Risky Business in the Harvard Labs

Researchers in the Biological Labs and the Medical School wear protective clothing daily to safeguard themselves from radiation. Clerical workers use computers for several hours each day, risking cancer and infertility caused by VDT terminals. Many employees in Widener library have to spend time shelving books in the stacks, where there is virtually no ventilation. In addition, asbestos, which can cause cancer if inhaled, has been found in virtually every Harvard building.

For some Harvard employees, working for the University brings with it not only a paycheck but also serious health hazards.

Harvard must comply with federal safety regulations established by the Office of Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the University's Environmental Health and Safety Office (EHS) is responsible for making sure that these rules are met.

"We certainly do all we can to abide by those [OSHA regulations]," says Thomas E. Vautin, Harvard's administrative director of operations. "From what I've seen, the system is pretty responsive."

But many employees of the University disagree. They believe that Harvard is more concerned with meeting the bare minimum of OSHA regulations than with answering worker complaints. While EHS has a good reputation among staff members, employees contend that Harvard's budget priorities keep EHS from doing its job as effectively as it should. Furthermore, employees say that many supervisors in the University laboratories take a "cavalier" attitude towards worker safety.

Safety is perennially a concern for Harvard employees, but it recently came to the fore when the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) effectively used the issue in its campaign to unionize Harvard's support staff.

University officials "are concerned about limiting their own liability," says Kris Rondeau, director of HUCTW. "I think Harvard tries to downplay the issue of health and safety in the workplace, they do what they have to do and then they go away."

HUCTW organizers point to a series of recent episodes as evidence:

Last year, Harvard decided to remove asbestos from only one floor of William James Hall rather than the whole building. Administrators say that the asbestos--which is found above every ceiling in the 15-story building--does not pose a health hazard, provided employees do not lift the ceiling panels. But a number of building occupants remain concerned.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) several years ago shut down several labs in the School of Public Health and at the Biochemistry Laboratories for failing to comply with NRC safety standards.

Harvard, through EHS and Facilities Maintenance, monitors safety in campus worksites and responds to employee complaints. EHS officials conduct regular inspections of the labs and provide various services designed to ensure safe working conditions.

"They [the EHS people] do a very good job of checking the labs, but I'm not sure it's enough," says a former lab technician, who requested anonymity.

Employees say they genuinely appreciate EHS' efforts to promote safety in the workplace, but many of them add that the University does not provide EHS with enough resources to do its job effectively.

"I think people who work there [at EHS] are sympathetic to the concerns of people who work at Harvard," says a former employee, who asked not to be identified. However, he adds that many University employees "have been frustrated by the fact that that department [EHS] was a pretty low priority, that its hands were tied" by the University.

Morever, critics say that the University does not provide enough information to employees on EHS' services. For example, EHS provides a service by which employees who use VDT terminals can have their machines inspected for safety, but many say that such a service is not publicized enough to make a substantial difference.

"A service like that would be much more effective if Harvard would advertise it more thoroughly" says William Jaeger, a HUCTW organizer. University officials "want to make that service available, but at a cheap cost."

"Most people don't know enough about [the EHS]," says Yvete L. Rheault, a HUCTW organizer. Information about EHS services "just doesn't seem to be communicated enough [to employees]."

"I just wish more information were put forward," says the former Harvard lab technician.

Heads of the various laboratories on campus say that although lab research can often put technicians in contact with hazardous materials, conditions are carefully monitored and all employees receive proper training. They say that all radioactive materials are disposed of with great care and according to NRC regulations.

When lab technicians are placed in work situations where they might be exposed to hazardous chemicals, "we try to equip them with whatever equipment and training they might need and monitor the workplace," Vautin says.

"A lab setting is certainly more hazardous. We work with many things that can cause you grief," says Director of Administration of the Biological Laboratories Charles J. Ciotti. "But people go into science knowing that."

"The labs are constantly inspected," Ciotti says. "We live by all the rules and regulations."

The radiation program in Harvard labs pose a particular danger because it involves using radioactive material, but EHS monitors regularly look through the labs for potential safety violations. Vautin says it "is a very tightly regulated program."

Others disagree, saying that violations occurregularly in the labs. They say that abuses, suchas food being kept in the labs and technicianshandling materials they are not supposed to,abound, and that EHS inspectors often fail to seewhat's going on.

"A lot of times [supervisors] take a lot ofthings for granted," Rheault said. But since manylab technicians are fresh out of college and havelittle or no on-the-job experience, "some of thestuff they're working with they have to know moreabout."

"I started working with radioactive materialsimmediately, which is not supposed to happen,"says the technician. "It happens all the time....Alot of the time I've seen people come into thelabs and not know the [type of] materials they'redealing with," she says.

Although many supervisors show genuine concernfor worker safety, "there are other people whohave a very cavalier attitude that `you know whatyou're getting into,' " Rondeau says.

EHS officials "don't come and pick up much ofthe abuses going on," the technician says. "Peoplebreak the rules all the time when they're notsupposed to."

The use of radioactive materials in the labs"is not regulated enough," Rheault says.

Although many EHS investigators do a good jobof inspecting the research areas, some are muchless thorough, employees say.

The former technician says that her monitor dida very thorough job, "but I know there were a lotof other places where people just came in andleft."

The radiation labs are also regularly inspectedby non-Harvard authorities. The NRC is supposed todo secret, on-site visits every year, andinspectors' visits have resulted in lab closures.

But most of the time, employees say, Harvardsupervisors find out about the NRC visits inadvance and clean up the labs. "Everybody alwayslaughs that when the NRC inspects, they see adifferent lab," says the former employee.

When a worker is injured on the job or exposedto radiation or other hazards, Harvard has aresponsibility to pay damages.

"We look into whether the accident iswork-related or not" to see whether Harvard has topay compensation, says Vivian Ribeshi, a Harvardofficial involved in workers' compensation. "Ifit's determined that the injury is work-related,any costs that are incurred are paid by us."

Critics say that it is exceedingly difficult toprove that Harvard is at fault and that theUniversity has the financial resources towithstand a lengthy court proceeding, whileindividual employees do not.

"It's very difficult to prove beyond any kindof doubt that you were injured on the job,"Rheault said. When employees seeking compensationare faced with the potential of a drawn-out andexpensive court case, rather than continue withtheir suit, "they drop it.