A recent Environmental Health and Safety Meeting was held on November 7, 2006.  The NCC administration and the various union representatives were present as V.P. Beverly Harrison chaired the meeting.  These meetings happen on a regular basis and allow the administration to inform the college employees through their union representatives as to the health and safety improvements that are ongoing at NCC.  It also allows the union representatives to inform the administration about the health and safety concerns that their members have brought to their attention.

 Administration representatives informed those in attendance about the following: 

a)      The hiring of a hazardous waste manager for the Environmental Health and Safety of those on campus.

b)      The revision of the fire drill scheduling as well as the monitoring and retraining of all the employees with respect to fire drills.

c)      There were several instances of student violence on campus.  One was the assault of a male student by what appeared to be four non-students who were allegedly summoned by a disruptive female student.  In addition, a mentally ill student appears to have pulled 15 false fire alarms over several days.

d)      The expected presence of peace officers on campus in 2007 to improve safety at the college.

e)      The replacement of a Theatre Department classroom trailer after three years of use where staff and students were subjected to water leaks and had experienced mold and respiratory problems.  This replacement was finally agreed to only when a professor’s foot went through the rotted out floor.

a)      The title replacement in F cluster.

b)      The start of window replacement in those buildings where needed.

      c)       The upgrading of the fire alarm system on campus.

d)      The replacement of the plaza area in two phases.

e)      The repair and/or replacement of sidewalks as well as the repaving of roads where needed.

f)        The hiring of new security contractors to expand the monitoring of the parking areas with enhanced security cameras.

g)      The concern to curtail smoking at Nassau Community College, a designated smoke free campus.

h)      The health problems associated with pigeons and dead birds on campus.

In an effort to better inform the NCC staff about the health and safety concerns that the members of the NCCFT, AFA and CSEA have, these unions have decided to issue a joint health and safety newsletter to address these matters.  If you observe a health or safety situation that negatively impacts staff or students and requires correction, bring it to the union’s attention so that the college administration can be notified to remediate it in a timely fashion.