Maryland

Changes coming to protect Maryland workers from dangerous heat

Published

5 months ago

August 13, 2024

Press Room

Changes coming to protect Maryland workers from dangerous heat

BALTIMORE, Md. — “DPW heroes work here.” That’s what a banner reads outside the DPW sanitation yard in Cherry Hill.

But some employees, and the people who represent them say they’re not always treated like heroes.

“No workers should be pushed to such a point of exhaustion that their body fails them,” Roderick Pickett, vice president of City Union of Baltimore, saidat a rally about DPW’s work environment on August 6.

In recent weeks, we’ve reported on the citywide calls for change after two inspector general’s reports exposed unsafe working conditionsat Baltimore’s DPW yards, including broken air conditioning units, and a lack of access to cold drinking water. Then, at the beginning of the month, an employee, Ronald Silver II, died from heat exhaustion while on duty, collecting trash.

“The circumstances that led to brother Silver’s death are deeply concerning because they are largely preventable,” Patrick Moran, president of the labor union of which Silver was a member, AFSCME Maryland Council 3, said at the same rally.

But change is already in the works to protect Maryland workers from dangerous heat. For years, labor groups have pushed for Maryland Occupational Safety and Health (MOSH) to implement what’s called a “heat stress standard.” That standard would apply to all employers in the state, and basically require them to give workers breaks, and access to water and shade when temperatures are high.

There are only five states that have such standards right now – California, Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington.

Scott Schneider is one of Maryland’s members of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (COSH). He says the push for heat stress standards in the workplace is happening on the federal level too. But the process of changing Occupational Safety and Health Administration(OSHA) regulations takes significantly longer. Schneider showed us the 33 steps it takes for OSHA to add a new rule.

“It’s gonna take probably another 2 or more years for the federal rule to get finalized. So we didn’t want to wait that long,” he told WMAR-2 News’ Elizabeth Worthington.

In Maryland, the state standard could be implemented as soon as next summer. Here’s what the draftlooks like right now.

In 2020, the General Assembly passed a bill that gave OSHA two and a half years to publish a heat stress standard. In 2022, the agency put out a draft.

“It was really inadequate. It didn’t provide the protections that workers really need. It kicked in at a much higher temperature, and one of the weird things about it was – it required that at this temperature, at 88 degrees, you had to have a program to protect workers from heat. But the program didn’t have to be written down. […] How do you enforce that?”

A month later, Wes Moore was elected governor. Schneider and other COSH members asked the legislature review committee to put a hold on the regulation. When Governor Moore appointed new heads of the labor department, COSH asked them to re-write the regulation, which they did. The draft came out in mid-July. Schneider said it’s “much better,” but he still sees room for improvements, such as factoring in radiant heat, or working in direct sunlight. The current draft standards only relies on the heat index, which takes into consideration the ambient temperature and the humidity.

There’s a virtual hearing on the proposed standards this Friday, August 16 at 1 p.m. A link to the hearing will be posted on the MOSH website. Public comment period lasts until August 26.

Under the proposed standard, when the thermometer hits 80 degrees, employers have to be ready with a written heat safety plan. At 90 degrees, workers need to be given a 10 minute break every two hours. At 100 degrees and above, it’s a 15 minute break every hour.

“These standards are not written for most employers. They’re written for the bad actors. Most employers are already doing this,” Schneider said.

Baltimore City Inspector General Isabel Cumming is relieved this issue is getting more attention, after her reports on the DPW.

“Heat stroke, heat exhaustion, it’s all very, very real. And people have jobs that are so difficult, yet they push themselves to keep working because they have families to support and everything else,” she told WMAR-2 News’ Elizabeth Worthington.,

After the death of Ronald Silver, the DPW held a mandatory heat safety training session for its employees. Under the proposed state standards, that would have already been required.

“If you knew that cramping hands, or something, was a real warning signal, then you know what to do to help yourself,” Cumming said.

She’s excited about the changes coming to Maryland’s workplaces, and hopes penalties are actually enforced.

“To really give anything teeth, you have to have consequences. This is just the world we live in.”

