ARTICLE 9
SAFETY AND HEALTH

Section 1 - Working Conditions:

A.  The District shall provide and maintain safe and healthful working conditions for all employees as required by applicable laws. It is understood that the District may exceed standards established by regulations consistent with the objectives set by law. The Employer will make every effort to provide and maintain safe working conditions. AFSCME will cooperate in these efforts by encouraging its members to work in a safe manner and to obey established safety practices and regulations.

B.  Matters involving safety and health will be governed by the D.C. Occupational Safety and Health Plan in accordance with Subchapter XXI of the Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act (1980, as amended). The District will promptly make every effort to qualify its plan under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as established by the U.S. Department of Labor.

C.  The District shall furnish and maintain each work place in accordance with standards provided within this Section.

Section 2 - Employees Working Alone:
Employees shall not be required to work alone in areas beyond the call, observation or periodic check of others where dangerous chemicals, explosives, toxic gases, radiation, laser light, high voltage or rotary machinery are to be handled, or in known dangerous situations whenever the health and safety of an employee would be endangered by working alone.

Section 3 - Corrective Actions:

A.  If an employee observes a condition, which he or she, believes to be unsafe, the employee should report the condition to the immediate supervisor.

B.  If the supervisor and employee agree that a condition constitutes an immediate hazard to the health and safety of the employee, the supervisor shall take immediate precautions to protect the employee.

C.  If the supervisor and employee do not agree that a condition constitutes an immediate hazard to the health and safety of the employee, the matter may be immediately referred by the employee to the next level supervisor or designee. The supervisor or designee shall meet as soon as possible with the employee and his or her AFSCME representative, and shall make a determination.

D.  Employees shall not be required to operate equipment that has been determined by the Employer or the appropriate D.C. Safety Officer to be unsafe to use, when by doing so they might injure themselves or others.

Section 4 - Medical Service: On-the-Job Injury:

A.  The District shall make first-aid kits reasonably available for use in case of on-the-job injuries. If additional treatment appears to be necessary, the District shall arrange immediately for transportation to an appropriate medical facility.

B.  The need for additional first-aid kits will be an appropriate issue for Safety Committee determination. Recommendations of the Safety Committee will be referred to the appropriate agency officials.

Section 5- Safety Devices and Equipment:
Protective devices and protective equipment shall be provided by the District and shall be used by the employees.

Section 6- Safety Training:

A.  The District shall provide safety training to employees as necessary for performance of their job. Issues involving safety training maybe presented to the Safety Committee established in Section 8(A).

B.  The District shall provide CPR training to all employees who request such training.

Section 7 - Information on Toxic Substances:
Employees who have been identified by the Safety Committee and the Department or District Safety Officer as having been exposed to a toxic substance (including, but not limited to asbestos) in sufficient quantity or duration to meet District Government standards shall receive appropriate health screening. In the absence of District Government standards, the Safety Committee and Safety Officer will refer to standards established by other appropriate authorities such as OSHA, NIOSH or the EPA.

Section 8 - Safety Committees:

A.  A Safety Committee of three (3) representatives from AFSCME and three (3) representatives from the District is hereby established in each department/agency.

B.  One (1) AFSCME and one (1) District representative shall each serve as co-chairpersons of the Committee. The Agency’s Risk Management official shall serve on the Safety Committee as one of the Agency’s representative.

C.  The Safety Committee shall:

1. Meet on a monthly basis, unless mutually agreed otherwise. Prior to regularly scheduled monthly meeting, labor and management must submit their respective agendas to each other at least five (5) days in advance;

2. Conduct safety surveys, consider training needs, and make recommendations to the agency/department head and the Office of Risk Management;

3. Make recommendations to the Office of Risk Management and department/agency heads; and,

4. Receive appropriate health and safety training.

D.  Final reports or responses from agency/department heads (or designees) shall be provided to the Safety Committee within a reasonable period of time on safety matters initiated by the Committee.

E.  In departments/agencies where there is more than one Local Union, there shall be a safety committee for each Local Union, unless otherwise agreed upon.

F.  Safety Committees may be reorganized upon agreement of both parties.

Section 9 - Medical Qualification Requirements:
The District agrees to abide by the provisions of chapter 8, Sections 848.19 and 848.20 of the D.C. Personnel Regulations as published in the D.C. Register, Volume 32, April 5, 1985 (32 DCR 1858, 1911).

Section 10- Light Duty:

A.  The District agrees to provide light duty assignments for Employees injured on the job to the extent that such light duty is available as follows:

1. To be eligible for light duty, the employee must be certified by the employee’s attending physician. The certification must identify the employee’s impairments and the type of light duty he or she is capable of performing.

2. The Employee will be given light duty assignments for which he or she is qualified, initially within his or her own Bureau or organizational unit. If light duty is not available within the Bureau or organizational unit, suitable work will be sought elsewhere in the department/agency.

3. Light duty assignments shall not normally extend beyond 45 working days. –However, if there are no other requests for light duty, this period maybe extended until such time as the request is made by another employee. Employees unable to perform their regularly assigned duties after the expiration of that time shall make application for disability compensation or exercise such other options as may be available to employees under the provisions of this Agreement or under law, and in accordance with paragraph 5 below.

4. Where there are more requests for light duty than there are light duty assignments, assignments shall be made in the order of earlier date of request.

5. When light duty is not available, an employee must return to full duty or seek compensation or retirement from appropriate channels or other assistance as may be available in accordance with Section 9. In the event compensation or retirement is not approved, the employee may be required to take a fitness for duty examination and may be separated if (a) found unfit to perform or (b) found fit but refuses to report for full duty.

Section 11 - Excessive Temperatures in Buildings:
Employees, other than those determined by the Employer to be essential, shall be released from duty or reassigned to other duties of a similar nature at a suitably temperate site because of excessively hot or cold conditions in the building. This determination will be made by the Employer as expeditiously as possible and shall be based upon existing procedures. In lieu of dismissal, the Employer may reassign employees to other duties of similar nature at a suitably temperate site. The cost of authorized transportation will be assumed by the Employer. Administrative leave will be granted if authorized by the Mayor or his or her designee.

Section 12 - Employee Health Services:
Employees covered by this Agreement shall have access to employee health services provided by the Employer consistent with the Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act (D.C. Law 2-139). Employee health services shall include such services as provisions for emergency diagnosis and emergency treatment of illness, physical examination including, but not limited to, pre-employment, fitness for duty or disability retirement evaluation; treatment of minor illness; preventive services; health information to assist employees to protect, conserve, and improve physical and mental health; and counseling and appropriate referrals to the D.C. Consultation and Counseling Service.

Section 13 - Maintenance of Health Records:
Medical records of employees shall be maintained in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 31 of the D.C. Government regulations that maintain confidentiality of those records. Medical records shall not be disclosed to anyone except in compliance with applicable rules relating to disclosure of information. Copies of rules relating to medical information will be made available to AFSCME.

Section 14:

A.  The Employer agrees to follow Mayor’s order 87-95 regarding ergonomic policy for use of video display terminals.

VDT continuous users who operate a VDT for more than two continuous hours shall be allowed to move out of their chairs for brief periods to perform other tasks as specified by their supervisor.

B.  If a pregnant employee, who is a continuous VDT user, submits a medical statement from her physician which recommends limiting her use of the VDT during the term of her pregnancy because of exposure to radiation, reasonable consideration will be given to providing the employee with other available duties, within the work unit, for which she is qualified and which her doctor certifies that she can perform.

Section 15:
The Employer agrees to provide the Union with a copy of all current D.C. Safety officers, and revisions as they occur.