One of the top priorities that Local 537 has as a union is looking out for your health and safety. If you work in an unsafe condition or manner, you are much more likely to be injured on the job. All the benefits in the world don’t matter to an employee that cannot work or enjoy them. Local 537 officers work closely with employers to address any concerns over health and safety that our members have. Local 537 System Officers are currently working with Pennsylvania-American Water Company to address the escalating soft tissue incidents that are occurring. We believe that they can be prevented, and we are committed to partner with any employer that wishes to take the lead in creating a safer and healthier work environment for our members.

You, as an employee and union member, are the one most responsible for your safety while at work. No one can make you work in an environment that is unsafe. If you believe a condition poses a hazard to your health and/or safety, you should immediately take action to address your concerns. Many things can contribute to an unsafe working condition, and your surroundings and environment can change rapidly. You need to be aware of changing conditions and how they affect your work area. For example:

• Changing weather conditions
• Drop in temperature creates ice
• Rain creates unstable trench walls
• Changing traffic patterns
• Increase or decrease in staff levels
• Malfunctioning or broken equipment
• Fatigue factor, yourself or others
• Pedestrians or on-lookers

If you encounter an unsafe condition, you should immediately get yourself and your co-workers out of the situation. Make the condition as safe as possible. Notify authorities if the condition poses a threat to life. Notify your supervisor.

Local 537 has partnered with Pennsylvania-American Water to create a “Near Miss” program. It is not intended to lead to any discipline of any type, but it is designed to help prevent unsafe conditions in the future. If you are aware of a potential unsafe condition, weather you think it could recur or not, it is in all of our interests to report such conditions. Possibilities are numerous, but by example:

• Trench shoring equipment that is inadequate
• Vehicle repairs that go unaddressed
• Contractors that are working unsafely
• Improper tools or defective tools
• Ergonomic concerns inside or out
• Lighting concerns inside or out
• Management that refuses to address your concerns
• Basically, any potential unsafe condition that we can learn from

How can you notify someone?

We have created a completely anonymous form for you to use. (Click the disaster cartoon) You can certainly address your concerns publicly as well. Either way, as much detail of the situation can help prevent a recurrence. Items such as date, time, location, District, conditions at the time, number of personnel involved, or any other details that you can provide.

Again, you can use this completely anonymous form to report this if you wish. The form will be delivered to the President of Local 537, and the appropriate action will be taken to address your concerns. You can also call or email any Local 537 Officer, or notify someone in the Company’s Safety department. The Company will discuss the issue with Local 537 in an effort to mitigate the exposure.