The City Council will be holding a hearing on “DPW Capacity in Extreme Heat” on Thursday, August 22.

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Maryland

Maryland General Assembly 2025 session starts Wednesday

Published

4 hours ago

January 7, 2025

Press Room

Maryland General Assembly 2025 session starts Wednesday

The Maryland General Assembly’s 2025 session begins at noon on Wednesday, when lawmakers will begin to tackle a number of high-interest issues. Policy decisions will be framed around how much money is available and what additional new revenue sources are acceptable.

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Maryland

University of Maryland Medical System a Finalist in the Gartner® Power of the Profession™ Supply Chain Awards 2025

Published

11 hours ago

January 7, 2025

Press Room

University of Maryland Medical System a Finalist in the Gartner® Power of the Profession™ Supply Chain Awards 2025

(Graphic: Business Wire)

System’s Gallion Proprietary Digital Solution Developed at its iHarbor Innovation Center

BALTIMORE, January 07, 2025–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) has been selected as a finalist in the Gartner Power of the Profession Supply Chain Awards 2025, in the Process or Technology Innovation of the Year category. UMMS is included for Transforming Bill-Only Product Management in Healthcare Supply Chain; the System’s Gallion is a digital technology cutting-edge solution designed to optimize supply chain efficiency that was developed by UMMS’ iHarbor Innovation Center.

“We believe that being included as a finalist in the Gartner awards underscores the critical impact that UMMS has demonstrated so far in optimizing health care bill-only supply chain management and that it could have in the future on patient care,” said Warren D’Souza, PhD, MBA, the System’s Senior Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer. “In our opinion, this recognition validates our focus on streamlining processes and empowering health systems with innovative, integrated solutions.”

Gallion’s innovative solution redefines the management of bill-only transactions by digitizing and standardizing workflows, enhancing accuracy, compliance, and efficiency. The platform seamlessly integrates with electronic health record (EHR) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, automating critical tasks such as consumption tracking, charges and contract compliance. Before Gallion’s implementation in 2021 automated these processes, UMMS relied on a manual labor-intensive paper-based process that had the potential for errors and inefficiencies. Data from the deployment of Gallion across UMMS’ 11 hospitals shows significant operational improvements; completion time has been reduced by 75% and the defect/error rate has lowered from 18% to just 3%.

“At UMMS, part of what we pride ourselves on is innovation and being at the forefront of transformative change in health care,” said Mohan Suntha, MD, MBA, the System’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We believe this recognition underscores Gallion’s impact as a pioneering solution in health care supply chain innovation.”

Gallion was developed in iHarbor, a wholly-owned subsidiary and the innovation center of UMMS. iHarbor is now bringing Gallion to the market, enabling other hospitals and health systems to realize similar benefits. The enterprise platform offers robust analytics, giving supply chain teams unparalleled insight into cost management, contract competitiveness and compliance, and clinical quality outcomes.

“We are extremely proud of the innovative and transformative solutions that the iHarbor Innovation Center is pioneering within the University of Maryland Medical System and bringing to the broader healthcare market,” said Guy Henggeler, Vice President, iHarbor Strategy and Operations.

“Gallion has fundamentally transformed our supply chain operations, enhancing collaboration among clinical staff, administrative personnel, and vendors,” added Patrick Vizzard, Vice President of Supply Chain Management for UMMS. “We’ve seen tremendous gains in compliance, efficiency, and cost savings.”

Gartner Awards, Power of the Profession™ Supply Chain Awards

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and Gartner Power of the Profession is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. The identification of 2024 Gartner Power of the Profession™ Supply Chain Awards finalists or winner(s) is not an endorsement by Gartner of any vendor, product, or service, but is a recognition by industry peers for innovation excellence that inspires others.

