{"id":5745,"date":"2024-09-23T11:13:39","date_gmt":"2024-09-23T15:13:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/?p=5745"},"modified":"2024-12-11T15:40:52","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T20:40:52","slug":"bee-involved-in-health-and-safety-at-your-worksit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-7\/bee-involved-in-health-and-safety-at-your-worksit\/","title":{"rendered":"BEE involved in Health and Safety at your worksite"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Health
Article 18 Committee Co-Chairs Leisa Abraham and Gabriela Franklyn talk about the committee’s role at the Health and Safety Breakfast.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

September 25, 2024 —<\/em> Bee involved. Bee active. Bee a voice for your coworkers. That was the buzz at the annual Health and Safety Breakfast during Convention, where staff and Article 18 co-chairs Leisa Abraham and Gabriela Franklyn encouraged participants to create and breathe new life into their health and safety committees.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"HealthPresident Wayne Spence opened the program by relating the story of his partner in parole who was required to go to the firing range while pregnant. With a background in engineering, President Spence knows the science behind sound.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWater is a good transmitter of sound,\u201d he said. \u201cThe fetus is sitting in amniotic fluid. You can\u2019t put hearing protection on a fetus. And there is significant lead exposure on a firing range; what\u2019s protecting the baby? Quite a few law enforcement agencies don\u2019t allow pregnant women on a firing range, but parole was indifferent. We pushed and pushed and pushed and embarrassed the agency into making sure that allowances were made for officers who were pregnant.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Spence fought for those protections at his local Health and Safety Committee and ultimately unity and tenacity won that day. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to document the problems and share it with management and your members to get results,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you come across health and safety issues, if you have the ability, take a picture, don\u2019t just describe it. Sometimes a description might not be enough. Show them, this is what my day looks like, this is what the dangerous conditions in my workplace look like.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Franklyn pulled in the Convention theme of \u201cMoving Together.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHow can we work together, moving forward?\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m pretty sure we all have common denominator issues. Air, water, vehicles: parole officers were driving in a car that caught on fire!\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Article 18 Health and Safety Committee meets with upper management and the Office of Employee Relations (OER) to jointly establish plans of action on safety protocols, but they can\u2019t do their job without input from local committees who have boots on the ground at worksites.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very key that you guys memorialize what is going on and show us, we are the liaisons,\u201d Franklyn said. \u201cWe are very passionate, and we are very actively working on consistency and communicating information.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"HealthFollowing the Health and Safety Conference last year in Saratoga, there has been a drive to revitalize and rebuild health and safety committees that largely fell off during the COVID pandemic.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, we don\u2019t have health and safety committees at each agency level and certainly not at each facility or local level,\u201d Abraham said. \u201cHealth and safety is the foundation of our labor union. This is something that affects everybody, including other unions, and we can learn from each other.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Abraham said there is money out there for training and they are looking for commonalities across agencies, such as de-escalation training, which can be useful for members in facilities, in offices, and in the field. While there is an obvious need at facilities like psychiatric centers, a stabbing at a Department of Transportation office highlights a greater need.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a lot of people don\u2019t realize is that under Article 18 there are funds for training,\u201d Franklyn said. \u201cFire safety, workplace violence, how to conduct walkthroughs, occupational stress, workers\u2019 compensation, writing PESH complaints \u2013 there is so much money that you are not accessing, and we are trying to find ways to educate you all about that process.\u201d <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Click <\/span>here<\/span><\/a> for more information about available grants. The Article 18 co-chairs and Health and Safety Department staff can help with applying for grants by email at <\/span>healthandsafety@pef.org<\/span><\/a>. Abraham also urged delegates to contact the co-chairs or the Health and Safety Department to arrange on-site visits to membership meetings or at their facilities.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of our members are afraid to talk inside a huge meeting, so we can meet them at tables inside or outside the facility,\u201d she said. \u201cPlease invite us.\u201d Abraham and Franklyn can be reached by email at <\/span>Leisa.Abraham@pef.org<\/span><\/a> or <\/span>Gabriela.Franklyn@pef.org<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why bees?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Health and Safety Director Geraldine Stella elaborated on the bee theme.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBees have a reputation for being busy,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are different roles for bees.\u201d Participants identified some: worker bees, queen bees, killer — let\u2019s go with fighter — bees. \u201cEvery bee plays a different role in their colony, and they work together as a group. They can\u2019t function without each of those elements.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The same holds true for health and safety.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As an activity, delegates worked together with their \u201chive\u201d to create a sample bulletin board to give members the BUZZ about Health and Safety and how to BEE involved. (Watch <\/span>this video<\/span><\/a> to see what participants came up with!) If you would like “BEE Involved\u201d themed posters for your bulletin board, email <\/span>healthandsafety@pef.org<\/span><\/a> to request a set.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Health
Karen Tully explains the poster created by her table during the Health and Safety Breakfast at Convention.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

September 25, 2024 — Bee involved. Bee active. Bee a voice for your coworkers. 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