City Steps Inadequate
Seek Body to Look At On-Job Injuries

By REUVEN BLAU

Public-employee union officials and health advocates last week urged the Bloomberg administration to create a new oversight agency and take additional steps to help reduce the thousands of reported workplace injuries each year.

JOSEPH P. ADDABBO JR.: How about needed info?

The city appeared open to several of the suggestions discussed at a Dec. 12 City Council hearing. "That certainly would make sense," said John Sweeney, Division Chief of the Workers' Compensation Division of the city's Law Department, referring to the creation of a new monitoring department.

Call It a Cost-Saver

Backers of the plan and other initiatives said that tracking the overall injury figures would enable the city to reduce its burgeoning Workers' Compensation costs as well as redefine the city's effort to prevent employee injuries in the future.

The city currently has an Office of Safety and Health, but that group doesn't collect data about the frequency and causes of workplace injuries and illnesses, according to Joel Shufro, executive director of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH).

JOEL SHUFRO: 'Mystified' by city.

Health activists have noted that several private-sector companies have minimized accidents and injuries and saved millions of dollars by introducing programs designed to reduce Workers' Comp claims. The city's risk management officer position, however, was eliminated under Mayor Giuliani.

In 2004, the Council passed legislation requiring the city to compile an annual report of Workers' Comp claims, which was designed to be the foundation for creating a data-based health and safety program. "Unfortunately, the city's implementation of that law, while living up to the letter of the law, rendered the report useless," Mr. Shufro said.

Key Details Missing

Joseph P. Addabbo Jr., the chair of the City Council's Civil Service and Labor Committee, suggested that the city change the structure of the more-than 500-page document, which doesn't include an executive summary and index or list job titles.

Holding up the report with both hands, he said sarcastically, "It's not the pocket edition."

Mr. Sweeney promised that future documents would include an executive summary and a year-to-year comparison of the data. The Council is examining a plan to amend the bill to legislatively require the city to include that information in upcoming reports, Mr. Addabbo said.

Mr. Shufro charged that the city purposely obfuscated the information included in the document. "We believe that rendering the report useless was done by design," he argued. The city, he added, refused to meet with NYCOSH and the affected unions to discuss the law's implementation "so that the required report would be useful."

Mr. Sweeney last week said that he was open to getting together with the Council to review its suggestions, but stressed that there were no simple solutions. "I don't think there is a quick fix where we can save millions of dollars," he testified.

'It's a Win-Win'

Mr. Shufro pointed out that the report was structured to help the city and its 347,575 employees. "We are mystified by the city's approach," he remarked. "We believe this legislation provides a win-win opportunity."

Mr. Addabbo agreed. "I would hate to think this report was generated just to satisfy a piece of legislation," he told Mr. Sweeney.

The Bloomberg administration stressed that the number of reported workplace injuries has been steadily decreasing over the past eight years. According to Mr. Sweeney, there were approximately 24,000 such incidents recorded in 1998, but only 16,000 were reported in Fiscal 2006. "In terms of numbers of injuries, we are doing very well," Mr. Sweeney said.

Disincentives to Report

Most of the reported worker injuries are back ailments, he added. Mr. Sweeney sidestepped questions about which department may need to focus more on preventing accidents. "I'm afraid I don't have a particular agency involved," he told Mr. Addabbo.

The unions, including District Council 37, contended that many workers don't report injuries because of the complicated and bureaucratic process, and in some cases intimidation by supervisors.

"Paraprofessionals routinely report to us that they consider assaults and accidents to be part of their job," said Chris Proctor, a United Federation of Teachers Industrial Hygienist. "This culture of acceptance is part of the indoctrination of this segment of the work force."

Paras assigned to special-education classes work in a high-risk environment and often perform job duties similar to a nurse without any basic health training, she said. The UFT has detected a pattern of rising accidents, assaults, and injuries, based on internal union reports and anecdotal evidence.

Dangerous Schools

A 2004 survey by the UFT showed that approximately half of all paras said they had been assaulted, and about a third reported that they are repeatedly injured on the job. However, fewer than 1 percent of them reported the incidents, the survey said.

"When one thinks of a typical school, one doesn't think in terms of high-risk environments and work tasks," Ms. Proctor testified.

But paras, who have to change the diapers of special education students, are often faced with the daunting task of lifting children who weigh up to 250 pounds onto makeshift changing tables.

The UFT is seeking to persuade the city to stock mechanical lifts and adjustable changing tables in all schools with such special need children.

One para assigned to a Manhattan school badly injured her back and pelvis when a large handicapped student fell on her during the toileting process, Ms. Proctor testified. "She had to drop out of college and she may never have children," Ms. Proctor said, referring to the injured para. "When you think it could have been prevented, it really is a tragedy and a crime."