The New England Consortium's
E-Quarterly            Vol. 6 No. 8 May 2012 
A Newsletter about Working with Toxic Materials, Health and Safety Training, Law and Public Policy Working with Toxic Materials, Health and Safety Training, Law and Public Policy
In This Issue
TNEC Receives EPA Award
TNEC-CSEA at National Trainers' Exchange
Immigrant Safety and Health Report


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University of Massachusetts Lowell
600 Suffolk Street, 5th Floor 
Wannalancit Mills 
Lowell, MA 01854
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Connecticut Council
on Occupational
Safety and Health
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Civil Service Employee Association (NY) Local 1000, AFSCME
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Massachusetts Coalition
for Occupational Safety and Health
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New Hampshire Coalition
for Occupational Safety and Health
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Rhode Island Committee
on Occupational Safety and Health
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Western Mass Coalition
for Occupational Safety
and Health
New UML logo
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  Is it time for your 8-Hour Refresher?
OSHA requires annual 8-Hour Refresher training for employees working with hazardous materials.  If you already had your 40-Hour Hazardous Waste Site training, you are required to annually take an 8-Hour Refresher. Click on the following link and check out the open enrollment training calendar and register at the same time.
Click here to register for 8-Hour training or to view the Open Enrollment Calendar for a date that fits your schedule
 
The New England Consortium Receives EPA Environmental Merit Award
EPA Environmental Merit Award
EPA Environmental Merit Award Ceremony
    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently presented merit awards to University of Massachusetts Lowell's The New England Consortium (TNEC) and Professor Ken Geiser of the Department of Work Environment for protecting the public, workers and the environment from toxic chemicals and hazardous waste.
   Geiser, one of the authors of the Toxics Use Reduction Act (TURA)in Massachusetts, received the Lifetime Achievement Award during a Faneuil Hall ceremony for dedicating his life to the betterment of the environment worldwide.
   A world class scientist and co-director of the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, Geiser is also a respected educator who has been recognized by UMass Lowell with its highest honor, status as University Professor.
   TNEC receives funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) to train workers in hazardous waste operations, emergency response and health and safety.
   "We strive every day to ensure that our program delivers the quality of education and empowerment that our region's workers, communities and industries deserve," says Paul Morse, TNEC Project Director.  "This award recognizes the efforts of so many people that are part of TNEC, including our project staff and partners.  It is extremely gratifying to be honored at this time since these awards are given out as part of the annual commemoration of Earth Day."
   TNEC has trained more than 27,000 workers in 1,700 courses, as well as provided custom training programs for employers and regulatory officials.  In 2011 alone, the Consortium held 145 courses with 21,985 hours of instruction in its core hazardous waste training program.  Experts from TNEC have traveled around the country to sites of environmental disasters, such as the Gulf Coast, to provide emergency training and other assistance.  The Consortium's work also includes partnering with EPA New England to offer training to Native American Tribes.
   Hoping to expand its good work, the Consortium has developed a curriculum to teach environmental activists how to advocate for "green" chemistry and other safer alternatives.  TNEC project partners include:
  • Connecticut Council on Occupational Safety and Health
  • Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health
  • Western Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health
  • New Hampshire Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health
  • Rhode Island Committee on Occupational Safety and Health
  • Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) of New York, Local 1000, Inc., AFSCME 

(Source: Karen Angelo) 

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Professor Rafael Moure-Eraso, Chair Chemical Safety Board Addresses TNEC Advisory Board
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Rafael Moure
Professor Rafael Moure-Eraso, Chair Chemical Safety Board
   When Emeritus Prof. Rafael Moure-Eraso began his post as chair of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) in June 2010, one of his first tasks was to release findings at a public meeting about the Kleen Energy natural gas explosion that killed six workers in Middletown, Conn.
   He was back on campus in January reporting on how CSB's investigations into the root causes of industrial accidents are leading to improvements that will protect workers and the public. The board does not issue fines or citations, but does make recommendations to plants, regulatory agencies, industry organizations and labor groups. The Kleen Energy investigation is one of many examples that have led to specific actions to protect the public. 
   During his presentation, Moure-Eraso showed a video that reenacted, through animation, how the deadly blast occurred. For two days, the company released a large quantity of natural gas to clean debris from pipes, a technique called "gas blows." The natural gas found an ignition source and exploded, fatally killing six workers.   
   "Based on the CSB's investigation, the Governor of Connecticut issued an Executive Order to prohibit gas blows, and the National Fire Protection Agency enacted emergency code changes," said Moure-Eraso who is one and a half years into his five-year presidential- appointed position. 
Link to video:
http://www.csb.gov/investigations/detail.aspx?SID=91
 
