Health and safety committees need information to function. Information itself is not power, it’s easier to get, and use, with union power.
Some information comes from employers’ records of health and safety activities, statistics, plans or programs, maintenance and accreditations. Some comes from research such as talking to members, walk-throughs, measurements or internet searches. Sometimes it comes from outside specialists, like the New Jersey Work Environment Council (WEC), or a district-hired contractor.
Knowing whom to ask, which questions to ask and how to ask them, matters. So do deadlines for getting responses. WEC health and safety consultant Deena Holland-Moore has an example that provides lessons about how to cover these bases.
The union gets answers
A school health and safety committee faced “a very, very strong, obnoxious odor that no one could quite figure out,” Holland-Moore said.
The committee tried to identify the source during a walk-through and by talking with members. They checked for recent building repairs and talked to the principal and facility staff person. When they got nowhere, WEC was called in after the local association called NJEA’s health and safety coordinator.
“I did a walk-through and the odors were quite offensive,” Holland-Moore said. Since it was in the air, she went looking for records related to the state’s Indoor Air Quality Standard.
“The first part was checking the indoor air quality report. Was anyone from the maintenance staff recording or checking the CO2 readings?” They were, but they had no documentation about it. “When we saw the ones they had in place, some weren’t working and others looked to have an elevated CO2.”
Carbon dioxide (CO2) monitors are used to indicate fresh air levels. They should be below 600 or 800 ppm, depending on the outside levels and criteria used.
“We recommended the union get their own monitors,” Holland-Moore said. “This is something that should be monitored every day because you need to know if a building’s safe. This was education for the members unfamiliar with the technical jargon or the action steps they can take.”
The WEC consultant also asked about mold, the new HVAC system and roof, and followed up on water intrusion that might have been the result of snow- and ice-laden solar panels puncturing the roof.
Air testing wasn’t producing answers. After three weeks of tracking readings using their CO2 monitors, the committee and local association asked for an emergency meeting with the superintendent on the Friday before Memorial Day. They wanted action before staff returned Tuesday.
“My selling argument, which I always give to the administration, is you can wait until you have somebody come in and do some more testing,” Holland-Moore said. “But that could lead to a parent or an anonymous person contacting authorities such as the health department, the state and, more importantly, the press. Would you rather that the press get hold of this: that you’re delaying even identifying the problem?”
A teaching moment
“The number one step was to get an engineer in to figure out what the problem is,” she added. “The union put it in writing and that worked.”
Over the weekend, the administration brought in specialists to check the HVAC system.
“They discovered what was likely dead vermin blocking the duct leading to the cafeteria. Some grease could have been mixed with whatever decomposed. The company cleared the blockage and, miraculously, the odor is gone. They changed the system filters, too.”
This made sense.
“When we went to talk to the principal in early May, we chuckled as we saw a little critter run down the hallway, right into the principal’s office,” she explained. That led to a request for Integrated Pest Management (IPM) records. “It was a teaching moment.”
The IPM manual was just a template, not filled in with specifics for each school, and outside applicators’ credentials were not up to date. A request for work orders under the IPM program first got only payment receipts. There was nothing to show what work was actually done.
Lessons learned
1. “Think outside the box when you hit a roadblock and don’t know what caused a problem,” Holland-Moore said. “It’s not about trying to be the expert but asking the administration to bring in someone who can identify and help fix the problem. WEC can help too.”
2. The SOBANE method (see sidebar) provides an approach. Start with members’ knowledge, adding others’ input as needed. Trained committees and members can do a lot, although knowing the problem and solution(s) still require arguments for action.
3. Learn which records and documents that employers must keep, and the deadlines for updates or filing. For example, the 2025 hazardous substance surveys are due July 15, 2026. Someone with spreadsheet skills can do this easily, once the list of documents is collected.
4. Request those records and documents after submission deadlines or as needed. Even without an official requirement, ask for records or documents you need, such as work orders. Cite PEOSH standards for health hazards or the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) when necessary.
5. Confirm that you received all that you asked for and that it answers your question(s). If not, ask again, with more specifics.
6. Determine what training committee members need to understand the information, and the limits for that understanding. How can the NJEA Health and Safety Manual and other union publications help? When is it best to ask for help from the union or WEC, or to push the administration to hire consultants?
7. Be persistent and clear about what you want the administration to do. Prepare your arguments, including outside publicity.
8. Backed by the union’s power, including local leadership, NJEA staff, health and safety staff and your contract, use information to prevent and deal with hazards.
For more resources and information, go to njwec.org/2026/03/njea-review.
Local committees have the right to records or documents, such as:
- Health and safety legislation
- Site-specific written programs (e.g., the occupational health and safety program, asbestos management, emergency response, hazard communication, indoor air, integrated pest management/IPM)
- The 300 logs and their summaries (the 300A form) about reported injuries and illnesses
- Worker exposure measurements/monitoring results
- Drinking water test results legislative cycle.
| The four levels of the SOBANE strategy | ||||
| Level 1 Screening | Level 2 Observation | Level 3 Analysis | Level 4 Expertise | |
| When? | All cases | If a problem | In difficult cases | In complex cases |
| How? | Simple observations | Qualitative observations | Qualitative observations | Specialized measurements |
| Time cost? | Very low (10 minutes per factor | Low (2 hours) | Average (2 days) | High (2 weeks) |
| By whom? | Health and safety committee Workers affected Supervisor(s) | Health and safety committee Workers affected Supervisor(s) | Company personnel Occupational health and safety practitioners | Company personnel OH practitioners Experts |
| Knowledge of actual work situation | Very high | High | Average | Low |
| Health and safety knowledge | Low | Average | High | Specialized |