging technologies, most notably nanotechnology.
  • Increased accountability for NIOSH’s research programs by inviting examination through the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine, thereby assuring that this nation’s investment in occupational safety and health research is well placed.

Most importantly, ASSE believes strongly that John Howard shares our understanding that NIOSH needs to do much more to advance safety research and training opportunities.

Please join ASSE in making sure HHS Secretary Leavitt reappoints John Howard. I urge you to send an e-mail message like the one below (a personalized message is always best ) to Secretary Leavitt to tell him you support John Howard. And please do it ASAP. July 5, the final day of his current appointment, is fast approaching. (Please blind copy your e-mail to dheidorn@asse.org so we can measure our members' response.) Pass this message on, and think especially of asking your employer to join you in this effort.

To: mike.leavitt@hhs.gov

Subject: URGENT: Reappoint John Howard to Lead NIOSH

Dear Secretary Leavitt:

I am a safety, health and environmental professional who is troubled to learn that the CDC will not reappoint John Howard as Director of NIOSH. John Howard has been a creative, dynamic leader who has made NIOSH a more effective and successful federal agency to the credit of the Department of Health and Human Services and this Administration . That effectiveness was achieved despite continued efforts by CDC to cut NIOSH's budget and take away from its capabilities through reorganization.

I work every day with my employer to protect workers and workplaces from occupational safety and health risks. Both my employer and I need an effective NIOSH to provide meaningful safety and health research and training for future safety and health professionals to help us address rapidly changing workplace risks that threaten workers and my employer's global competitiveness. Letting John Howard go is a mistake that will not help us meet these challenges. I urge you to make sure he is reappointed as Director of NIOSH.

Respectfully,

Your Name
Your City, State

 

I also highly suggest that you share your concerns with your representatives in Congress. Information on reaching your Senate and House of Representative members is available through the links below.

Thank you for joining our signficant voices together.

Sincerely,

Michael W. Thompson, CSP
ASSE President

 

Message from the President RE: Int 650 Legislation

ATTENTION! Metropolitan Chapter Membership:

NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn has alerted me to a public hearing on Int 650, the proposed legislation surrounding the permitting of detectors that monitor the air for biological, chemical or radiological weapons. I encourage you to join your fellow safety professionals that may be affected by this legislation to have your voice heard. Please also pass this along to others who you feel would be affected.

See you there!

Subject: NYC Council Hearing Notice

April 24, 2008

Stephanie Altis-Gurnari
President, American Society of Safety Engineers

Dear Ms. Altis-Gurnari,

Recently you wrote to me to share your thoughts and views on Int. No. 650, legislation drafted and introduced by the Administration last November that would regulate the detectors that monitor the air for biological, chemical or radiological weapons.

I thought it might interest you to know that next Tuesday, April 29, 2008, at 10:00 a.m. in the Committee Room at City Hall, the Public Safety Committee, chaired by Council Member Peter Vallone, will hold a public hearing on Int. No. 650.

As always, public input is a very important part of our work here at the Council, and anyone who wishes to is welcome to attend this hearing. Please be sure to check our on-line calendar at http://www.nyccouncil.info/html/calendar/calendar_new.cfm prior to that date, as hearings are subject to rescheduling.

Thank you again for sharing your thoughts and views on Int. No. 650. I will be sure to keep you updated on any new developments with this bill as they occur.

Sincerely,
Christine C. Quinn
Speaker

 

MetroASSE Letter to Mayor Bloomberg Re: Int. No. 650-B Legislation

February 5, 2008

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
City Hall
New York, NY 10007

Dear Mayor Bloomberg:

On behalf of the Metropolitan Chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), I would like to express opposition to Proposed Int. No. 650-B to amend the administrative code of the City of New York by requiring permits for atmospheric biological, chemical and radiological detectors. ASSE joins others, including the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), in voicing our concern about the negative impact this legislation will have on the practices of our member safety, health and environmental (SH&E) professionals.

ASSE is the oldest and largest safety organization representing 32,000 SH&E practitioners who work day in and day out identifying hazards and implementing safety advances across all industries and in every kind of workplace to reduce workplace fatalities, injuries and illnesses. The approximate 340 members of the Metropolitan Chapter live and work in all areas of New York City’s five boroughs including transportation, construction, healthcare and insurance. Enacting the proposed bill will hinder our members’ ability to adequately help employers protect employees and the public in the following ways:

• The definitions for alarm, biological agent, biological detector, chemical agent, and chemical detector contained in this proposal are so broadly written that the definitions would include instruments that SH&E professionals use on a daily basis and that have nothing to do with measuring security risks. As part of their professional practice, our members use instruments that would be covered by these definitions to measure air quality and the presence of chemicals and biological elements that could pose a threat to workers as part of their professional practice. If enacted as written, our members would be subject to misdemeanor fines for simply doing their work in helping protect workers from common workplace threats. This is unacceptable.