About the University of Maryland Medical System

The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) is an academic private health system, focused on delivering compassionate, high-quality care and putting discovery and innovation into practice at the bedside. Partnering with the University of Maryland School of Medicine and University of Maryland, Baltimore who educate the state’s future health care professionals, UMMS is an integrated network of care, delivering 25 percent of all hospital care in urban, suburban, and rural communities across the state of Maryland. UMMS puts academic medicine within reach through primary and specialty care delivered at 11 hospitals, including the flagship University of Maryland Medical Center, the System’s anchor institution in downtown Baltimore, as well as through a network of University of Maryland Urgent Care centers and more than 150 other locations in 13 counties. For more information, visit www.umms.org.

About iHarbor

The iHarbor Innovation Center at the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) focuses on solving complex but common problems in health care. iHarbor is reimagining health care delivery, operations and administration — developing transformational products and solutions that dramatically improve health care outcomes, efficiency, quality and value. These solutions revolutionize treatment and bring superior experiences to patients, clinicians and administrators alike.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250107882786/en/

Contacts

Media Contact for UMMS: Michael Schwartzberg – Senior Media Relations Director, UMMS
Email: MichaelSchwartzberg@umm.edu | Phone: 410-804-1767

Contact for Gallion: Guy Henggeler – Vice President, iHarbor Business Strategy & Operations
Email: Guy.Henggeler@umm.edu | Phone: 443-610-9125

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Maryland

Maryland voters approve of Gov. Wes Moore, oppose raising taxes to improve deficit, Gonzales poll shows

Published

19 hours ago

January 7, 2025

Press Room

Maryland voters approve of Gov. Wes Moore, oppose raising taxes to improve deficit, Gonzales poll shows

BALTIMORE — More than 60% of Marylanders surveyed approve of the job Gov. Wes Moore is doing in office, while they are strongly against raising taxes to improve the state’s deficit, according to the latest Gonzales poll.

Maryland’s General Assembly is set to resume another legislative session on Wednesday, January 8.

The Gonzales poll was conducted between December 27 to January 4. The poll questioned 811 registered voters in Maryland, who indicated they are likely to vote in the next election.

The margin of error (MOE), per accepted statistical standards, is a range of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, according to the Gonzales poll, and if the entire population was surveyed, there is a 95% probability that the true numbers would fall within this range.

Gov. Moore’s approval

According to the Gonzales poll, 61% of Maryland voters approve of the job Gov. Wes Moore is doing, while 28% disapprove. The poll shows that 79% of Democrats and 75% of Black voters polled support Moore’s performance.

The poll also shows that 76% of voters polled in Maryland approve of the current governor.

“Governor Moore’s overall job rating among Maryland voters (61% approval) is more than satisfactory, but within the number a softness of intensity (only 29% strong approval) is present that might pose issues in the future,” the Gonzales poll said.

According to the Gonzales poll, 61% of Maryland voters approve of the job Gov. Wes Moore is doing, while 28% disapprove. The poll shows that 79% of the Democrats and 75% of Black voters polled support Moore’s performance.

Gonzales Poll
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Wes Moore vs. Larry Hogan

Fifty-two percent of voters polled said they would vote for Gov. Wes Moore if he were to run against former Gov. Larry Hogan, according to the Gonzales poll.

According to the poll, 38% would vote for Hogan and 10% are undecided.

“These poll numbers are very similar to the election results two months ago, when former Governor Hogan vied for the open senate seat in Maryland,” the Gonzales poll states. “Former Governor Hogan has enjoyed a very distinguished career in politics, but his neither fish nor fowl style that served him so well during his tenure in office has become a touch passé in the current day political gestalt. His prospects next year, should he decide to run, will be determined largely by events beyond his control.”

Raising taxes to improve state deficit?

Maryland voters surveyed by the Gonzales poll strongly oppose raised taxes to deal with the state deficit.

Maryland lawmakers face a budget outlook worse than during the Great Recession in 2008-2009, with a $2.7B budget deficit for the next budget year, which begins July 1, 2025.

Only 17% said they support the state income tax increase, while 60% are against the motion. Fifty-five percent of voters polled strongly oppose a sales tax hike, while 65% strongly oppose an increase in the state property tax.

“Voters constantly express a willingness to pay taxes for needed services like transportation and public safety, but not for a problem they believe their elected representatives created,” the Gonzales poll said.