A proposal to eliminate federal funding for the Northeast Center for Agricultural and Occupational Health (NEC) and six other similar centers around the country prompted a visit from Congressman Richard Hanna’s office to NEC’s Cooperstown offices, according to a media release from Bassett Healthcare Network.
NEC is charged with protecting workers in the three most dangerous industries in the U.S., agriculture, forestry and fishing, and although the program has been extremely successful, the funding it relies on is targeted for elimination in the President’s 2012budget.
NEC and six other centers in the U.S. are funded through the National Institutes of Occupational Safety and Health Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Program (NIOSH AFF). Each of the centers was established to assure safe and healthful working conditions through research, education and training, the release stated.
In the Northeast, NEC is well known for its work to reduce fatalities, traumatic injuries and injuries among farmers, foresters and fishermen.
Last week, Adam Hepburn, Congressman Hanna’s top legislative aide, Andrew Brady, Hanna’s health advisor, and Brandon Eden, Hanna’s defense advisor, toured the research facility and met with staff.
According to NEC Director John May, MD, their visit provided a welcome opportunity to share the challenges and vital work being done by NIOSH AFF Centers.
“It’s important for legislators to understand what is important and unique about the NIOSH AFF regional research centers. In contrast to regulatory agencies that impose fines to reduce workplace hazards, we work directly with communities and industries on a grassroots level to develop tailored safety solutions that also maintain productivity and economic viability,” May said in the release. “Not only do we have a great working relationship with farmers, loggers and fishermen, we have developed initiatives that have made the workplace safer.”
Some success stories shared by May include:
• the Rollover Protective Structure Rebate Program, which has assisted farmerwith the installation of rollover protective structures on older tractors to prevent the most frequent cause of farm deaths;
• the redesign of harvesting equipment to reduce musculoskeletal injuries;
• a program to install power take-off shields, another frequent source of farm injury, and
• the development of hand washing stations that have helped local farmers avoid thousands of dollars in OSHA fines.
The termination of the NIOSH AFF programs has attracted attention in many other regions of the country, particularly in the Northwest where fishermen experience substantially increased risk of work injuries and fatalities, the release stated.
Captain Keith Colburn, an Alaska crab fishermen of the Wizard, one of seven fishing vessels featured on Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch”, “To me it almost seems criminal to shut down an office or a service in the United States that’s been so successful,” said Captain Keith Colburn, an Alaska crab fishermen of the Wizard, one of seven fishing vessels featured on Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch.”
“I would think that there are a thousand other offices just turning paperwork over everyday and accomplishing virtually nothing [rather than] shutting down an office that is having quantifiable, solid results.”
The New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health in Fly Creek is a program of Bassett Healthcare Network and designated by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH) as the Northeast Center for Agricultural Health (NEC), one of seven agricultural centers across the country.
Serving an 11-state region from Maine through WestVirginia, NEC promotes farm health and safety research, education, and prevention activities.
Local News
NEC may be budget victim
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Caregivers and care partners play key role in getting well
According to a man who has provided support to two significant others battling cancer, there is a difference between a caregiver and a care partner. Jim Atwell, of Fly Creek, said a care partner, in some ways, shares in having the illness because that person is there for moral support, encouragement and coming up with solutions. There are no breaks, he said. A care partner is typically someone closely connected to the one needing care, he added.
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Bassett hijacks parking lots
Bassett Heathcare is trying to usurp the two village parking lots on East Lake Road near the entrance to Fairy Springs Park and has put up signs that say the lots are for Bassett Healthcare staff parking only.
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Local school budgets pass
Schools that stayed within the 2 percent tax limit seemed to get voter support. That was the case for Cooperstown Central School, Milford Central School and Cherry Valley-Springfield Central school. CCS’ proposed budget of $16,772,080 passed with a vote of 401 to 114.
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DA: C’town bullying charges adjourned
Non-criminal harassment charges lodged against five Cooperstown High School football players in connection with the alleged bullying of a teammate are being adjourned in contemplation of dismissal, Otsego County District Attorney John Muehl said.
