NY Launches Construction Suicide Pilot Program

A new pilot program by New York’s State Office of Mental Health is aimed at boosting mental wellness Albany-area construction workers.
Developed by the agency’s Suicide Prevention Center, the Building Hope Through Action program is part of a broader initiative is aimed at decreasing stigma around mental health and increasing the use of resources to reduce suicide risk.
It is funded as part of a five-year, $4.8 million grant through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The effort will focus on construction workers in Albany, Schenectady, Saratoga and Rensselaer counties.
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Wisconsin animal food producer Strauss Feeds faces $161,332 in proposed penalties after OSHA inspectors cited the company for 19 serious and five other-than-serious safety and health violations.
Inspectors in a February inspection found Strauss exposed employees to risks of explosions, fires and long-term respiratory illnesses from excessive amounts of airborne dust.
“OSHA inspectors found the company’s poor housekeeping, its failure to evaluate spaces for dust hazards, and an absence of engineering controls to reduce dust, created serious combustible and airborne dust hazards,” according to the agency’s statement.
“That’s a pretty significant number of violations,” Department of Labor spokesperson Scott Allen told the Watertown Daily Times.
Strauss Feeds, which makes milk replacer for calves and other young animals, didn’t develop a written respiratory protection program that includes medical evaluations, fit-testing, monitoring and training workers to recognize dust hazards.
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A Utah sheriffs group said OSHA’s proposed Emergency Response Standard would be a crippling financial burden on the state’s 29 counties.
The Utah Sheriffs Association cited the costs of training and safety requirements for volunteer firefighters and search and rescue workers.
“It would severely cripple our organization. Most of it comes down to resources and money,” said Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith, president of the Utah Sheriffs Association.
Smith said OSHA is focused on more urban, eastern states where paid firefighters often respond to search and rescue calls, which often have a much different challenge than what Western states face.
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Meanwhile, the Firefighters Association of the State of New York is voicing similar sentiment, saying some of the new requirements include fire departments replacing their turnout gear every 10 years.
That gear can cost about $4,000 per person and if members are taking care of the gear, and at times, that replacement timing is unnecessary.
“In the proposal rule with OSHA, a lot of the stuff is equal,” North Tonawanda Fire Department Assistant Chief Kyle Stevener said. “It could add upwards of $60,000 to our budget, which we may or may not have. So it is a big undertaking.”
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