Safety Health Measures

UNM staff and student employees have high risks of getting COVID-19

As we all know, when COVID-19 struck our country everything changed. No one knew
what to do to avoid the virus as well as how to respond to it which caused the whole world to go
into a shut down. Since then there has been an importance in using masks and disinfecting
ourselves such as washing our hands constantly. To provide more safety, everyone who worked
had to begin working virtually as well as all the students who went to school had to start taking
online classes. This helped the spread to slow down, yet it’s been a year and there had been many
cases of the virus. Recently at the University of New Mexico, there has been 42 cases reported
among students and faculty that work on campus. These people in campus believe and fear that
they are in high risk of getting the virus. For those who have yet not gotten it don’t know how
they will react to the virus. Not only are they in the risk of getting COVID-19, there is also some
safety health issues going on which involved the virus. Environments such as workplaces and
where students are there to learn and to work, there shouldn’t be problems occurring so late into
the pandemic that has been going on for a year. Many people react differently to the virus which
means anyone is in danger of the virus being a threat to their life.

UNM claims they are doing the most in providing their students and staff with cleaning
supplies and giving them offices where no one feels clustered even when following the 6 feet
distance rule. At the beginning this was the case, but recently there has been many issues going
on:

• Before working at UNM in person, every student staff and faculty has to go through
safety training online. From what has been said from this safety training is that they do
not go in depth in the procedures that must be taken which can be a reason in why there
has been safety health issues going in campus.

• An anonymous custodian said it is difficult for him/or her and the other staff to obtain
safety equipment and sometimes they themselves have to go out of their way to get the
equipment they need to clean and disinfect the campus. At the beginning when
everything started opening up, UNM did provide disposable masks, gloves and hand
sanitizers. Recently they have been failing the staff on providing the same equipment as
they did at the beginning.

• There has also been people on campus who do not believe in the virus which causes them
to not wash their hands often, not wear their masks if they don’t want to, and not do the
appropriate social distancing of 6ft. The fear mostly comes from those people who are
 causing the spread to continue and not help the situation they are in. Because of the these
“super spreaders” working at UNM has been difficult for students, staff and faculty.

• There have been a few people such as Joanna Garcia and Jacob Rutgers who work at
SGAO and have emailed the director of the student union building and stated that their
offices are too small to the point where they feel caged and there is no air ventilation
going through which can cause the virus spread more easily if someone were to have it.

• Due to the environment they are working in, the staff and faculty are not receiving hazard
pay. there have been several complaints in which they have stated if they are going to be
put in danger with all the COVID-19 cases coming up in campus, there should be at least
receiving a hazard pay.

No matter how many problems UNM is facing with health safety issues, there are solutions to fix
and help the issues that have been occurring. These solutions can help the campus environment
to be safe for the student’s staff and faculty that work there. Not only will it benefit the workers,
but it will also benefit UNM in providing a good safety system that can be used in the future
when many more people start coming back on campus well still dealing with COVID-19.
 SOLUTIONS
1. First thing UNM can do regarding the online safety training that everyone who works on campus
must take is to lengthen it and go more in depth on how important this safety training is. A few
things that can be added in the training session would be a quiz that can tell if they were paying
attention during the training and focusing on the importance of this safety issue. Another
suggestion can be when the workers come in person, there should be one more session of training
for the first day they come back that contain tasks in what to do in the situation.

2. Secondly, the people involved in getting the equipment for the custodians and staff that are in
charge of cleaning and disinfecting should constantly be in communication with them and come
up with an average for example: every two weeks restocking safety equipment for them. In this
case this communication and being able to restock constantly can avoid any personal money from
the staff on buying the equipment that UNM must provide as well getting the proper equipment
needed for the cause.

3. Next step, UNM should print out a flyer in which gives the main rules that people not just the
staff but everyone else who comes into campus must follow to continue being in the building. If
you have the rules can’t imply wearing masks at all times, washing hands constantly, anyone who
has a desk contain the hand sanitizer, and social distancing of at least 6 feet apart. Anyone who
violate these rules may be asked out or escorted out if they refuse to leave and not follow.

4. For the fourth step, Communication is key. Anyone who is in charge of how workspaces are
provided and how work environments should be, should always respond back to those who have
been concerned and filed a complaint about how their working conditions are. And if those
people are not in charge or do not know how to handle the situation, the people who have claimed
concerns should be sent an email explaining who they should go to get the help they need. Having
not answered emails is a concern because that just shows the people I charge do not care.

5. Lastly, from what has been said from the UNM human resources department is that the
government isn’t giving them enough money and there have been many budget cuts that causes
the employees to not receive hazard pay. A way to approach this problem would be to send a
letter to the governor explaining what has been going on regarding hazard pay and asking for
more funding for those who work at UNM. Also, every employee should be aware of why they
are not receiving hazard pay so they could calm down the situation and have them be patient as
well as let them know that UNM is working on it.
 Cost and Benefits
The only think that will be spent on this plan is all the supplies that are needed for our
staff and faculty. There would be an average total of $192.16 every time when purchased spent
on safety supplies that are used and needs to re-stock most often

Supply Amount Average Cost

Paper Towels 6 rolls $32.34

Toilet Paper 20 rolls $17.65
Hand Soups 1 Gallon $13.88
Cleaners 1 Gallon $12.36
Hand-Sanitizers 12 pack $38.64
Wet Wipes 6 pack $25.79
Trash Bags 90 Bags $30.38
Gloves 100 Gloves $21.12

This is a list provided zepassure.com that gives the average cost of these supplies. There are
many other supplies that are used, but these are supplies that run out the fastest. Depending on
how often these supplies run out will be the total a year. Example: If UNM re-stocked every 2
weeks, there is an estimate of $4611.84 will be spent a year.

Benefits to the plan will be a safer environment for everyone who works or is on campus.
The would be less cases occurring and that will minimize the danger that the people are put in by
being on campus. More will be comfortable on being on campus and it will show how the
University of New Mexico also does what must be done to provide safety for everyone.

Contact

For more information on the subject read this article:

https://www.dailylobo.com/article/2020/09/unm-employees-plead-for-better-working-
conditions-hazard-pay
And contact me on lamedrano@unm.edu