Big Boston News:State House Hearing April 10th Sick schools and public buildings

[Guest guest]

I will get you the actual Bill next week and PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD,

ESPECIALLY TO PEOPLE WHO COULD ATTEND THE HEARING. 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 1A before the Public Health Committee. I

believe it

is a joint senate/rep 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 for all their hard work on making this happen.

Attached to this, please find a pdf document entitled " Health on the Hill "

published by the Joint Committee on Health Care. The headline article is

" Improving Indoor Air Quality. " As soon as I can figure out how to get to the

link, I will send it along.

Below, please find the MassCOSH Fact Sheet on the Bill. More next week.

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