Over the last year, MassCOSH has helped to pass legislation that provides protection to pregnant workers, increases the fines for corporate manslaughter, and extends OSHA protections to almost 430,000 public sector workers. However, this legislative session is not over yet and we still have at least three critical opportunities to…
On November 3, 2017, Antawani Wright-Davis, 19, was stuck by a dump truck and killed while working for the food delivery service DoorDash in Boston. However, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), never investigated his death. When applying to work for DoorDash, Wright-Davis had to declare himself an independent…
We are ecstatic to bring you some truly great news. On March 1, a bill expanding OSHA protections to almost 430,000 public sector and municipal workers is on its way to the Governor’s desk after it was enacted in the Senate with a 36-0 unanimous roll call vote today!!! This is…
For many women living in Massachusetts, leaving their job during pregnancy is not a financially viable option. However, many female workers worry that their employer will not provide reasonable accommodations, such as allowing more bathroom breaks, limits on heavy lifting, or private nursing spaces while they are pregnant or nursing.
Until recently, Abril (her name has been changed to protect her identity) was living a normal life as one of the hundreds of thousands of immigrants who call Greater Boston home. Washing dishes at a popular restaurant, she managed a modest living that contributed to the $4.3 billion immigrant workers…
One of MassCOSH’s newest monthly donors knows just how important safe jobs are. For 34 years, Joel Weddig worked for the Massachusetts Department of Workforce Development as an industrial hygienist, investigating deaths on the job, improving workplace indoor air quality, and ensuring business complied with OSHA regulations. …
My fellow workers' rights supporter, Every day, more people are feeling empowered to come forward and publicly address sexual harassment on the job. But what do you do to protect yourself when you feel invisible and powerless? Our community’s vulnerable, low-wage workers are especially prone to this…
For workers lucky enough to secure workers’ compensation benefits after being hurt on the job, a new hazard is emerging from the shadows: addiction to the pain medication prescribed to them. Signs of the opioid addiction in our communities are all around us, from illegal open-air drug markets to a…
On October 23, a crowd organized by MassCOSH gathered in the ornamental center of the Massachusetts State House to hear powerful pleas from the families of the late Robert Higgins and Kelvin Mattocks. Before elected officials, reporters, and TV cameras, the bereaved families demanded advocates do all they can to…
For low-wage workers, benefits after being hurt on the job seem to be anything but guaranteed. Last year, MassCOSH assisted a woman who had slipped and broken her wrist the first day working at a restaurant. Her employer had workers’ compensation insurance, but to avoid and increase in costs, denied…
You could say Jessica Tavares is a pillar of MassCOSH. Working with Teens Lead at Work (TL@W), MassCOSH's teen worker program since 2011, no one, including TL@W’s current staff, has been involved with the program for as long. Now, before embarking on starting her career with the Boston Public School…
School nurses are more than just the caring providers of cold compresses and a cot to rest on when students are not feeling great. These healthcare workers are also critical players in the fight to improve indoor environmental conditions in Massachusetts’ crumbling schools. School nurses are essential…