Local 3109

Local 3109's Health and Safety Committee is responsible for making sure that each employer is complying with it's legal obligation to provide a workplace environment free of recognized hazards likely to cause serious physical harm or death. It is the committee written into our Working Agreements and works with the Company in ensuring the safety of all our members in the office or the field.

Safety Links

CWA National Safety and Health

AFL-CIO Safety and Health

Mesothelioma

OSHA

Florida - Snake & Insect bites

Reporting Accidents and Personal Injuries

Over the last quarter, the Health and Safety Committee has become aware of a very disturbing trend that is affecting both technical and clerical employees. There has been a significant number of personal injuries that were not immediately reported to management in other locals. This resulted in discipline for Misconduct in failing to report the accident in a timely manner. It is AT&T's policy that all injuries be reported immediately. We believe that the failure to report these injuries resulted from a fear of discipline for the accident. While this is a valid concern, there are a couple of misconceptions that we would like to clear up.

All employees should know the difference in First Aid and Personal Injury. First Aid consists of treatment and follow-up visits for the treatment of minor cuts, scratches, burns, splinters, etc., even if rendered by a doctor. This would include X-rays, tetanus shots, butterfly and ace bandages. The accident becomes a personal injury if you take a prescription, (even samples), if there is a loss of consciousness, if you miss days away from work, or if work has been restricted. In all personal injury incidents, there should be an accident investigation, which would afford you the opportunity to explain what happened. There should always be a member of the CWA Safety Committee at this meeting.

We stress the importance of reporting the injury immediately and seeking First Aid. Make sure your injury isn't severe and then you can make a decision about your treatment. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call the local and ask to speak to a member of the safety committee, who will assist you

	Current Safety Issues
Network	Issue	What you can do
Anyone who opens a CEV	A design flaw in the supporting mechanism of the hinges on CEVs are causing some to break or give way causing the hatch to close suddenly. This is compounded by the height of the exterior lip and the position of the ladder.	Adhere to all safety practices for CEV environments. This means, among other things, wear your hardhat because they have already saved a few techs from busting their heads open when all 300 lbs of the hatch came crashing down. If you find one of these defective CEVs, please contact Building Services at (888) 330-2737.
Anyone who drives a Company vehicle	Employees are being disciplined for talking on cell phones while driving.	Pull over or let it go to voicemail. Period.
Anyone who drives a Company vehicle	Employees are being disciplined for damage to vehicles (blown engines) for running out of fluids in the summer heat.	Make sure you're checking all fluids (i.e., oil, water, radiator, etc) every time you gas up as they deplete faster in the summer.
Anyone who touches Crossboxes and RT's or VRAD boxes	Numerous Black widows, Brown Recluse and Snakes are found inside these boxes. The Local wants all outside techs who don't know how to recognize venomous snakes and spiders to have this information available.	Take a look at this link to get more info on snake and insect bites. The pictures below show one of the snakes and poisonous spiders.

Copperhead	Cottonmouth	Diamondback Rattlesnake

Brown recluse	Black Widow
Everyone	Poison Ivy, Oak and Sumac are everywhere. Some people have a died from coming in contact with these plants.	Click here to learn more and see pictures of plants you need to avoid.

Poison Ivy	Poison Sumac	Poison Oak
Poison ivy is a woody shrub or vine with hairy looking aerial roots. It grows to 10 feet or more, climbing high on trees, walls and fences or trails along the ground. All parts of poison ivy, including the roots, are poisonous at all times of the year. They may flourish in the deep woods, where soil moisture is plentiful, or in very dry soil on the most exposed hillsides. Plants are most frequently abundant along old fence rows and edges of paths and roadways.	Poison sumac grows as a course woody shrub or small tree and never in the vinelike form of its poison ivy relatives. This plant is also known as swamp sumac, poison elder, poison ash, poison dogwood and thunderwood. It does not have variable forms, such as occur in poison ivy. This shrub is usually associated with swamps and bogs. It grows most commonly along the margin of an area of wet acid soil. Mature plants range in height from 5 to 6 feet to small trees that may reach 25 feet. Poison sumac shrubs usually do not have a symmetrical treelike appearance. Usually, they lean and have branched stems with about the same diameter from ground level to middle height.	Poison oak is more distinctive than some other types of ivy. Some people call it oak leaf ivy while others call it oak leaf poison ivy. Poison oak usually does not climb as a vine, but occurs as a low growing shrub. Stems generally grow upright. Leaflets occur in threes, as in other ivy, but are lobed, somewhat as the leaves of some kinds of oak. The middle leaflet usually is lobed alike on both margins and resembles a small oak leaf, while the two lateral leaflets are often irregularly lobed. The range in size of leaves varies considerably, even on the same plant
Everyone who drives a Company Vehicle	Other drivers see the Company logo and get dollar signs in their eyes and would love nothing more than to smack into your truck and act like they're dying so they can get a settlement and a load of money. Employees are being suspended and worse for accidents that aren't their fault.	Remember every time you get into that truck that you are a moving target. Use every bit of your driving training to keep out of harm's way. Use your peripheral vision and don't be too proud to get eye exams more often. Stay alert. Do your Circle check and ALWAYS put out your cones. Watch out for kids who aren't in school right now.