Title: OHS Section Resolutions
Author:
Section/SPIG: Occupational Health and Safety
Issue Date:
Mary Miller, mmar235@Lni.wa.gov
This year we have introduced a resolution to address workplace health and safety issues for immigrant workers called “Occupational Health and Safety Protections for Immigrant Workers.” With this resolution, we are addressing one of the major emphasis areas of APHA -- health disparities. APHA has a long history of resolutions to protect immigrants and improve access to health care, for instance, but there has been a gap in addressing workplace protections as we have seen increasing rates of injuries, including fatalities, among immigrants. Special thanks to Deborah Weinstock and Sherry Baron in assisting in the drafting of the resolution; and to Rosie Sokas for her valuable input and comments.
We will also be introducing an amendment to this resolution that addresses the sting operation by the Immigration and Customers Enforcement agency (ICE) when it lured immigrant workers to attend a “mandatory OSHA training” meeting and then arrested 48 individuals for deportation proceedings. OSHA was not involved in this activity. This deplorable incident occurred after the resolution had already been drafted; the resolution needs to be modified to include information about this recent development by the Department of Homeland Security. We received wide support from many other sections in denouncing this activity not only for its implications regarding occupational health and safety efforts to reach immigrant populations, but many other public health activities as well. APHA Executive Director Georges Benjamin sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff describing APHA’s opposition to this type of activity. The letter can be found on our Section Web site at <http://depts.washington.edu/oshalert/links.htm>. The Section appreciates APHA’s attention to this important issue.
You can review the text of this and the other proposed resolutions on the APHA members only Web page. Look for this resolution listed in Group B, <www.apha.org/private/2005_proposed_policies/2005_policies.htm>.
In addition, we are working with others to introduce a late-breaker resolution on the protection of workers involved in the recovery and clean-up efforts in the wake of Katrina, specifically, but other future disaster situations as well. The late-breaker resolutions will be submitted by Dec. 10, and the text will be available at the hearing. If you are interested in a copy of either resolution or would like to provide comments on them, please contact Mary Miller at <mmar235@Lni.wa.gov>.
The JPC policy hearings are on Sunday, Dec. 11, 2005, from 3:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Group B is Session 256.