September 11, 2011
By Joel Shufro
Are We Prepared for the Next 9/11? That is the question to be heads of government agencies, such as the EPA, OSHA and NIOSH will be asked at an all-day conference sponsored by the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health on Friday, September 16th.
The conference will focus on what policies and programs the federal government has implemented to prevent the wide range of illnesses and deaths experienced by first responders, recovery, clean up, and area workers, residents and students resulting from exposure to contaminants which blanketed lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn after the collapse of the World Trade Center.
Participants will have the opportunity to question and engage in frank discussions with government representatives about whether and how the regulatory framework governing emergency response have been strengthened.
“The tenth anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center provides an opportunity to evaluate the actions taken by government agencies to ensure that we do not experience the unnecessary and preventable occupational and environmental health consequences which has adversely impacted the lives and health of tens of thousands of workers and residents,” said Bill Henning, Chairman of the NYCOSH Board of Directors.
Addressing the conference will be David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, John Howard, M.D. Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Richard Woychik, Deputy Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and Mathy Stanislaus, Assistant Administrator, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, Environmental Protection Agency. Linda Rae Murray, M.D., President of the American Public Health Association will also participate in the conference.
Among conference co-sponsors are the NYS AFL-CIO; the NYC Central Labor Council: the United Federation of Teachers: District Council 37, and the New York State Laborers Joint Health and Safety Fund.
The conference will be held at the headquarters of the United Federation of Teachers, 52 Broadway in Lower Manhattan. Advance registration is required. The conference costs $25 which covers the cost of food and materials. To register and for more details about the program go to www.NYCOSH.org
