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The Federal Government has promulgated worker safety laws that the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration enforces in New York State with regard to private employers.  These same worker safety laws apply to public employers through a program called PESH administrated by the New York State Department of Labor. For more, click on the following links:

• Conflicts of Law (Click Here)
• OSHA is asking. Will FDNY answer? (Click Here)
• New York State Labor Law 27-a(3)(a) Duties (Click Here)
• The basic right of all employees to work in an environment that is free from hazards and risks (Click Here)
• New York State Labor Law 27-a Legislative History (Click Here)
• Part 800 of the Code of Rules and Regulations of the State of New York (Click Here)
• New York State Labor Law §241(6) (Click Here)
  

Note that in addition to enforcing OSHA's worker safety laws with regard to public employers, the NYS Department of Labor is one of the Regulators for the deconstruction - decontamination of 130 Liberty Street (Click Here).

One of the private employers at 130 Liberty Street was a company known as Tyler-Conner Inc. dba Eddington & Assoc. Security [hereinafter, Eddington].  They provided perimeter security for 130 Liberty Street.  Being a private employer they fell under US DOL OSHA jurisdiction not the jurisdiction of the NYS DOL.  

On September 26, 2006, OSHA initiated an inspection of Eddington.  In what was OSHA interested? 

Hmmm.  The "employer's site-specific training program"; "site orientation training"; "employees not expected to enter the building"; "put their employees through the full site orientation training".  Hmmm. 

What was Eddington's defense?

After OSHA showed an interest, what did Eddington do?

 What was OSHA's view of the defense? OSHA issued two citations against Eddington. The first citation is as follows:

 The Second Citation is as follows:

Do you see the references to the "CFR"s in the two citations.  CFR stands for Code of Federal Regulations.  These are Federal laws implemented in New York State with regard to public employees via the New York State Department of Labor's PESH program.  FDNY Headquarters is forbidden under these and other CFRs and NYS Statutes from sending firefighters into a toxic building without providing them with information about the hazards and  site-specific training. Notice the words in the second citation "at the time of their initial assignment".  Recall that Captain Peter Bosco arrived at the Ten House in late December 2006 early January 2007.  At the time of his "initial assignment" FDNY Headquarters was supposed to provide him with the proper information about the toxins at 130 Liberty Street and provide him with site-specific training if - and this is a big if - if FDNY Headquarters expected him and his men to enter the toxic Deutsche Bank Building on a regular basis to conduct inspections. 

How much information about the toxins and how much site-specific training do you think Captain Peter Bosco and his men received from FDNY Headquarters at the time of Captain Peter Bosco's "initial assignment" to the Ten House?

Would we surprise you by telling you he and his men received zilch, nadda, zip, nothing from FDNY Headquarters? Would we surprise you by telling you that he and his men from the time Captain Peter Bosco arrived at the Ten House to the August 18, 2007 tragic fire never received any information on the toxins at 130 Liberty St and never received any "site-specific" training about 130 Liberty St from FDNY Headquarters?

Isn't it fair to say that if FDNY Headquarters truly wanted the Ten House to inspect the toxic Deutsche Bank Building, FDNY Headquarters would have supplied the proper information about the toxins and provided the appropriate site-specific training? Can we not infer from the failure of FDNY Headquarters to supply the proper information about the toxins and any site-specific training that FDNY Headquarters did not expect the Ten House to inspect the toxic Deutsche Bank Building? Or is FDNY Headquarters as crazy as they are depicted in the story of the Chernobyl Firefighters (Click Here)?  Isn't it time for FDNY Headquarters to give the speech suggested in our prior blog (Click Here) ?

Recall that we have talked about the current effort of FDNY and NYS DOL to put a plan together with regard to FDNY inspections of the toxic Deutsche Bank Building (Click Here).   Here is an excerpt from the 10/9/2007 Weinlein Memo

NYS DOL is supposed to protect the employees of FDNY from their employer under PESH.  That is why NYS DOL is involved.  But does NYS DOL have a conflict of interest?  NYS DOL is one of the "Regulators" for the decontamination - deconstruction of the toxic Deutsche Bank Building.  FDNY is not. NYS DOL presumably understood that the decontamination - deconstruction of the toxic Deutsche Bank Building was not an FDNY project and hence did not come forward earlier with a Health and Safety Plan (a HASP) to protect firefighters during their inspections.  There weren't going to be any FDNY inspections so there was no need to come up with a HASP.  However, the Governor of the State of New York has made NYS DOL subordinate to LMDC.  Let me excerpt a portion of executive order #128 of the Governor of the State of New York [The entire executive order can be viewed with a (Click Here)]

 Are we now seeing an attempt by the 800 pound guerilla (Click Here) to run roughshod over NYS DOL in attempt to divert NYS DOL from its duty to safeguard the health and safety of the workers at 130 Liberty Street and in the surrounding neighborhoods? Is LMDC trying to do an end run around US EPA while simultaneously trying to push the NYS DOL on the path it wants?  Recall US EPA's recent comment about LMDC in the following excerpt [For the whole thing, (Click Here)]:

We hope and pray that FDNY Headquarters and NYS DOL finally come up with a plan to safeguard the local firefighters who are now - belatedly - charged with the responsibility of  performing a fire prevention function at the toxic Deutsche Bank Building. However, DEEP THROAT has told FREEPETEY.com that some glitches have arisen.  Fire Chiefs have been complaining on the record that there are still no guidelines for inspecting buildings under asbestos abatement.  Temporary guidelines in October of 2007 call for Firefighters to avoid "localized" toxic areas.  However, if the toxicity is significant or entails the entire building - like 130 Liberty Street - FDNY's Haz-Mat unit ought to be called in. However, FDNY's Haz-Mat unit is having difficulty dedicating resources to inspections. FDNY Headquarters is trying to train its local firehouses. However, this has become difficult because of relocations and runs by the local firehouses being trained.  Moreover, fire chiefs are asking on the record whether the training is according to any recognized standard. FreePetey.com is asking its own questions: is the training "site specific" or merely "general" and whether FDNY Headquarters is disseminating info about the toxins that local FDNY firefighters are facing.  Recall how this article started with the case of OSHA vs. the 130 Liberty Street Security Guards.  Moreover, FreePetey is asking how can there be any training taking place especially with regard to 130 Liberty Street without any NYS DOL approved plan in place? In short, the applicable acronym is SNAFU: Situation Normal All Fouled Up.

The million dollar question is: Will the NYS DOL step in and resolve the SNAFU? The eyes of all of the concerned citizens of the City of New York are upon you, NYS DOL? Will you safeguard firefighters so they can safely inspect toxic buildings and perform their fire prevention functions?  Or will you allow the situation to continue to be a SNAFU? When will we know? The SNAFU is out of hand.  Lives are at stake.

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(Once again our thanks go to Deep Throat for help in preparing this article) 

P.S. It is time for FDNY Headquarters to wake up, realize that the interests of Captain Bosco and the two chiefs are aligned with the interests of FDNY HQ, announce that FDNY's internal investigation is over, reinstate the three officers and give the speech explaining what took place  (Click Here)

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Angel of God, my guardian dear,
To whom God's love commits me here,
Ever this day be at my side,
To light and guard, to rule and guide.
                            St Margaret Mary

Most Amiable Savior and Sacred Heart of Jesus, protect us from our foes