LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — Over the weekend, the industrial parks in the Hazleton area were mentioned on the CBS program 60 Minutes.
The national news story highlighted concerns about working conditions and possible exposure to coronavirus among the thousands of people who work there.
"Clearly, the national media is just catching up to what we learned really in early March: that many of these large industries, whether meatpacking or logistics industry, that we had concerns," said State Senator John Yudichak (I) who represents the 14th Senatorial District.
In April, Sen. Yudichak and other local leaders started a COVID-19 Regional Code Enforcement Partnership team and have since followed up on more than 400 worker complaints and did 138 inspections.
After all that, Yudichak and State Representative Tarah Toohil say complaints are down.
"It's definitely still a problem, but now we are locally regulating and we are on top of these industrial plants so they know that they're being watched and they have to go by certain guidelines," said Rep.Toohil, (R) who represents the 116th Legislative District.
Both legislators believe more needs to be done at the state and federal level to keep workers and their communities safe.
"We're nine weeks into the crisis and there's still not been a single inspection to my knowledge by the Pennsylvania Department of Health or by OSHA of any of these facilities," added Sen. Yudichak.
"If we're going to face a second wave of this in the fall or in the near future, we are going to be addressing the industrial workplace in a different way and we will be able to mitigate much earlier on," said Toohil.
Now, Toohil is proposing a COVID-19 Industrial Business Data Reporting Act where employers will be mandated to report the number of COVID-19 cases, deaths, and recoveries to the Department of Health.
"It's not even something that's going to cost money, but it's definitely something that can save lives," explained Toohil. "But if we have that reporting to the Department of Health and the governor's office, if they have access to that information then they can be much more proactive and take steps that are going to save lives and help people from getting sick."
Toohil says right now there is no requirement for employers to let employees know about the virus in their workplace.
She's currently seeking co-sponsors for her proposed law to change that.