CDC safety workers worry job cuts could hurt workplace protections
Channel 2's Michael Doudna spoke Tuesday with three employees of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, who are set to be terminated in less than two weeks.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
NIOSH is part of the CDC, and its staff checks for safety hazards such as chemicals and vehicle hazards, research aimed at saving lives.
Their workforce will be drastically cut soon, and they fear it could impact protections for workers.
For decades, employees at NIOSH have tried to make workplaces safer.
'We look at, of course, construction, that area,' said Anita Jones with NIOSH. 'We look at firefighters. We look at mining. We look at healthcare.'
'There are a lot of things that can harm a worker in the United States,' said Nicholas Coombs with NIOSH. 'You can get sick from pesticides. You can get sick from a chronic disease like cancer.'
On April 1, more than half of the institution learned their jobs were on the chopping block, cut in the name of efficiency.
'All of us believe that when it's your job on the line, it's an emotional thing,' said Josh McKoon, Georgia Republican Party chairman.
He says cuts need to be made for the fiscal health of the country, and not cutting jobs could lead to an economic catastrophe.
'Those consequences far outweigh the programmatic impacts on any of these agencies,' he said.
But for those with NIOSH, they worry the cuts will not only hurt the agency, but workers everywhere.
'It harms the American workplace, it harms the American industry,' Coombs said. 'It no longer puts protections in place for if and when the other shoe drops.
Unless the federal government reverses course, those on the chopping block will lose their jobs on June 2.
TRENDING STORIES:
Georgia Tech student dies after being shot in the head at off-campus apartment
Canton man found guilty of burning boy with cigarette
20 parks to close on Lake Lanier
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
UPI
28 minutes ago
- UPI
More than 700 HHS staffers tell Kennedy to end fake info spreading
1 of 2 | U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified in May at a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing in the Dirksen Senate office building in Washington, DC. Over 700 HHS currenty and former HHS workers are calling on Kennedy to stop spreading false health statistics and protect public health sector professionals. File Photo by Annabelle Gordon/UPI | License Photo Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Hundreds of staff from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told Congress that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is sharing false health info with the public and called on him to step up protection of public health professionals. They accused Kennedy of complicity in "dismantling America's public health infrastructure and endangering the nation's health." More than 750 current and former HHS employees on Wednesday called on Kennedy to stop "spreading inaccurate health information" and prioritize the safety of public servants in the health sector in the wake of this month's fatal shooting at the Atlanta headquarters of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "The attack came amid growing mistrust in public institutions, driven by politicized rhetoric that has turned public health professionals from trusted experts into targets of villainization," the letter to members of Congress read in part. "And now, violence," it added. The "Save HHS" crew accused Kennedy, 71, of endangering the lives of his HHS employees with his own words and rhetoric, and pointed to multiple specific accusations in the letter of Kennedy doing so in the public square. According to law enforcement, the alleged shooter was skeptical of the COVID-19 vaccine and assumed he was harmed by it. He fired hundreds of rounds with about 200 striking six different CDC facilities across its Atlanta campus. CDC Director Susan Monarez told HHS staffers during a 10,000-person virtual call the danger of misinformation had "now led to deadly consequences." Kennedy met with Monarez two days after the shooting. The HHS crew noted the recent CDC attack on Aug. 8, where DeKalb County police officer David Rose was fatally shot was "not random." "If the very people that are supposed to be protecting Americans are not safe, then no American is safe," Dr. Anne Schuchat, former principal deputy director of the CDC, said in a statement. The letter also noted the HHS workforce wanted to honor Rose and his memory. But it also pointed to fears of "retaliation" and issues of "personal safety." "We sign this declaration in our own personal capacities, on our personal time, and without the use of government equipment, as protected by our First Amendment rights," they stated. Health experts and other officials have rung alarm bells over Kennedy's deployment of health data universally known as false for years, even before U.S. President Donald Trump nominated Kennedy to be the nation's health chief. Wednesday's letter follows a similar letter to Congress in January signed by more than 17,000 U.S. doctors via the Chicago-based Committee to Protect Health Care, which stated Kennedy was a danger to America's national healthcare system.
