Health and Safety

One of the key functions of a steward is to be prepared to look at Health and Safety issues in the work place.

Under Article 18 of the PEF/NYS Agreement, each worksite is entitled to a local H/S Committee. The Steward should work with these committees to identify and resolve H/S issues affecting PEF members.

At the Agency level PEF and NYS have formed joint H/S Committees. Many of these committees are part of statewide L/M Committees. These committees meet monthly to work on H/S issues that are statewide in scope.

There are many hazards PEF members face on the job. An effective steward thoroughly investigates alleged H/S problems at worksites. This means that the right questions need to be asked as well as taking the necessary steps toward resolving the issue.

The following outline shows PEF's structure for handling health and safety problems:

  1. Members with health or safety problems bring them to the attention of the steward or the local health and safety committee/Council Leader for action;
  2. The PEF Field Representative should be copied on documentation regarding health and safety problems addressed at the local level so that they are aware of the activity and can provide support as needed:
  3. If problems cannot be solved at the local level, the steward, health & safety committee or Council Leader should contact the PEF Field Representative for assistance. Assistance provided may include strategic decision-making, provision of resources, referral or direct intervention, depending on circumstances and needs.
  4. PEF Field Representatives and health and safety committees or Council Leaders may contact the PEF Health and Safety Department for assistance. If the Health and Safety Department is contacted directly by health and safety committees or division/councils, the Health & Safety Department will keep the Field Representative informed.
  5. As per Article 18 of the contract, local health and safety committees may appeal problems to agency level health and safety committees, and agency level committees may appeal them to the Statewide Committee for resolution.

The steward should contact their Regional Field Reps for any assistance they need in preparing to resolve H/S issues.

In addition, stewards can contact PEF's Occupational Health and Safety Specialist at the Albany office at: (518) 785-1900 1-800-342-4306.

 

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