UFT calls on DOE to protect educators against blood-borne pathogens
Nov 17, 2005 3:50 PM
United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten (at podium) raised the plight of Queens paraprofessional Lori Baron (to her right) to call on the Department of Education to protect educators at risk of exposure to deadly pathogens in blood and bodily fluids.
UFT President Randi Weingarten accused the Department of Education on Nov. 15 of ignoring federal law requiring it to protect educators at risk of exposure to life-threatening pathogens in blood or bodily fluid.
Weingarten introduced Queens paraprofessional Lori Baron who contracted the potentially deadly Hepatitis C virus while working with special education children.
“Lori is sick because of the neglect and indifference of the Department of Education,” Weingarten told reporters at a crowded news conference outside the Tweed Courthouse. “Educators are not being adequately trained. They are not being routinely offered the Hepatitis B vaccine.”
Weingarten contended that the Department of Education is flouting the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act and New York State guidelines that require employers, like hospitals and schools, to provide training and protective clothing, such as latex gloves, to workers at risk of being exposed to blood in the course of their duties. These workers are also supposed to get a vaccination for Hepatitis B, she said.
“The Board of Education routinely ignores these standards,” Weingarten said. “As a result, both staff, and in some instances children, have gotten sick.”
As many as 128 UFT members in schools have been exposed to blood-borne pathogens through scratches or bites, Weingarten said.
The union filed its first major complaint 10 years ago with the state Labor Department about the DOE’s lack of compliance with federal standards. After conducting investigations at several special education sites, the state has issued 13 citations against the DOE and levied fines totaling more than $50,000. The DOE is currently being fined $1,280 a week for failing to improve conditions at Beach Channel HS, where Baron works.
The Department of Education has simply “turned its back” on the problem, Weingarten said.
Baron, who has worked for 11 years at PS 233 at Beach Channel HS in District 75, described how some students are prone to biting and scratching themselves and other people.
“These students are wonderful; however, some self-mutilate, some bite, some are very aggressive,” she said. “This is part of their special medical condition.”
Baron contracted Hepatitis C in 1996-97 from two students who scratched and bit her. She suffered the symptoms of the virus for four years before doctors trained in occupational safety were finally able to make the diagnosis in 2003.
Baron is pursuing a lawsuit to collect workers’ compensation pay for the five months that she had to take off from her job to undergo treatment.
