Corona Virus Update 6/3

Today  we delivered much needed PPE to the Backus Nurses. 

Speaking of the Backus Nurses, President Sherri Dayton joined AFT CT president Jan Hochadel on an AFT national Webinar on reopening safety yesterday.

Today we also put out a statement on Floyd George’s death. 

We are 87 days since our first confirmed Covid case in Connecticut and 14 days into our reopening. 

The Numbers continue to improve. Hospitalizations down 28 to 406. Remember, the high was almost 2000. 

17 deaths, which is relatively low (although sad), for a total of 3,972. (Also sad)

Out of 5824 tested today, 112 positive, also a downward trend.   

Lastly, a message from one of our field reps on why it is so important to file for Workmans’ Compensation if you become sick at work. We have filed staff and lawyers to help you. 

Good evening all, in concern for everyone’s health and safety, we want to assure that everyone who is exposed to COVID is reporting the incidents as promptly and as detailed as possible. For those that have survived we are thankful, however we do not know at this time what the long term effects may be. We want to assure that members are documenting all incidents of exposure or lack of sufficient PPE.

As we learn from HISTORY it shows employers are not always the best source of information about workplace safety. Unfortunately, it is often years before the long-term effects start to show up later in life.  Below are five examples of workplace generated diseases that workers were told not to worry about at the time. Until evidence later proved otherwise. 

Erethism, also known as erethism mercurialis, mad hatter disease, or mad hatter syndrome, is a neurological disorder which affects the whole central nervous system, as well as a symptom complex, derived from mercury poisoning.

Pneumoconiosis (CWP), also known as black lung disease or black lung, is caused by long-term exposure to coal dust. It is common in coal miners and others who work with coal. It is similar to both silicosis from inhaling silica dust and asbestos dust.

Asbestosis is a lung disease that develops when asbestos fibers cause scarring in your lungs. The scarring restricts your breathing and interferes with the ability of oxygen to enter your bloodstream. Other names for this disease are pulmonary fibrosis and interstitial pneumonitis.

Radium Poisoning: The Radium Girls were female factory workers who contracted radiation poisoning from painting watch dials with self-luminous paint. The painting was done by women at three different United States Radium factories, and the term now applies to the women working at the facilities: The women in each facility had been told the paint was harmless.

Silicosis is a form of occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of crystalline silica dust.

As an example:

Lewis Carroll’s 1865 novel “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” famously features an eccentric character called the Hatter, who’s referred to in the story as “mad” and became popularly known as the Mad Hatter. However, the phrase “mad as a hatter,” used to describe someone who’s crazy or prone to unpredictable behavior, didn’t originate with Carroll. Instead, the expression is linked to the hat-making industry and mercury poisoning. In the 18th and 19th centuries, industrial workers used a toxic substance, mercury nitrate, as part of the process of turning the fur of small animals, such as rabbits, into felt for hats. Workplace safety standards often were lax and prolonged exposure to mercury caused employees to develop a variety of physical and mental ailments, including tremors (dubbed “hatter’s shakes”), speech problems, emotional instability and hallucinations.

Thank you,

 In Solidarity,

 Terry Meadows

Be well,

John