• The proposed law would subject the day-to-day practice of our members to a requirement to file an emergency action plan to be implemented in the event of an alarm which is unfeasible given that the use of atmospheric biological, chemical and radiological detectors is often in unknown or unexpected circumstances and not a predictable event. Therefore any EAP filed would be vague and non-specific.• The requirement to contact the NYPD in the event of an alarm could lead to an excessively high number of police responses to workplace alarms. It is unclear what benefit the NYPD response would accomplish.

• The requirement to notify the commissioner of the possession of new atmospheric biological, chemical and radiological detector equipment may deter SH&E practitioners from using the most up-to-date detectors, which may more accurately detect the hazard and lead to a more effective response.

ASSE understands the need to take measures to protect New York City’s citizens from unnecessary fear of harm from biological, chemical and radiological threats. However, this proposal will not accomplish its aim if it makes every SH&E professional subject to its restrictions and penalties. Our members urge the city to work with us to refine the definitions of the devices included in this bill and to find better ways to communicate with the public about the use atmospheric biological, chemical and radiological detectors in the course of normal business. I welcome the opportunity to represent the SH&E practitioners as stakeholders in a cooperative process to help resolve the difficulties posed by this proposal.

Sincerely,
Stephanie Altis-Gurnari, CSP

cc: Christine C. Quinn, Speaker, The New York City Council
Michael Thompson, CSP, American Society of Safety Engineers, President

 

Attention Metropolitan ASSE Members:

It has been brought to my attention that Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council have proposed legislation thta would require permits for the possession and use of instrumnets designed to detection the presence of certain chemicals, biological agents and radiation in the environment. The bill is Int. No 650 and is attached at the end of this message. I feel that this bill if enacted would greatly hinder a SHE professional's ability to use the equipment when needed and react to situations to minimize the hazards to employees and the public.

As such, on behalf of the membership, I will be sending a letter to Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council on behalf of the Metropolitan Chapter voicing my concerns. I am working with the national ASSE government affairs office to compose an appropriate response. Once complete, a copy of the letter will be sent to you via email and posted on our website.

Any member that may have any objection to our opposition should feel free to contact me via email. Additionally, I urge you to pass along this information to your colleagues and employers who may also be affected by the legislation. If you would like to provide assistance in raising awareness, contact me directly.

Thank you.
Stephanie Altis-Gurnari, CSP
President, Metropolitan ASSE

 

NYC Buildings Commissioner Announces Immediate Changes to Inspection Protocol for Tower Cranes

Buildings Commissioner Patricia Lancaster today announced interim changes to the Department’s inspection protocol regarding tower cranes, the type of crane involved in the accident at 303 East 51st Street on Saturday, March 15. These changes are being made as a precautionary measure as the Department conducts its inspection sweep of tower cranes, assesses existing safety practices on crane sites, and continues its forensic investigation into the cause of the collapse of the tower crane. Until further notice, a Buildings Inspector must be present on a construction site whenever a tower crane is raised or lowered in New York City, to ensure safe practices are being employed by those operating the crane. In a regulatory notice issued to the construction industry today, Commissioner Lancaster outlined this and other measures, including a requirement for engineers who design cranes to inspect the cranes before they are raised or lowered. These changes come as the Department continues its inspection sweep of approximately 30 tower cranes in New York City, which will be complete by April 15.

“Tower cranes are highly-engineered structures that present unique challenges both to the operator and workers using them. While the tragic accident on March 15 was a rare occurrence, we are expanding oversight of cranes as a precautionary measure while we await the findings of our forensic investigation. Starting today I have ordered changes to the inspection protocol for tower cranes that will be in effect until further notice. Any crane operating in an unsafe manner will be shut down immediately,” said Commissioner Lancaster.

See the attached press release for more information.

 

Update from the DOB - April 2, 2008

Pursuant to the meeting held on Friday, March 28th, the following items will be implemented:

In the short term:

  • In response to industry concern about inspector availability, the DOB will set up a phone line (212-227-4416) that is available over the next three weekends which will make a crane inspector/engineer available to the industry.
  • To assist the industry in keeping pre-jump staff on construction sites, DOB will allow pre-jump meetings to be scheduled in the evenings at 4pm, 5pm, or 6pm.
  • In the interest of accommodating the industry, the DOB will remove the restriction on how many days in advance the pre-meeting is to be held.
  • The $750 fee will continues to be charged for after-hours work as per §25-215 (h)(2) of the Building Code in addition to the $100 application fee and $80 daily fee.
  • The engineer of record is not required to be present at the jump because the licensed rigger is responsible.
  • The primary pre-jump meeting before erection or dismantling must occur days in advance; however, all subsequent pre-jump meetings may be held immediately in advance of the jump.

For further development:

  • The DOB will reevaluate extensions to expired CD numbers.
  • The DOB will revisit the magna-flux inspection documentation and look for alternatives.
  • To assist the industry in having continuity on construction sites, the DOB will amend the applicable form to provide for the addition of an alternate safety coordinator.

The Department will continue to hold a discourse with all the interested parts of the industry to ensure that all issues are addressed and that policies put in place will yield a common good.