Health&Safety

By DEBORAH A. MILES
The shooting of a parolee, Eric van Reid, in March at the Queens Parole Office has strengthened the union’s position to equip state Division of Parole (DOP) offices with metal detectors.

After the incident occurred where van Reid held a parole officer hostage with a knife and was killed by two other officers, PEF renewed the topic with DOP interim Chair Henry Lemons.

PEF President Ken Brynien sent Lemons a letter raising the need for metal detectors, pointing out van Reid smuggled the knife into the Queens Parole Office.

Lemons responded in May saying, “I am committed to taking the appropriate measures to provide for the safety and security of all our staff. I have evaluated the circumstances surrounding the tragic incident of March 31 at our Queens office and have directed our regional management to undertake a comprehensive review of our planning and execution of security operations in our offices.”

The DOP Health and Safety Committee chaired by Heidi-Lynn Wagner was given the task of developing a proposal for a pilot program to install metal detectors at one or two of the parole offices.

The committee is being charged with developing specific recommendations for staffing the operations of the detectors, assessing training requirements, completing a cost analysis and detailing the policies and procedures.

Lemons acknowledged the history of successful work done by this joint labor-management health and safety committee.

Since then, Andrea W. Evans has been appointed chair of the State Board of Parole. Evans began her career with the division in 1986 as a parole officer and was a PEF member for many years.

PEF Division 236 Council Leader Manuelita Clemente said the program is a step in the right direction.

“It is important for Chairwoman Evans to follow through with this program,” Clemente said.

“We need to do everything we can to ensure the safety of the people who work in and who visit the parole offices. There are metal detectors at airports, schools and prisons. It makes no sense that parole officers, who deal with a population with a history of violent crimes, do not have metal detectors in their offices.

“The March 31 incident is not an isolated case. There have been many other incidents where a metal detector could have made a difference,” Clemente said. “In the New Rochelle office, a parolee in a wheelchair smuggled a gun into the office and shot himself. Thank God he didn’t have a beef with one of the POs.”

Clemente also said van Reid, who once shot a police officer and escaped from Rikers Island, would not have had the opportunity to sneak a knife inside the Queens office if a metal detector had been in place.

By DEBORAH A. MILES
The prestigious Karen Silkwood Award was presented to PEF Director of Occupational Health and Safety Jonathan Rosen by the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) at its 30th anniversary awards celebration held in Manhattan June 11.

“I’m very honored to receive this recognition from NYCOSH and my peers in the labor and health and safety movements,” Rosen said.

NYCOSH Executive Director Joel Shufro said Rosen has been a tireless health and safety activist for more than 25 years.

“Jonathan is a committed health and safety advocate in the labor movement today. His persistence and his passion were a driving force in creating more public awareness of the issue of workplace violence and helping to win passage of the New York state Workplace Violence Prevention Law,” Shufro said.

Rosen is known for his advice and comfort to injured workers, for energizing health and safety committees, and testifying in state and national legislative hearings.

Rosen has encouraged PEF members to understand that getting assaulted is not “part of the job.” To address assaults, he has worked with PEF leaders, sister unions and agency managers to assess the risks and develop prevention programs. He also helped develop a constructive relationship with local police and district attorneys so the perpetrators can be appropriately prosecuted.

“Jonathan has recognized the need for health and safety committees in all agencies throughout the state,” said Kathy D’Arminio, chair of the PEF Health and Safety Committee. “He is a fervent advocate for state employees facing issues such as poor indoor air quality and unsafe patient handling.

He shares his knowledge with injured workers and helps them navigate through the red tape. His contribution to the health and safety movement in New York has been invaluable.”

NYCOSH is a non-profit coalition of 200 local unions and more than 400 individual workers, physicians, lawyers and other safety activists – all dedicated to the right of every worker to a safe and healthful job.

The award is named after Silkwood, a labor union activist who died under mysterious circumstances while investigating problems at the Kerr-MGee plutonium plant near Crescent, Oklahoma. Silkwood worked at the plant which made plutonium pellets for the fuel rods used at nuclear power plants.