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MassCOSH and Raise Up Massachusetts need you to send an email to your State Representative and your State Senator letting them know you support Emergency Paid Sick Time (H.4700 / S.2701).

This Emergency Paid Sick Time would be available to employees not covered by the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA)’s paid sick time provisions, including workers at companies with fewer than 500 employees and many employees of health care and residential facilities. Workers taking Emergency Paid Sick Time would be paid by their employers at their regular rate of pay, up to a maximum of $850/week. Employers would then be fully reimbursed by the state.

CUT AND COPY THE BELOW INTO A WORD DOCUMENT

1. The proposed regulations are no stronger and provide no additional protection than the ineffective Mandatory Workplace Safety Standards issued on May 18. In order to ensure that workers are protected, and that work does not contribute to the spread of COVID-19 in Massachusetts, the health and safety protections in these regulations must be strengthened as follows:

 A. The regulations must require that a written Hazard Assessment and Control Plan be developed in collaboration with workers and unions, along with requirements to implement and evaluate the plan.

B. The regulations must require that workers be provided with and properly trained on the use of appropriate personal protective equipment. Protecting workers from SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) will require administrative controls like fabric face-coverings and personal protective equipment (PPE), all provided by the employer.

C. Health and safety training is also an integral part of any prevention plan. Regulations must require that the training include workers'' rights and the prohibition against retaliation. It must also include information about the virus, COVID-19, how transmission occurs (including through aerosol and micro-droplets), the dangers of sterilizing/sanitizing chemicals that may be used for disinfecting, the importance of adequate fresh air in buildings, the types of respiratory protection needed in multiple circumstances of more or less exposure risk, proper disposal of single use PPE, fit-testing when respirators are used, cleaning of elastomeric respirators.

 D. The “General Workplace Safety Rules” outlined in the regulations fail to address one of the key means through which workers are exposed: aerosol, micro-droplets. Some “sector specific guidance” addresses this, but only minimally and inadequately. The regulations must require that all employers provide workspaces that have the appropriate ventilation and filtration to protect workers per the recommendations of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).

 E. The regulations are oftentimes vague, leaving much to the interpretation and discretion of the employer. Where the regulations allow flexibility, they must require the employer to document in the hazard assessment plan why protections are not feasible and provide alternative health and safety protections.

2. The regulations must provide clear rules on informing workers when they have been exposed, when they should be quarantined, and clear return to work standards for not only those who have been sick, but also those who have been exposed. 

3. While the regulation includes protection for workers from retaliation for filing complaints, it does not protect workers from being fired for testing positive, and/or using their right to pay-continuation under federal or state law or under the employer’s own policies. Further, the regulations do not require covered employers to make employees aware of those benefits, like Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), that allow them to take the time off needed for quarantine, recovery from COVID-19 or providing care for family members as they recover from COVID-19.

4. Enforcement as detailed in the regulations is weak at best. The regulations must require an order to correct after the first inspection discloses any violation of a COVID-19 Workplace Safety Rule. If that violation is not corrected within 24 hours, fines of at least $300 per employee per day should be levied until compliance is achieved. If the employer remains in non-compliance after an additional 24 hours, a cease and desist letter should be issued, and continued non-compliance should result, as soon thereafter as practicable, with an action for an injunction to enforce compliance and to obtain other appropriate remedies. The regulations should provide a clear, expedited process to ensure an immediate inspection when workers assert that they are in imminent danger. The Department should be required to follow the procedures detailed in 29 CFR 1903 regarding imminent danger inspections.

5. There are many industries that are exempt from the regulations with no information on what regulations protect these workers. No worker in Massachusetts should be exempt from the protections these regulations provide.

6. The Commonwealth must provide adequate resources to ensure that these regulations can be properly enforced. Both DLS and Local Boards of Health are in need of additional funds to expand their capacity to inspect and investigate employers to ensure full compliance with these COVID-19 Workplace Safety Regulations. 

