We are looking for testimony

[Guest guest]

If Massachusetts can be the first state to pass Universal Health Care, then

we can also help lead the way in finally addressing sick schools and public

buildings...AND YOU CAN HELP.

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD AND CONSIDER SUBMITTING WRITTEN TESTIMONY. WE NEED

TO LET THEM KNOW THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO REALLY CARE ABOUT THIS.

The hearing will be held on Monday, April 10, 2006 at 10am at the

Massachusetts State House, Room A1 before the Public Health Committee.

The Bill was written in response to the lack of regulations and protections

for children, employees and the general public from environmental and indoor

air quality problems in schools and public buildings.

WE NEED PEOPLE TO ATTEND THE HEARING OR SUBMIT TESTIMONY!

If you wish to speak, please contact Phil Katz and let him know that you

wish to testify, your position on the matter and the main points you wish to

make. He can be reached at _phil_katz@..._

(mailto:phil_katz@...)

If you can't attend, email your comments to me at _MLMJ75@..._

(mailto:MLMJ75@...) and I will make sure that they become part of the

record as

well as getting copies to Representative Koutoujian and Senator Fargo.

Many thanks to MassCOSH (Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and

Health) and Boston Urban Asthma Coalition for all their hard work on making

this happen.

Below please find an exerpt from " Health on the Hill " published by the

Joint Committee on Health Care. The headline article is " Improving Indoor Air

Quality " and the the MassCOSH Fact Sheet on the Bill.

Mulvey son

MassCOSH State Legislative Factsheet,

Massachusetts House Bill H 4766:

An Act Relative to Healthy Schools and Public Buildings

Sponsor: Representative Koutoujian (co-sponsored by 6 Senators and

22 Representatives)

" My agency moved to another building 10 months ago that has a leaky roof and

poor ventilation. Since the move I have had chronic sinus infections and

intense fatigue that goes away on the weekends and returns with a few days of

work. Even our Agency manager cannot get the landlord to make repairs. I am

afraid I will lose my job if I use up all of my sick time. " - A state worker

" My daughter has asthma which is usually under control - but the dusty,

moldy and damp conditions in her elementary school have caused her to miss a lot

of school and a lot of learning. I don't think my daughter should have to

suffer because of neglected school building conditions in a poor neighborhood. "

-

A public school parent

Background: There are almost one million children in Massachusetts public

schools every day. In addition, there are over four hundred thousand public

employees working in schools and other public buildings. There are currently

no effective laws protecting them from unhealthy and unsafe conditions.

There are no programs currently in place to prevent any unhealthy or unsafe

conditions.

According to a 2004 report from the National Academy of Sciences, there is

an association between damp indoor environments and upper respiratory tract

symptoms, such as cough, wheeze, and asthma symptoms in sensitized asthmatic

persons. The report also concluded that the presence of mold is associated

with the same symptoms, as well as hypersensitivity pneumonitis in susceptible

persons.

Asthma is one of the most common diseases in the United States and one of

the leading causes of school absences. Massachusetts ranks as one of the top

states in adult asthma rate, well over the national average. Among adult

asthma, nationwide, more than 15% of asthma is associated with work. In

Massachusetts, the second leading industry among work-related asthma cases is

education. Too often we hear of unhealthy conditions and " sick buildings " that

could

have been prevented. Once someone gets sick it's too late, and it is much

too difficult for employees or users of public buildings (especially including

students and their parents) to report or follow up on health concerns.

What this bill does: This bill focuses on prevention of unhealthy conditions

in schools and public buildings and gives the Department of Public Health

(DPH) and the Division of Occupational Safety (DOS) enforcement authority.

This bill will:

¨ Require public building owners to establish preventative maintenance

programs and complaint procedures, visually inspect all public buildings on

an annual basis, conduct comprehensive building condition surveys every five

years, and keep records of complaints about building conditions and

building-related illnesses

¨ Require the DPH and the DOS to establish standards concerning

conditions that affect indoor environments in public buildings

¨ Require owners of public buildings to develop work plans before

starting renovation projects to minimize the impact of the renovation on

occupied

parts of the building

¨ Give the DPH and the DOS authority to investigate complaints of

non-compliance with and to enforce the requirements of the law and associated

regulations

Endorsing organizations: Association of Federal, State, County and

Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 93; Massachusetts Coalition for

Occupational

Safety and Health (MassCOSH); Massachusetts Federation of Teachers (MFT);

Massachusetts Nurses Association; Massachusetts Organization of State Engineers

and Scientists (MOSES); Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA); National

Association of Government Employees (NAGE); Office and Professional Employees

International Union (OPEIU) Local 6; Service Employees International Union

(SEIU) Locals 509 and 888.

______________________________________________________________________________

____________________

For more information or questions, please contact Tolle Graham at MassCOSH

617-825-7233 ext. 19.

060322

From Health on the Hill

A Publication of the Massachusetts House Committee on Public Health

March 27, 2006 Chairman: Representative J. Koutoujian

Headline story – page 1

IMPROVING INDOOR AIR QUALITY

So, just what is a sick building? It’s really not so much the building

that’

s sick, but the people who live or work there – and the building’s the

culprit.

Indoor air quality is among the most significant problems facing the country’

s workforce, especially in older buildings with aging ventilation systems.

Several buildings around Massachusetts are said to be “sick.â€

Sick buildings are often enveloped in an air of mystery because no one is

certain what has caused a significant number of workers or tenants to become

chronically ill.

Sick buildings can lead to respiratory ailments and other health problems

for workers who spend several hours each day in the building’s environment.

Employees who work in sick buildings often suffer from similar symptoms,

such as headache, nausea and sinus problems. Suspicions that some buildings

make

their workers sick are not new. Nearly 20 years ago, a Harvard School of

Public Health professor working as a consultant for a health care clinic

noticed some buildings at the facility had absentee rates that were 10 times

greater than those in other buildings.

Intrigued by the wide disparity, he hypothesized that the air workers

breathed may be behind the disproportionately high absentee rates in some

buildings. His study concluded that poor ventilation in some of the buildings

was

causing workers to become ill. Public buildings, including school buildings,

tend to fall in the “sick†building category because of their age and

out-of-date systems. The Middlesex Superior Court building in Cambridge has

long

been thought to be a sick building, and state officials have begun to implement

a plan to fix the problem.

The Massachusetts Legislature is taking action, too. “An Act Relative to

Public Schools and Buildings†which will be heard in a special hearing by the

Public Health Committee on April 10 at the State House, calls for the state to

create a new law for improving air quality. The state Department of Public

Health would be directed to create a Division of Indoor Environments within

the Center for Environmental Health. The new division would have the

authority to conduct inspections of buildings and collect information about each

building’s air quality. Each building owner would be required to maintain an

indoor environmental compliance program that includes information about the

building’s systems, including ventilation systems and other systems that can

affect air quality.

There would also be a new formal system by which a building’s occupants

could report to the building’s owner symptoms of illnesses that may be related

to

conditions in a public building.

The bill also calls for DPH to create new regulations establishing indoor

environmental standards for several air quality-related items, including: the

maintenance and operation of HVAC systems, ventilation of point sources of

contaminants, humidity, heating, air exchange, storage of hazardous materials

and asbestos.