Georges Benjamin: The members of the Occupational Health and Safety Section have been speaking
out for the health, safety and well-being of workers, communities and the environment
since 1914. And by the way this is their hundredth anniversary and so they’re having their
birthday party here at APHA.
Five of the section members have become APHA President, CEA
Winslow in 1926, Louis Dublin in 1932, Tony Robbins in 1983, Barry Levy in 1997. Hi Barry,
I see you down there. And Linda Rae Murray in 2011 and Linda I think you’re out there as well.
Give them a great round of applause.
Today this section has over 700 members representing
many disciplines from medicine and epidemiology to law and journalism. They speak out for
worker protections and the right to a healthy work environment. Where there’s a potential
hazards of long term use of video display terminals, the health risk of lead exposure,
or the protection of child and adolescent workers, section members are at the front
lines of occupational health and safety. So here to receive the award is Occupational
Health and Safety Section Chair Dr. Kathy Kirkland. Now, some of you may not know, an
addition to being chair of the Section, Kathy is the Executive Director of the Association
of Occupational Environmental Clinics. She is a defender of worker’s rights and behavior
that every person is entitled to a safe and healthy environment. Dr. Kirkland I’m pleased
to present you with this award in recognition of the Section’s 100th anniversary.
Kathy Kirkland: Actually I have one correction to make. We just got a membership report.
We have 900 members at the moment. And in return for our award I would like to present
this copy of New Solutions which celebrates our 100th anniversary and we have more copies
if you want them, they’re gonna be at the OHS booth at the All Things APHA. It’s a
history of the section over 100 years.
The Occupational Health and Safety Section is
honored to be given this certificate for our 100 years of work. This week we’ll be celebrating
but we’re also recognizing all the work that remains to be done. In 1914, when the
section started as the Industrial Hygiene Section, we were fighting for the reduction
of silica exposure. Fast forward to 2014, the section’s renamed; we’re still fighting
for the reduction of silica exposure. Ditto for lead, this level of concern of CDC for
children is 5 micrograms per deciliter. The 2020 goal for adults is 10 micrograms per
deciliter. The OSHA standard for workers doesn’t remove them from exposure til they
hit 50. In addition, new occupational concerns arise every day. Ebola has panicked many people.
And instead of ensuring that employees have effective infection control panels and providing education
and personal protective equipment, what we’re seeing is stigma and fear. Irrational fear
quarantined nurse Kaci Hickox in a tent in New Jersey. It forced APHA to disinvite members
who had the courage to fight Ebola in West Africa before this meeting in Louisiana. More
importantly to the Occupational Health Section, the only people who have contracted Ebola
in the US were two occupation-- two nurses, Amber Vinson and Nina Pham. They were not
provided with adequate training or effective personal protective equipment while caring
for a desperately ill patient, this in spite of assurances that US hospitals were “well
prepared”. This raises, issue raises a more important question, "Who’s training our people
who do our hospital work such as the laundry, the environmental services a.k.a. the trash
people?" The OHS section continues to work on all OHS problems, new and old but one of
the things we’ve done this year is we’ve introduced a late breaker policy on Ebola
and infectious disease with an emphasis on occupational health and safety.
We will continue to fight for occupational health and safety until all workers’ voices are heard, their
dignity respected and their lives and health secured. Thank you for this award.