My name is Jennifer Webb and I have been in the City of Norfolk Department of Utilities for seven years. I am performing essential frontlines work as an Engineering Technician I. 

I am also a single mother of eight school aged children, for whom I am the sole provider and protector.? 

I worry about the safety and health of my children. In fact, my four-year old daughter is a COVID-19 survivor. 

As a mother of children that have underlying health conditions, I worry at work every day that I will bring this virus home to my children. 

I support the proposed VOSH permanent standard for infectious disease prevention for COVID-19. 

 
Not properly notifying workers when an employee has tested positive or has been exposed, is a serious concern because this puts me and my children health at risk. I am the bread winner in my household. I honestly do not know what I would do if I contracted this dreaded virus. How would I be able to provide for my household??These are scary times!  

Recently, I have had to split my time between transporting my kids back and forth to their doctor appointments and?working ten hours days, so this pandemic has brought about serious personal and professional challenges for me. 

We also need access to PPE when we cannot properly stay physically distanced from our coworkers. 

Right now, during the pandemic, we are riding four and five employees to a vehicle with no shields to protect and/or distance ourselves. 

Other Norfolk employees and I, with the support of Health and Safety experts from AFSCME District Council 20 and the AFSCME International, have been advocating to improve VOSH Standards for some time. We recently reached out to several City of Norfolk officials to meet and make suggestions to help further these efforts. 

 
The City of Norfolk, on one occasion provided employees a pack of masks, but once they were no longer useable and out of stock, we were told we were on our own.? How could this happen?  The standard should include, at?minimum a (daily; weekly; monthly; quarterly) mask distribution protocol and COVID-19 exposure log, as well as requirements for managing cases. 

I urge you to make the permanent standard and all its provisions effective immediately on January 27, 2021. Please consider my advocacy for a permanent VOSH Standard to protect Front-Line Essential Workers in the City of Norfolk. 
 

Thank you.