While BPS maintain the buildings are safe, they have yet to prove that buildings - which already had ventilation and indoor air quality issues before the pandemic - are sufficiently ventilated to protect from this deadly, airborne virus. While BPS conducted indoor air quality tests in every school, measuring the concentration of CO² in unoccupied rooms and declaring that each building "passed," these are meaningless measures. Even BPS''s cover page accompanying the results acknowledges this to be a meaningless metric. CO² measurements are only useful as a proxy for ventilation if the room has been occupied - if there is actually a source of CO² to measure. Regardless, BPS continues to mislead parents by sharing these air quality results that provide no information to families about safety when buildings are occupied.

In fact, previous testing in at least one of the schools set to open Monday (the Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing) indicates that CO² levels tested high when classrooms were occupied, indicating inadequate ventilation.

(http://buildbps.org/data/schools/081A/081A_Horace_Mann_report.pdf; page 11 indicates that both ventilation and air quality are poor). There is no information on the McKinley and Henderson school buildings, as they were never tested with students and staff in buildings. While previous testing at the Carter school indicated that ventilation and air quality are potentially adequate (http://buildbps.org/data/schools/080/080_Carter_report.pdf ), the proper test for ventilation to address airborne transmission of COVID-19 is a different test entirely.

In 130 BPS school buildings, only 28% (37 schools) even have a central HVAC system. For those schools, a ventilation assessment not only requires inspections of operations and upgrades to CDC-recommended MERV 13 filters, but also a test of the system’s capacity to provide adequate outside air. Harvard School of Public Health has developed a 5-step process to conduct this assessment (https://schools.forhealth.org/ventilation-guide/).

COVID-19 has created one of the worst worker health and safety crises in history. Since the beginning of the pandemic, workers on the frontlines – healthcare workers, first-responders, grocery store workers, public transit workers – have been getting sick and dying from workplace exposure to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. On September 10th, MassCOSH released a report, Dying for Work: Documenting the Pandemic’s Deadly Toll on Massachusetts Workers, which lists 59 Bay State workers known to have died of COVID-19 after potentially being exposed at work as of that date. Sadly, this list is just the tip of the iceberg and likely a gross undercount because the State has failed to collect accurate data on the occupation, industry, and employers of those who have become ill or died from the virus. We do know that ~128,000 Massachusetts working-age residents (20-69) tested positive for COVID-19 from March 10 to September 30 and 1,493 died. But because of the lack of data, it is hard to confirm how many were essential workers likely exposed on the job. However, the fact that more than 5,700 reports were made to workers’ compensation insurers for workplace exposure to COVID-19 in that same period gives some indication of the widespread impact.

Email to dlsFeedback@state.ma.us as an attached Word document and type the regulation number (454 CMR 31.00) and name of regulation (COVID-19 Workplace Safety Regulation) in the subject line of the email.

 A. The regulations must require that a written Hazard Assessment and Control Plan be developed in collaboration with workers and unions, along with requirements to implement and evaluate the plan.

B.  The regulations must require that workers be provided with and properly trained on the use of appropriate personal protective equipment. Protecting workers from SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) will require administrative controls like fabric face-coverings and personal protective equipment (PPE), all provided by the employer.

When it comes to schools and coronavirus, the Baker administration and school district officials are spreading misinformation and trying to pit families and teachers against each other. With COVID-19 ravaging our communities, we need to listen to the science and the demands of educators, not ignore them.

As parents and educators, we refused to be divided! To combat misinformation, MassCOSH created this video, Four Myths about Schools and COVID-19.

In less than four minutes, this video will help you understand what health and safety protections are needed to keep students, educators, and school staff safe. Please watch and share it with your networks, especially parents with kids in Massachusetts schools! You can also watch the video in Spanish.

