Who are PESH?
The Public Employee Safety and Health Bureau (PESH) was created in 1980 under the NYS PESH Act to provide occupational
safety and health protection to all public sector employees at the state and local level. PESH enforces all safety and health standards
promulgated under the United States Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). Public sector employers include State, County, Town,
Village governments, Public Authorities, School Districts, Paid and Volunteer Fire Departments. PESH responds to fatalities and complaints,
conducts programmed inspections of public employer work sites.
After more than 18 month trying of to get Upstate to uphold the
Federal Blood bourne Pathogens laws and getting no positive response, it was decided to file a PESH complaint on behalf of our members.
The
PESH inspector vindicated our concerns by issueing SUNY with 6 violation citations;
1 WILFULL, 3 Serious, and 2 Non Serious.
Upstate
had 6 weeks inorder to rectify the situation. This they did.
Unfortunately Upstate's senior leadership decided to hold a breakfast
reception for the management group that oversaw the remedial actions; rather then indentifying and holding accountable the management
members who had illegally and blantley put our members, patients and staff into potential danger by their inactions.
Once
again Upstate's former CEO (P Scheingold) had demonstrated his insensitivity to our members by his actions.
