DPW knew about poor working conditions at solid waste facility for months, IG says
“This is about more than water and Gatorade – it’s about a culture that thinks it’s okay to make the people who work for us put up with terrible conditions,” Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming says after visiting nine Baltimore worksites
Above: Broken lockers and radiators at DPW’s Eastern Sanitation Yard on Bowley’s Lane. (OIG Baltimore)
After finding hazardous conditions for sanitation workers at a South Baltimore worksite during record-setting heat, Baltimore Inspector General Isabel Cumming returned to the facility and discovered the air conditioning still wasn’t working properly and that a host of other workplace deficiencies plague the Department of Public Works (DPW) facility and others she has inspected.
As with her July 10 visit to the Cherry Hill Sanitation Yard on Reedbird Avenue, Cumming found when she returned six days later that workers were being sent out on their trash collection routes without being provided with cold water or Gatorade.
Confronted about the lapse, a supervisor “began filling lined trashcans with ice, bottled water and Gatorade for employees,” Cumming wrote, in a report released today based on her staff’s visits to nine DPW facilities on July 16.
Once again, there was smothering heat inside the building, with an indoor temperature reading of 83° before 7 a.m. The cold water faucets in the men’s bathroom that had only run hot on her last visit were still running hot.
Asked if she is concerned about the city’s failure to correct these problems even after her high-profile reports, Cumming pointed to an inspection report memorandum that her office obtained about the Cherry Hill yard.
Sent to the Bureau of Solid Waste in March by an engineering firm, it detailed facility issues that could be addressed with minor repairs and completed by June or July 2024.
These are described as “missing floor tiles in the office trailer, unreliable heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems in the trailer and worker facilities building, and a missing faucet handle in the men’s locker room among other items.”
“There’s even a picture of the exact same broken faucet that I saw on my three visits,” Cumming said, speaking with The Brew today.
• In surprise visit, Baltimore inspector general finds sanitation workers exposed to extreme heat, no A/C (7/10/24)
• After Inspector General report slams conditions for sanitation workers, DPW responds (7/19/24)
“DPW has had the report since March. It involved conditions that were observed last November. So they’ve known about this for many months. How hard is it to fix a sink?”
“This is about more than water and Gatorade,” she continued. “It’s about a culture that thinks it’s okay to make the people who work for us put up with terrible conditions.”
“Unless something changes at the top, none of this is going to change” – Solid Waste employee Stancil McNair.
Stancil McNair, a 12-year Solid Waste veteran, echoed that sentiment to The Brew.
“I’ve been reporting the same things to the supervisors – the broken ice machines, the no air conditioning in most of the trucks – for years,” he said in a phone interview.
“Unless something changes at the top, none of this is going to change.”
At the Cherry Hill Yard, a locked container holding unopened boxes of ice chests and water dispensers. “A supervisor stated that the insulated water dispensers did not fit on the newer garbage trucks and that some employees did not want them.” (OIG Baltimore)
Toilet Paper on Request
Asked to comment on Cumming’s report, DPW has not yet responded.
Along with Cherry Hill, the Eastern Sanitation Yard at 6101 Bowley’s Lane is cited for multiple issues in Cumming’s 46-page document.
Topping the list are conditions in the men’s room, where toilet paper dispensers were found to be empty and broken and “the male employees must ask for toilet paper before using the bathroom,” Cumming wrote.
“The toilet paper is stored in a storeroom with a supply employee,” according to the report, which calls for urgent corrective action and includes photos of rusty dispensers in the stalls and a hole in the wall beside a urinal.
“Male employees must ask for toilet paper before using the bathroom. The OIG requests this practice stop immediately” – Isabel Mercedes Cumming.
“The OIG requests this practice stop immediately, and toilet paper be placed in the stalls for the solid waste workers and laborers.”
McNair said that toilet-paper-only-upon-request has been the policy at Bowley’s Lane for years, thanks to tightfisted supervisors who suspect employees would steal it if given ready access.
“The supervisors are like correctional officers,” he said.
Empty and broken toilet paper holders at DPW’s Eastern Sanitation Yard at 6101 Bowley’s Lane. Users must request toilet paper. (OIG Baltimore)
One Gatorade Per Shift
Other conditions noted at that northeast Baltimore facility include: an HVAC system in hallways and locker room areas that was not working, and metal lockers and radiators that were badly damaged and dilapidated.
“The OIG also observed four cases of Gatorade within a locked office,” the report said. “Some employees reported that they have received water all summer, while some said they did not and brought their own drinks to work. An employee stated that employees are allowed only one Gatorade per shift.”
At the Kane Street Yard, where street sweeping crews are based, the IG’s findings were similar.
The building’s HVAC system wasn’t working, the bathrooms were in serious disrepair, ceiling tiles were missing and an unsecured hose was connected to the air conditioning unit.
“The OIG observed some safety concerns, including open ceiling panels throughout the facility, a blocked exit door, open electrical panels and wiring, and unclean and damaged bathroom facilities,” the report said.
At the Cherry Hill Yard, the HAVC was inoperable both in the office and “cooling” trailer, the report said, noting that “during a walk through of the trailer office area, the OIG observed that the AC system was not working, and several portable AC systems had been installed in the office area.”
“The OIG observed some supervisors working inside the trailer. One of the portable AC units listed the room temperature as 83°F at 6:18 a.m.”
At the Cherry Hill locker room, one of the four sinks was damaged (right) and all of them only dispensed hot water. (OIG Baltimore)
City’s Lax Response
In addition to documenting poor workplace conditions, Cumming’s latest report challenges the city’s response to her past findings.
DPW officials have, for instance, pointed to “proactive measures” they have taken, including ordering 3,700 “high-vis moisture wear t-shirts” and “providing supervisors with training to educate employees and supervisors abut heat-related illness.”
But according to dates on the purchase order for the shirts and the dates when training was initiated, these measures were only taken after the OIG began investigating complaints about inadequate water, ice and fans for employees.
Cumming said her office has formally requested records of heat-related training provided by DPW to its employees.
The report also calls on DPW to encourage visits by the city’s Risk Management department and the Department of General Services for a thorough-going inspection of building components.
“It is imperative that DPW employee work environments are consistently maintained to not only avoid injuries and liability, but also for the health and safety of the employees.
“OIG strongly recommends that DPW expedite the use of the available funding for employee safety and welfare,” the report concludes.
At DPW’s Bowley’s Lane facility, missing floor tiles and a portable air conditioning unit with gaps at the window, (OIG Baltimore)
• To reach a reporter: fern.shen@baltimorebrew.com