San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
South Lake Tahoe resident tests positive for bubonic plague, first local case since 2020
A South Lake Tahoe resident has tested positive for plague, health officials confirmed Tuesday — the first reported human case in El Dorado County since 2020. The individual is receiving medical care and recovering at home, according to the El Dorado County Department of Public Health. Officials believe the person was likely bitten by an infected flea while camping in the South Lake Tahoe area. 'Plague is naturally present in many parts of California, including higher elevation areas of El Dorado County, said Kyle Fliflet, El Dorado County's acting health director. 'It's important that individuals take precautions for themselves and their pets when outdoors, especially while walking, hiking and or camping in areas where wild rodents are present.' Plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, is most often transmitted by fleas that spread the disease when they bite wild rodents. Domestic cats and dogs can also carry plague-infected fleas into homes, officials said. Symptoms typically appear within two weeks of exposure and include fever, nausea, weakness and swollen lymph nodes. The disease is rare but potentially deadly if left untreated. It can be effectively treated with antibiotics if caught early. Between 2021 and 2024, 41 rodents tested positive for exposure to the bacterium, and four more have tested positive so far this year, according to county health officials. While human cases are uncommon — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports an average of seven cases annually in the United States, mostly in rural western states — recent incidents underscore the risk.
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Deadly NYC Legionnaires' disease outbreak fueled by negligence, lawsuit says
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump has filed lawsuits against two construction companies over what he called a "completely preventable" outbreak of Legionnaires' disease that has killed five people and sickened more than 100 others in New York City. Legionnaires' disease is a severe pneumonia caused by a type of bacteria called Legionella, which grows in warm or hot water, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An outbreak of the disease, which began on July 25, has been clustered across five zip codes in Central Harlem. The city health department said the outbreak is linked to cooling towers, heat exchangers that use fans and water to cool down buildings. On Aug. 14, health officials confirmed that 12 cooling towers at buildings including NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem tested positive for the Legionella bacteria. Crump and other attorneys filed complaints on behalf of two construction workers who were hospitalized with Legionnaire's disease in July after working near the hospital in Harlem, according to a news release. Crump said the legal team has also filed a notice of claim and intend to sue the city as well. "It is believed that the cooling towers at Harlem Hospital were filled with rainwater after several large July storms," the release said. "The water was left untreated, which permitted bacteria to spread causing workers at the site to become sick." Construction companies, city accused of negligence Crump accused Skanska USA Building, Inc., Rising Sun Construction LLC and the city of negligence at a news conference on Aug. 20, announcing the lawsuits. The attorneys said the construction companies were put on notice about the possibility of Legionella bacteria through bulletins after the storms, but failed to take action to keep those working near the hospital safe. "When corporations cut corners, tragedies like this happen. Preventable tragedies, unnecessary tragedies," Crump said. Crump said the lawsuit is seeking not only compensation for the workers but also accountability and answers about why this outbreak occurred in Harlem — a historically Black neighborhood in Upper Manhattan. Skanska and Rising Sun did not immediatedly respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY. When asked about Crump's claims about the source of the outbreak, a spokesperson for the city's health department said the investigation is ongoing. "Molecular testing may help us determine which cooling tower — or cooling towers — were the source of the bacteria in the Central Harlem cluster," spokesperson Chantal Gomez said in a statement. "The Public Health Lab is still determining a match through DNA sequencing and we expect final results soon.' Electrian describes gasping for air while hospitalized with Legionnaire's Nunzio Quinto, a union electrian who worked at a ground-up construction of the NewYork City Public Health Laboratory, a 10-story facility adjacent to the hospital complex, said he thought he had food poisoning when he first started feeling lethargic in late July. Quinto said his family took him to the hospital, where he was immediately diagnosed with Legionnaire's disease. He suffered breathing problems, pain and internal bleeding during a five-day stay in the hospital, but said his coworkers weren't notified of his illness. "I want answers to what's going on. I can't have a safe place to work? This is New York City," Quinto said at the news conference. Contributing: Thao Nguyen