The Perfect Background for the Perfect Job 
 
   President Obama nominated Moure-Eraso Chair to the U.S. Chemical Safety Board in March 2010 and the U.S. Senate confirmed his appointment in June 2010. The position validates his life's work protecting the health and safety of workers.   
   Moure-Eraso came to UMass Lowell in 1988 as an associate professor in the newly created Work Environment Department. In the 22 years since, he has helped expand the department, which is considered to be the nation's leading graduate program in designing safe and healthy work standards. 
   Before joining UMass Lowell, he was a visiting lecturer in occupational health at the Harvard School of Public Health and worked at the U.S. Department of Labor as a special senior adviser on prevention of chemical exposures to the Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health. He also served 15 years as an industrial hygienist engineer with the national offices of two international unions - the United Automobile Workers and the Oil Chemical and Atomic Workers. 
   He is currently overseeing 14 investigations of chemical accidents, including the BP/Transocean Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion that killed 11 workers and caused a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

(Source: Karen Angelo) 
Students of Community Health Conduct their Practicum at TNEC
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(L to R) Sergio Pernice '12 and Christopher Mugford '12

   Christopher Mugford '12 and Sergio Pernice '12 both Community Health majors in the School of Health and Environment recently took part in The New England Consortium's (TNEC) 40-hour Hazardous Waste Worker Health and Safety training course in January and February of the spring semester and are conducting their practicum internships with TNEC.  Mr. Mugford and Mr. Pernice are working with Bridget McGuiness, Worker Health Educator.  Craig Slatin, Professor in the Department of Community Health and Sustainability is the TNEC Principal Investigator and helped facilitate this opportunity for the students.
   Both students have developed the competence to present training modules for the 40-hour Health and Safety course.  They contributed to project efforts to revise and update the training curriculum.  Pernice intends to attend graduate school at Massachusetts Maritime Academy and Mugford will attend graduate school at UMass Lowell's Department of Work Environment.  
Workers Deaths Continue to Plague Massachusetts
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Worker's Memorial Day, MA State House, April 26, 2012
Workers' Memorial Day, MA State House, April 26, 2012
Luis Tenezaca Palaguachi never lived to see twenty-six.  The young roofer was working on a triple-decker home in New Bedford, when he lost his balance and fell three stories to a driveway below.  Palaguachi's employer, Chelsea Enterprises construction, allegedly did not provide any life-saving fall protection to its workers.
   Dying for Work in Massachusetts:  The Loss of Life and Limb in Massachusetts Workplaces, a new report released by the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupation Safety and Health (MassCOSH), documents the loss of Palaguachi and the 57 other workers in the Commonwealth who were killed on the job in 2011.  An average of 1.1 worker death occurred each week that year, including ten firefighters who died from work-related cancer and heart disease.
   Dying for Work states that it's not just accidents taking workers lives.  In 2011, the report estimates 580 workers died in Massachusetts from occupational diseases and 1,800 workers were diagnosed with cancers caused by workplace exposures.  The release of Dying for Work in Massachusetts coincided with Workers' Memorial Day, an event observed around the world every year in late April to remember workers killed and injured ion the job.  In Massachusetts, Workers' Memorial Day was commemorated on the steps of the State House and in Springfield, MA on April 26.
   The report highlights several issues of growing concern:
  • Falls caused more than one-fifth of all occupational fatalities in MA in 2011.  Five of the twelve falls occurred in the construction industry.
  • Motor Vehicle Incidents accounted for twelve occupational fatalities.
  • Workplace violence continues to be a major work hazard, responsible for the deaths of six workers who were killed during the performance of the work in 2011.  
  • Despite deaths of public employees, Massachusetts public workers remain outside the jurisdiction of OSHA protections. 
      Dying for Work in Massachusetts calls for regulations on both the state and federal level to be strengthened.  Necessary improvements include protections for public employees, protection for immigrant workers, improvements in Massachusetts Workers' Compensation and comprehensive workplace safety programs.
   To obtain a copy of the report contact MassCOSH at 617.825.7233 or download a copy from their website www.masscosh.org
(Source: MassCOSH)
 

