For Immediate Release
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
AFSCME Demands Fast Action On OSHA Tuberculosis Standard
Regulation That Has Been 10 Years in the Making Would Also Protect Workers from SARS
WASHINGTON —One of the nation's largest unions today called on Labor Secretary Elaine Chao to issue long overdue tuberculosis (TB) standards that would provide workers with protections against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO, repeated its earlier demands for action by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) because of similarities in the precautions needed to prevent exposure to both TB and SARS.
"For more than 10 years AFSCME has been calling on OSHA to issue a TB standard. This decade-long challenge is taking on renewed urgency today because workers are also facing the threat of SARS. Secretary Chao and OSHA cannot stall any longer; they must take action now to protect America's workers. It is outrageous that this Administration continues to ignore this issue," AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee said.
An OSHA standard would protect workers from tuberculosis by requiring isolation rooms kept under negative pressure, the use N-95 filtering respirators, and other airborne disease control measures. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) are recommending many of the same precautions to protect against SARS that would be included in a tuberculosis rule.
Although the total number of TB cases in the U.S. has fallen, tuberculosis still poses a serious risk. The number of tuberculosis cases increased in 20 states between 2000 and 2001. Meanwhile, workers are faced with an emerging threat. According to the latest reports from the World Health Organization, there have been over 3,000 cases and 144 deaths worldwide, including health care workers who cared for patients with SARS. In the United States there have been nearly 200 known or suspected SARS cases under investigation in over 30 states.