MassCOSH stands with educators and public health advocates in the fight for healthy schools! Last week, MassCOSH Executive Director Jodi Sugerman-Brozan joined the MA Public Health Association, the MTA, and AFT Massachusetts for a community forum on COVID-19 in schools. You can watch the forum here on Facebook!

Mientras que miles de trabajadores de Massachusetts siguen trabajando durante esta pandemia, ahora nos parece aún más importante unirnos lo mejor que podamos para recordar y honrar a lxs trabajadorxs quienes fallecieron debido a trabajos peligrosos. Teniendo esto en cuenta, por favor únase a MassCOSH, el AFL-CIO de MA, el Consejo Laboral de Greater Boston, MA Trabajos con Justicia, y Community Labor United el 28 de abril al mediodía para nuestro ceremonia virtual Dia Conmemorativo de Los Trabajadorxs Fallecidxs, para recordar, curación, y tomar acción.

El evento se va a transmitir por Facebook Live (Facebook en Vivo) de la pagina de Facebook de MassCOSH a las 12pm el martes que viene, el 28 de abril. Para estar avisado cuando la transmisión empiece, responde al evento de Facebook. Y por favor invite sus amigxs, familia, y companerxs para unirse con trabajadores en todas partes del mundo a honrar a todos que murieron innecesariamente en el trabajo.

MassCOSH offers great pay ($58,299.07 base salary) plus great benefits and the opportunity to join the organized labor movement as a USW Local 9358 member. To apply, send a resume and cover letter to hiring@masscosh.org by October 25, 2020. Click here for our job posting and please share it with your network.

The hearing will be held on Wednesday, October 14, 2020 at 10:00 A.M. and attendance shall be by live video and or telephonic access. This is the information for accessing the meeting:

DLS encourages you to submit written testimony electronically to dlsFeedback@state.ma.us. Please submit electronic testimony as an attached Word document and type the regulation number (454 CMR 31.00) and name of the regulation (COVID-19 Workplace Safety Regulation) in the subject line of the email. All submitted testimony must include the sender’s full name and address. 

MassCOSH encourages you to use the following sample testimony

B. The regulations must require that workers be provided with and properly trained on the use of appropriate personal protective equipment. Protecting workers from SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) will require administrative controls like fabric face-coverings and personal protective equipment (PPE), all provided by the employer.

We are in a uniquely challenging moment in history as a state. We are experiencing so many intersecting crises that the word “crisis” itself feels like an understatement. And if we don’t force Governor Baker to act now on the housing crisis we risk an even greater level of despair, loss, and death for our people, all so the uber-wealthy and their lobbyists can continue to profit. We are asking you to join in on the fight to stop this from happening, by marching with us tomorrow on October 14th. Register here!

Mientras que miles de trabajadores de Massachusetts siguen trabajando durante esta pandemia, ahora nos parece aún más importante unirnos lo mejor que podamos para recordar y honrar a lxs trabajadorxs quienes fallecieron debido a trabajos peligrosos. Teniendo esto en cuenta, por favor únase a MassCOSH, el AFL-CIO de MA, el Consejo Laboral de Greater Boston, MA Trabajos con Justicia, y Community Labor United el 28 de abril al mediodía para nuestro ceremonia virtual Dia Conmemorativo de Los Trabajadorxs Fallecidxs, para recordar, curación, y tomar acción.

El evento se va a transmitir por Facebook Live (Facebook en Vivo) de la pagina de Facebook de MassCOSH a las 12pm el martes que viene, el 28 de abril. Para estar avisado cuando la transmisión empiece, responde al evento de Facebook. Y por favor invite sus amigxs, familia, y companerxs para unirse con trabajadores en todas partes del mundo a honrar a todos que murieron innecesariamente en el trabajo.

Following the advice of health officials who stress that we must work together as a nation to limit loss of life due to COVID-19, today National COSH released A Safe and Just Return to Work, a new report with real strategies to re-open workplaces in ways that ensure the physical and financial well-being of all workers. Click here to view.