TNEC Training Highlights
 
  
Students attending 40-Hour
Building Futures in Rhode Island
TNEC provided a 40-Hour Hazardous Waste Site Personnel Basic Health and Safety Course to students at Building Futures in Providence, RI in March, 2012.
   Building Futures, begun in the spring of 2007, has a two-fold mission: to help the Rhode Island commercial construction industry meet its current and future needs for a well trained workforce, and to create career opportunities for low-income, residents in urban communities through established apprenticeship programs.
   Building Futures helps prepare low-income urban Rhode Islanders for successful careers in the building trades.
   It assesses the work readiness it's applicants, provides training and other forms of services and supports to help address barriers to employment, and assists successful graduates in gaining a career through employment as registered apprentices.
   As a change agent impacting policy and practices, Building Futures works with public officials, stakeholders from across the construction industry and community-based organizations on multiple issues. It's goal is to increase access to entry-level apprentice positions in high quality training programs to ensure Rhode Island is growing the skilled construction workforce needed for tomorrow.
   Building Futures is a joint effort of three principal partners - ProvPlan, BuildRI and YouthBuild Providence.
(Source: Building Futures, Photo: R. Burns)
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Other Trainings in the New England Region
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  Recently, the Massachusetts State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Section "Truck Team", participated in a 40-Hour Safety and Health training at our training center in Lowell, MA
Traiing MA State Police
MA State Police go through training drills.
Laconia NH High School students participate in a Confined Space Entry Exercise.

   NH COSH Trainer Jimmy Smith takes students from Laconia High Schoool through a Confined Space entry level training course.


  
TNEC-CSEA at the National Trainers' Exchange
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NIEHS Trainers Exchange1
Sharon Beard, NIEHS WETP Program Officer with Tom Estabrook and Bridget McGuiness (L to R)

     More than a dozen representatives of The New England Consortium-CSEA (TNEC-CSEA), the hazardous waste worker health and safety training program based in the School of Health and Environment, University of Massachusetts Lowell, attended the National Trainers' Exchange hosted by the Worker Education and Training Program (WETP) of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).  The Trainers' Exchange took place in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, March 27-29, 2012.  This is a tri-annual event where worker health and safety trainers from around the country share best practices.
   In addition to joining the more than 225 participants in discussion and activities, TNEC-CSEA trainers led two successful and well-attended workshops.  CSEA stands for the Civil Service Employees Association of New York State - the largest union of state employees in New York; Local 1000 of the Amercian Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).  CSEA peer educators David Dake, David Miller and Lori Miller were presenters in a workshop led by CSEA training coordinators Janet Womachka and Matthew Kozak, "Strategies for Building an Effective Train-The-Trainer/Worker Trainer Program."
   UML project trainers Bridget McGuiness and Thomas Estabrook presented "Refinement and Evolution of the Small Group Activity: Problem Solving Using NIOSH Fatality Reports and OSHA Job Hazard Analysis."
The workshop led by McGuiness and Estabrook guided other trainers through
NIEHS Trainers Exchange
 CSEA Members and H&S staff, Lori Miller, Janet Womatchka, David Dake, David Miller,  Matt Kozak, Janet Foley (L-R)
a TNEC activity that uses NIOSH fatality reports and OSHA job hazard analysis to help workers develop their own ideas about how hazards at their workplaces can be eliminated and injuries and fatalities prevented.  Those attending eagerly engaged in small group activities where each group revised elements of their own training materials by using the method presented by TNEC's trainers.
   The CSEA workshop provided a strong example of how workplace health and safety efforts can be greatly improved when labor and management work together to support training that is developed and led by workers and their union.  David Drake and Lori Miller presented their stories of how their union provided them the opportunity for in depth learning of occupational health and safety and how to be effective trainers.  From that, their work was transformed as they incorporated being union health and safety activists into their jobs, became well-regarded by their peers and management, and helped to improve the health and safety of CSEA members' workplaces.  David Miller is the director of Environmental Health and Safety at Buffalo State University and he has become a CSEA peer trainer, participating with the union in the labor/management health and safety effort.  He explained how the union's support for health and safety has helped the university and other facilities make strong improvements in their health and safety programs.
(Source:  Craig Slatin)
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Immigrant Worker Safety and Health
Immigrant image2

   In 2004, recognizing the complexity of the safety and health issues facing immigrant workers, NIOSH and the University of Massachusetts Lowell convened a conference.  The conference hoped to strengthen partnerships between occupational safety and health researchers and community-based organizations to develop educational and other programs for immigrant communities.  Conference participants heard overviews of a wide range of occupational safety and health challenges facing low-wage immigrant workers.  They discussed research approaches and interventions developed to address those challenges.  Two days of this rich exchange led to a series of case studies, recommended actions and research necessary to improve safety and health for immigrant workers.  Given the interest expressed at the National Action Summit for Latino Worker Health and Safety, we hope that this updated summary of that 2004 conference will contribute important information and share promising practices to improve immigrant worker safety and health.
 
