HEALTH & SAFETY


HealthyWorkplace Bill may stop bullies in their tracks


Story and photo By DEBORAH A. MILES Workplace bullying is repeated, health-


harming abusive conduct committed by bosses and co-workers. If you’re a target of on-the-job bullying, it prevents work from getting done, and often a person suffers from verbal abuse, threatening conduct, intimidation and humiliation. Workplace bullying affects one in six


American workers. Now, state lawmakers and healthy


workplace advocates want a bill passed to address workplace conflict before it escalates. A press conference was held in Albany


April 30 where legislators, labor organizations and others talked about the need for the Healthy Workplace Bill (A4258/S4289). It is sponsored by state Sen. Diane


Savino and Assembly Member Steve Englebright. They hope it will pass this year. In 2010, two out of three New York


state senators voted for the bill which would create a civil cause of action in cases of an abusive workplace environment. This would allow a worker to sue an employer, if the employer allows the mistreatment to continue. PEF Vice President Tom Comanzo was


among the speakers at the press conference. “PEF’s Health and Safety Department


has an active role in developing workplace bullying prevention programs,” Comanzo


BULLIES BEWARE— PEFVice PresidentTom Comanzo, flanked by Sen.Diane Savino andAssembly Member Steve Englebright, speaks at a press conference inAlbanyApril 30 to urge the passage of the HealthyWorkplace Bill.


said. “We hope to implement these programs in all state agencies. “When you are bullied, you may not


realize it at first, but it affects every aspect of your life. It affects your self-worth and everything you do. Several years ago, I was a target of bullying at my workplace. I can still feel my blood pressure go up when I think about it. It affects you that much.” Comanzo said having a law to prevent


bullying is long overdue. “Not only does bullying damage a


person’s ability to enjoy and thrive at a job, it spills over into every relationship a person has. It is also costly for the employee and employer,” he said. For example, a person who is being


bullied becomes distracted at work, uses more sick time and has the potential to incur significant legal costs. The employer may need to hire and


train a new employee because of the negative effects on productivity. More importantly, the employer may face legal and contractual ramifications if bullying


situations are not properly addressed. “Workplace bullies are expensive for


employers to keep,” Comanzo said. “The passage of this bill is important because it gives employers a tool to put workplace bullies on notice and to stop their behavior before it gets out of control. “Right now, the state law does not


adequately address bullying. The Workplace Violence Prevention Law only forbids threats of physical harm. The Human Rights Law only protects people when they are discriminated against as part of a protected class. “Forty percent of bullied individuals


never tell their employers. If you come to work with your arm in a cast, you are more likely to tell co-workers what happened. Just because bullying isn’t noticeable like a physical injury, it still exists and can cause a lot of stress and mental anguish. It’s time for this type of situation to come out of the closet and into the courts.”


Workers’ Memorial Day reminds us to keep safety a priority With a cool wind blowing under a sky


dotted with clouds, PEF leaders, staff and others gathered to remember lost brothers and sisters April 27 at the PEF monument in Latham. It was the day before Workers’


Memorial Day, when those assembled bowed their heads to remember how unsafe conditions and tragedy stole the lives of friends, coworkers and union members. PEF Vice President Joe Fox and Health


and Safety Chair Kathy D’Arminio laid a wreath at the foot of the monument. They spoke about the growing importance for workplace safety efforts. “An average of 12 workers are killed


every day,” Fox said. “If those 12 people all died in the same workplace incident, we would know about it. Because they don’t all make news, we still need to focus on the fact workers are being killed across the country every day. We can’t let


www.pef.org


INREMEMBRANCE—PEFVice President Joe Fox andHealth and Safety Chair Kathy D’Arminio lay a wreath at the PEF monument in observance of Workers’ Memorial Day.


those deaths slip past with relatively little notice.” Debilitating injuries and deaths cost


the nation an estimated $159 billion to $318 billion a year, according to the Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index. The AFL-CIO also released its annual


Death on the Job report and said that more than 4.1 million work-related injuries and illnesses were reported. It also said, due to underreporting, the true toll of job injuries is closer to 8 to 12 million. “While we have made improvements


—Photo by Paul Seeger


for the safety of workers, there is more to be done. The advances over the decades are due to labor’s push for more stringent safety regulations,” D’Arminio said. “We must reject the drastic cuts the U.S. Congress wants to impose on OSHA’s budget. Safety inspections and regulations don’t kill jobs, but unsafe jobs kill people.”


—Deborah A. Miles The Communicator June 2012—Page 13


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24