Page 6 - New England Condominium January 2020

6 NEW ENGLAND CONDOMINIUM
-JANUARY 2020
NEWENGLANDCONDO.COM
MANAGEMENT
Staff Safety 101
Protecting Employees in Your Building
BY DARCEY GERSTEIN
With few exceptions, most multifam-
ily buildings or communities have at least performing servicing and maintenance nance workers, window cleaners, security LLP cites a large employer that devoted
one or two staff members (and some-
times many more) who maintain the training in the control of hazardous en-
safety, security, cleanliness, mechanical ergy. It is their employer’s responsibility
operations, and day-to-day functions that to ensure the workers are trained on the retirement planning, wage negotiations, training on boiler operations. Full-length
residents and visitors rely on. But who en-
sures the safety and security of the staff offers free, confidential onsite safety and provides its members, 32BJ offers more quarterly. Some of the most popular of-
themselves? What systems and protocols health consultation services.” More infor-
are in place to address how employees can mation is available at www.osha.gov.
keep themselves—and each other—safe
on the job?
New England Condominium
to ensure that OSHA standards are fol-
went behind the acronyms to find out.
OSHA
Workplaces throughout the United ous hazards and to inform OSHA when pass a series of training courses certifying conditions on your property is to keep
States and its territories are subject to the they believe an employer is not compli-
Occupational Safety and Health Admin-
istration (OSHA), overseen by the U.S. drop-in inspections only when there is an rope skills.
Department of Labor. According to the imminent or obvious hazard, an injury or
OSHA website, “OSHA creates and en-
forces regulatory standards that require tative files a complaint.
certain precautions to be taken in order to
ensure the safety and health of workers.”
OSHA regulations are the primary on-site,” says Kate Ferranti of SEIU Lo-
worker safety statutes in the U.S., says cal 32BJ, the Service Employees Interna-
Matthew Persanis, a partner with Elefante tional Union, which represents building managers can benefit from health and problem an association can run into is if
& Persanis, LLP, a labor, employment, workers throughout the Mid-Atlantic and safety training to avoid accidents, and it misclassifies someone,” explains Clif-
and real estate law firm in Scarsdale, New New England. “They can inspect a condo any such training plans are determined ford J. Treese, CIRMS, president of As-
York, who is also labor counsel to a num-
ber of employer associations. “If a build-
ing complies with OSHA regulations, they lack of training or if a hazardous condi-
are complying with what they need to.”
Part of keeping employees safe is mak-
ing sure they’re properly trained for the
tasks expected of them. According to Manager of Program Development for charge at various locations throughout ers’ compensation, there’s a front-end
an OSHA spokesperson, “Property staff the 32BJ Training Fund, the union has the jurisdictions of its membership, as premium that’s rated retrospectively. The
must have training appropriate for the more than 175,000 members, making it well as online. The Training Fund will association must provide its payroll info
types of jobs and tasks they are perform-
ing. If they work on electrical equipment, the United States. Nearly 20,000 of those ing if the circumstances warrant it. For the workers’ compensation policy year,
they need to be qualified. If they work members work in Massachusetts, Rhode example, Robert Sparer, a partner with it could turn out that, were an employee
with chemicals, they need to be trained in Island, and New Hampshire, and include the New York-based labor and employ-
the safe use of those chemicals. If they are cleaners, doormen, porters, mainte-
on equipment, it is possible they will need guards, superintendents, and theater and an entire floor of one of their buildings
hazards to which they are exposed. OSHA and collective advocacy that the union courses run for 11 weeks and are offered
It is the responsibility of the employer multiemployer Training Fund—many of trol, and Electricity Basics.
lowed and maintained; it is the respon-
sibility of the employee to call out seri-
ant. OSHA compliance officers perform job, such as suspended scaffold safety and beyond just doing the right thing for the
fatality, or if a worker or worker represen-
“OSHA’s role is to enforce the rules volved to some degree in upholding and compensation and employer’s liability in-
that apply to any work being performed advocating for better, safer conditions for surance; the association must apply the
if there is a history of accidents there, or by the individual residential buildings. If sociation Data, Inc. in Mountain House,
if an employee files a complaint regarding the employees are participants in the 32BJ California. “For example, a clerical class
tion exists.”
32BJ
According to James Barry, Senior
the largest property workers’ union in even set up remote locations for train-
stadium workers.
In addition to the healthcare benefits, as part of their employee use and safety
than 200 educational courses and certi-
fications through its jointly administered Buildings, CPR/AED, Air Pollution Con-
which have a strong safety-related com-
ponent. To be qualified as a window
cleaner, for example, a candidate must son for insisting on and maintaining safe
them to carry out different aspects of the people from getting hurt, period. But
In fact, safety is such a tremendously and legal angles to the equation as well.
important factor in any residential op-
eration that unions are nearly always in-
workers and residents alike. According to correct class codes that correspond to
Ferranti, “All staff members and property the role of the person hired. “The biggest
Training Fund, there are classes that in-
clude significant content on training, in-
cluding Industrial Training.”
The 32BJ courses are offered free of come with a higher premium. With work-
ment law firm Clifton Budd & DeMaria,
to erect a mock-up of a boiler to serve
ferings include Fire Safety for Residential
Insurance Considerations
Of course, the main, overarching rea-
right reasons, there are some financial
If your association has its own employees,
it’s not enough to simply have worker’s
when it’s actually a maintenance person
walking around with a hammer and saw
in their hand—a class code which would
and job classification, and at the end of
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