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CCS fifth-graders finish science projects
Cooperstown fifth-graders have been hard at work learning about what scientists go through when working on a new idea. As part of a science inquiry unit, students were asked to come up with their own question of interest that could be tested.
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Award winners announced
The village of Cooperstown Historic Preservation and Architectural Review Board announced its 2010-11 Preservation Awards in a brief ceremony last week.
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Seminar focuses on pet vaccinations
Do we vaccinate our pets too much? That was the question posed Saturday at a seminar organized by the Healthy Dog Project, which is based in Cooperstown, and held at the Fenimore Art Museum.
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Cherry Valley Artworks prepares for busy season
The air inside the old Judd Foundry building at 44 Main St. is a bit cool. But who needs to spend money on heating an old building, when money for the arts is in such short supply and your mission is to produce exciting exhibits and public events that each year draw throngs of people to this wind-swept northern Otsego County village?
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’Tis the season for gardening
Next Wednesday will be a day for gardening in Cooperstown. It is the date of the annual Spring Festival at the elementary school’s Kid Garden and the start of a new initiative to involve the whole family in gardening called Growing Community. Students at all levels of the elementary school have been busy this spring starting seedlings, Kid Garden Coordinator Kristen Griger said this week.
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LOCAL VOICES FROM AROUND THE GLOBE: Traveling in Great Britain and Europe
Grüezi again! So, this past month I was extremely busy and I continue to be even busier as my departure date is just one month away. In April, my host family took me to Scotland for a week, which was incredibly generous and nice of them.
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LOCAL VOICES FROM AROUND THE GLOBE: Returning home later this month
The Ganges River is cold and sweet, at least where I swam in and tasted it. There, in theHindu holy city of Hardwar at the foot of the Himalaya, I walked amid thousands of pilgrims and spiritual seekers along the crowded streets, skirting beggars and pesky priests demanding donations.
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Event features ‘Faces Against Fracking’ contest winners
The New York Public Interest Research Group, Mayor Jeff Katz and town of Otsego board member Julie Huntsman presented some of the winners in NYPIRG’s “Faces Against Fracking” photo contest at an event at The Smithy Gallery last Thursday.
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CV-S announces valedictorian, co-Salutatorians
Cherry Valley-Springfield Central School has announced its valedictorian and co-Salutatorians for the Class of 2012, according to a media release from the school.
Continued ... - Friday, May 11, 2012
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Public hearing gives one last look at proposed budget
A handful of people gathered in the Cooperstown Middle/High School cafeteria for a public hearing on the district’s proposed budget. The district is proposing a $16,772,080 spending plan for the 2012-13 school year. Although this is a decrease of $140,907 (.83 percent), it was upped by nearly $58,000 before being adopted on April 4 by the school board.
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Six candidates vie for four seats on BOE
Tuesday marked the first time in a long while that a Meet the Candidates Night has been held for district residents to interact with those vying for seats on the Cooperstown Central School Board of Education. The gathering was a held by the League of Women Voters of the Cooperstown Area.
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Top four students named at CCS
On Sunday, June 24, 85 Cooperstown Central School seniors will put on caps and gowns to conclude one phase in their lives and prepare to embark on another.
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Not many attend Main Street meeting
Few people attended a meeting last week to learn more about a proposed project that would give Main Street a facelift. The board of trustees scheduled the town hall-style meeting in an effort to gauge public opinion about some design elements and material selections for the project.
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CCS graduate receives recognition
Cooperstown Central School graduate Phil Pohl has been shining on and off the field. He is among 10 finalist in the Lowe’s Senior Class Award, and Clemson University announced Friday that the College Sports Information Directors of America named Pohl First-Team Academic All-District IV for the second year in a row.
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Relay for Life cancer awareness event to focus on caregivers
The Cooperstown/Northern Otsego County Relay for Life is coming soon. The event, now in its 14th year, has raised more than $1 million to help the American Cancer Society create a world with less cancer and more birthdays.
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County hires firms for tax sale
Otsego County lawmakers agreed Wednesday to farm out the county’s annual auction of tax-delinquent properties to private firms already handling the same task for numerous other upstate counties.
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Caregivers and care partners play key role in getting well