For our Loyal Customers
logo   TNEC has provided excellent training to federal and state agencies, small businesses and large multi-national corporations for over 18 years.  Many companies and agencies over the years have sent multiple employees to our 40-Hour Hazardous Waste Site Health and Safety courses and the 8-Hour refresher.  To thank our loyal customers and for those who are choosing us for the first time and who send more than three employees to our trainings over a one year period, we will begin to offer up to a 15% discount on the price of the course.  To find out if you are eligible for the discount pricing contact David Coffey, Training Manager at 978.934.3296 or [email protected] or Therese O'Donnell 978.934.3329 or [email protected].
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NOTE: TNEC changes its Refresher curriculum each year, beginning in September, so that students returning to TNEC year after year for their Refresher training are presented with new materials each time.
   From September 1, 2011, through August 31, 2012, the curriculum for the Site Worker Refresher includes Reviews of: Student Work History for the Past Year, the HAZWOPER Standard, use of the NIOSH Pocket Guide & MSDS's, Air Monitoring, Respiratory Protection & PPE, Decon and Spill Control. Also included is a HAZWOPER Review Game and the consideration by students of actions they might take to improve safety when they return to work. The Refresher concludes with a final Table-Top Activity relating to the evaluation of a storage facility where several units, for which rents are in arrears and the contents of which are to be auctioned, are suspected to contain hazardous materials/wastes and how removal of same should proceed.

Project Partnersowelltter

Civil Service Employee Association
CSEA Local 1000, AFSCME

Occupational Safety and Health 
New York's Leading Union

143 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12210

Phone: 516.257.1465
www.csea1000.org 
 
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MassCOSH
  Standing Together for Safe and Healthy Work
 
1532B Dorchester Avenue
 Dorchester, MA 02122

Phone:  617.825.7233
Fax: 617.822.3718
 
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NH COSH
20 Years of working to keep NH workers safe!
  
NH Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health
161 Londonderry Turnpike
Hooksett, NH 03106

 Phone: 603.232.4406
Fax: 603.232.4461  
 www.nhcosh.org


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ConnectiCOSH
An injury to one is an injury to all
 
683 North Mountain Road
Newington, CT 06111
 
Phone: 860.953.2674
Fax: 860.953.1038

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RI COSH

741 Westminster Street
Providence, RI 02903

Phone: 401.751.2015
Fax: 401.751.7520

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Western Mass COSH
 
640 Page Blvd, Suite 104
Springfield, MA 01104
 
  Phone: 413.731.0760
Fax: 413.731.6688
Upcoming Conferences Where TNEC will be Exhibiting 

2012 NH Emergency Preparedness Conference
Radisson Hotel
Manchester, NH

June 26, 2012
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Partners in Worker Health and Safety Training

OSHA logo
  
Contact:   Diane Malachowski, Manager Region 1 OTIEC, [email protected]
    603-645-0050; Toll-free 800-449-6742; Fax 603-645-0080

OSHA Training Institute Education Center

                       175 Ammon Drive, Manchester, NH 03103-3308  
   The New England Consortium (TNEC) is the region's model Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) Worker Health and Safety training organization.  Since 1987, TNEC has provided dynamic hands-on, participatory health and safety training to over 24,000 workers.

   TNEC is one of 20 programs administered by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Worker Education Training Program.

   TNEC is a partnership between the University of Massachusetts Lowell and the Coalitions/Committees for Occupational Safety and Health (COSH) in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island and the Civil Service Employees Association of New York (CSEA Occupational Safety and Health), Local 1000, AFSCME

   In addition to providing HAZWOPER training, COSH groups work on a variety of worker health and safety training and other issues.

To learn more, call your local COSH group:
ConnectiCOSH                        860.953.2674
CSEA                                      518.257.1465
MassCOSH                              617.825.7233
New Hampshire COSH             603.232.4406
RICOSH                                  401.751.2015
WesternMassCOSH                  413.731.0760
   Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to read our newsletter.  We hope to keep you safe and healthy with information that will protect you on the job.

This work is partially supported under NIEHS grant number:
2 U45 ESOO6172-19