New York City Department of Education, New York Office of Occupational Safety and Health

This summer I worked with the New York City Department of Education (NYCDE), under the Office of Occupational Safety and Health (OOSH). The director of OOSH is Emerson A. Greenidge and he was my supervisor during my internship. The mission of the Office of Occupational Safety and Health is to ensure a safe and healthy environment for DOE employees. The overall general responsibilities of the Office of Occupational Safety and Health are: (a) to educate department heads, managers and employees about the provisions of occupational safety and health regulations; (b) to provide leadership in aiding departments and facilities to comply with federal, state and city occupational safety and health regulations; (c) to initiate training programs as required by specific safety and health regulations promulgated by the New York State Department of Labor (Public Employees Safety and Health – PESH); and (d) to provide technical expertise on the assessment of health and safety hazards in the workplace.

A brief description of duties that I performed included (1) taking indoor air quality complaints; (2) filling out the requisite indoor air quality logs and making computer entries into the database; (3) conducting indoor air quality investigations; (4) learning to prepare indoor air quality reports; (5) learning how to use and maintain a variety of indoor air quality equipment; (6) preparing training materials; (7) assisting OOSH's safety and health trainers during training sessions; (8) scheduling the delivery and collection of medical waste kits from NYCDE sites; and (9) performing clerical and administrative duties relating to the delivery of safety and health services.

My learning objectives for this past summer were to get hands on experience in the field of occupational safety and health. This internship was my first experience with this field, and, as a result, I was very excited and looked forward to what was in store for me over the summer. Specifically, I learned how to test indoor air quality, along with writing reports on my findings. This was an excellent opportunity for me because I was able to conduct tests outside of the lab/classroom. All of my original objectives for this internship were met and I was able to accomplish what I set out to do.

Everything that I learned in my internship prepared me for my senior year individual/integrative study (SIP). Originally, I considered testing indoor air qualities in academic buildings at Connecticut College . However, due to the lack of equipment and faculty expertise in the area of indoor air quality, I decided to focus on a research paper dealing with the role of occupational safety and health using the New York City Board of Education's Office of Occupational Safety and Health as my focus. Overall, this internship was an active learning experience and the progress that I made during the summer should be reflected in the success of my SIP.