The New York City Central Labor Council, the Long Island Federation of Labor and the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) have released a fact sheet: CAUTION: HURRICANE SANDY CLEAN UP CAN BE HAZARDOUS! with information on how to avoid illnesses and injuries during hurricane cleanup. A list of links to government resources is included.

“There are a wide range of hazards to which workers, volunteers and home owners may be exposed,” said Vincent Alvarez, President of the New York City Central Labor Council. “These include safety hazards such as electrocution, asphyxiation and exposure to toxic substances such as asbestos, lead, silica and biological hazards such as mold and bacteria from backed up sewage.”   According to John Durso, President of the Long Island Federation of Labor, “Previous emergency events such as World Trade Center, Hurricane Katrina and Deepwater Horizon have demonstrated that there are significant gaps in responding to emergency worker and volunteer health and safety needs – resulting in tens of thousands of rescue and clean up workers becoming ill.   The fact sheet produced by NYCOSH provides information about safety and health hazards cleanup workers can expect to encounter and links to other useful information.”

In addition to such widespread hazards, NYCOSH is particularly concerned about clean up of areas such as the Gowanus Canal and Newtown Creek in which the storm water is likely overflow into nearby residential areas. Sewage poses very significant threats to human health. Safe and effective cleanup or removal of sewage-contaminated materials is usually best left to technically qualified, environmental professionals. “The Gowanus Canal,” said Joel Shufro, Executive Director of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health “is a federally designated Super Fund site. The canal contains highly toxic substances and it is imperative that special precautions be taken and that only workers who are appropriately trained participate in the clean up.” 

Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, employers must provide a safe and healthful workplace free of recognized hazards and follow OSHA standards. Employers’ responsibilities also include providing training, personal protective equipment appropriate to the cleanup tasks. Employers are also required to provide medical examinations and recordkeeping. Workers should report hazardous conditions to OSHA (1-8000 321-OSHA(6742).

The New York City Central Labor Council (NYCCLC) is a non-profit labor membership organization 1.3 million workers in 300 local unions from every trade, occupation, public and private sector of the New York economy.

The Long Island Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, is the voice for the Long Island labor movement representing over 160 unions of workers in a wide range of occupations on Long Island

NYCOSH is a membership organization of workers, unions, community-based organizations, health and legal professionals, and other activists.  The mission of NYCOSH is to insure that every worker is provided a safe and healthful work environment. NYCOSH believes that all workplace injuries and illnesses are preventable. 

(Click here for fact sheet)

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Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that federal disaster unemployment assistance is now available to all New Yorkers who lost their jobs as a result of Hurricane Sandy. Disaster unemployment benefits are available to provide financial support to anyone who has lost their job and live or work in the Bronx, Kings, New York, Richmond, Queens, Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland and Westchester counties.

This assistance will supplement New York’s existing unemployment insurance system and will expand eligibility to include individuals who might otherwise not be covered. The United States Department of Labor has committed to providing additional assistance if needed.

Department of Labor staff will be deployed to hard-hit communities to help register impacted New Yorkers for Disaster Unemployment Assistance in person.

Anyone unemployed due to Hurricane Sandy is immediately eligible and can submit a claim to the Department of Labor. The criterion for collecting disaster assistance is broader than for collecting regular unemployment benefits. Specifically, an individual can collect disaster assistance in any of the following cases:

• Injured in the disaster and unable to work, whether the person is an employee or self-employed.
• Workplace is damaged, or destroyed, or the person cannot work because of the disaster.
• Transportation to work is not available because of the disaster.
• Cannot get to work because must travel through the affected area, which is impossible due to disaster.
• Planned to begin working, but cannot because of the disaster.
• Derived most of income from areas affected by the disaster, and business is closed or inoperable because of the disaster.

Examples of self-employment include small business owners, independent taxi drivers, vendors, independent commercial fisherman, and farmers.

State Department of Labor Commissioner Peter M. Rivera said, “These people want to work and are unable to because of circumstances far beyond their control. This money will directly help workers who have families to feed and bills to pay. Contact the Department of Labor and we will determine which program you qualify for.” 

To apply for unemployment benefits or disaster unemployment assistance, those affected by the storm and have lost their job or income should call the Telephone Claims Center (TCC) at 1-888-209-8124, or 1-877-358-5306 if they live out of state. Applicants should answer the questions to indicate they lost their job due to Hurricane Sandy. In order to receive benefits you must apply by December 3, 2012.

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