CSUEU Chapter 304

Update: We have met at Level II on this. SSU has 21 days to respond.

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THIS IS AN IMPORTANT HEALTH & SAFETY NOTICE

If you were in, around, or near the Kinesiology/PE Building between July 11, 2012 and July 16, 2012, this concerns your rights as a CSUEU member.

CSUEU Chapter 304 has filed a grievance on behalf of all CSUEU represented employees for various health and safety violations in regards to lead contaminated debris blown from the Kinesiology/PE roof, which violated four articles of your contractual rights. CSUEU Stewards have also been working closely with Cal/OSHA officials, who were on-campus following the incident.

CSUEU highly encourages anyone who thinks they might have been in the impacted areas to seek medical care. Because this is a potential workplace injury, workers compensation covers treatment and testing. Employees should contact Cindy Chong at 707-664-2318 to make arraignments for lead exposure testing.

The facts missing in the email from Craig Dawson are:

· SSU was aware that the debris was hazardous.
· The incident was reported on July 11, 2012 not July 16, 2012.
· When the test results came back on July 16, it clearly showed a high concentration and yet the building was not shut down or cleaned until after 4:30 on July 16, 2012 when a Hazmat team arrived to clean.
· And yet, SSU still did not did not inform the campus of the potential dangers until July 24. The entrances to the Kinesiology/PE building are used by many employees in their daily business and in not informing the campus, you were unaware of any dangers and as such not able to exercise your rights under Article 23.8 (and the other three articles being cited).

CSUEU met with SSU management representatives and demanded that employees be informed of the potential health impacts.

If you have any additional information that may be helpful with this grievance, Cal/OSHA officials, or if you encounter any problems obtaining exposure testing, please contact Michael Hazen (4-2922 or hazen@sonoma.edu) or Gina Voight (4-2357 or voightg@sonoma.edu).

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Specific Articles Cited in Grievance:

23.1 The CSU recognizes the importance of procedures and policies for the protection of health and safety of employees and shall endeavor to maintain such conditions conducive to the health and safety of the employees.

23.4 An employee shall endeavor to maintain safe working conditions and shall adhere to CSU established safety rules, regulations, and practices.

23.5 An employee who observes or detects any safety hazard shall report it first to his/her immediate supervisor or appropriate administrator as soon as possible, and may report it to the Environmental Health and Safety Officer.

23.8 An employee may request a temporary reassignment when he/she believes in good faith that his/her present assignment presents a clear danger to his/her health and safety. The appropriate administrator shall promptly respond to such a request. Such a request shall not be unreasonably denied during the preliminary aspect of any investigation. If such an unsafe or unhealthy condition is found during such an investigation, the temporary reassignment shall continue until a remedy is implemented. If, after the remedy is implemented, the employee still believes the unsafe or unhealthy condition exists, he/she may contact the Environmental Health and Safety Officer. The Environmental Health and Safety Officer shall respond to the employee as soon as possible.