AN ATTACK ON AMERICAS
WORKFORCE DOL AGENCIES PROVIDE IMMEDIATE RESPONSE
On September 11, 2001, terrorists
launched a calculated assault on our nation at workdirectly striking the
World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Determined that these attacks would not
result in still more tragedy during the rescue and recovery operations,
DOLs Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) responded to
both disaster locations to protect the health and safety of the rescue workers.
More than 200 OSHA staff from offices around the country responded to the
devastation in lower Manhattan, advising and coaching rescuers, testing air and
debris samples, distributing and fit-testing respirators, and providing other
expertise and support. OSHA personnel worked around the clock to ensure the
safety and health of workers at one of the most hazardous job sites in the
country.
After American Airlines flight 77 hit the Pentagon, a three-person
OSHA team and the Mine Emergency Unit of the Mine Safety and Health
Administration responded and made their special skills available to the on-site
rescue and recovery operations, while nurses from DOLs Federal Workers'
Compensation Program attended to injured Federal workers taken to local
hospitals. With little but victims' names and Social Security numbers to go by,
the nurses teamed with hospital staff to guarantee top quality care, arranged
nearby housing for families, and expedited compensation and medical payments.
WEVE GOT A JOB TO DO, ALL OF
US DOL ASSISTANCE SPEEDS RECOVERY
President Bush said it best in
presenting his Back to Work Relief Package October 4 at the Department of Labor
Weve got a job to do, all of us. DOL quickly responded
to the Presidents call expediting recovery assistance.
- At National Airport, DOL employees helped process unemployment
assistance applications for several thousand people, many of whom lost jobs in
the shops, restaurants, and services that support a normally thriving airport.
- To launch recovery efforts in New York, DOL employees staffed a
special benefits and information assistance center in the citys Chinatown
for workers whose jobs were lost as a result of the attack.
- Nurses of DOLs Workers Compensation Program
continued to assist injured Federal workers addressing longer term needs
such as overseeing physical therapy and ensuring homes and offices can
accommodate recovering patients' physical needs.
- Through outreach events, its website, and pamphlets, including
new materials in Spanish and Chinese, DOLs Pension and Welfare Benefits
Administration assisted workers impacted by the September 11 disaster to reach
critical decisions about their families pension and health benefits.
- Staff from the Veterans' Employment and Training Service briefed
reservists and National Guard members before activation about the Federal law
guaranteeing the return of their civilian jobs.
- The Secretary of Labor signed the World Trade Center Emergency
Project Partnership Agreement with the City of New York, contractors, and other
organizations to protect the safety and health of the thousands of disaster
recovery workers still laboring at the World Trade Center disaster site.
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