CCOO’s legal advice is studying the possibility of filing a lawsuit against the Health Service of Castilla-La Mancha (Sescam) for the «negligent» actions in the Pathological Anatomy laboratory of the University Hospital of Toledo, where contact with formaldehyde, a chemical substance that is carcinogenic, has caused health problems for a significant portion of its staff.
This was announced by the secretary of CCOO-Health and Socio-Health Sectors of Castilla-La Mancha, Chelo Cuadra, during the press conference held on Wednesday, after the Labor Inspection ordered on Tuesday to stop tasks involving the manipulation, contact, and exposure to formaldehyde in the carving room of said laboratory.
«Today we have handed all the documentation over to our lawyers in the provincial legal advice office, who will study the possibilities of filing a lawsuit against the Sescam Management themselves,» Cuadra said, extending the lawsuit to Solimat mutual, as she denounced that «instead of properly attending to the workers, they have referred them to their general practitioner, even with clear sequels, alleging that it was not a work accident.»
Accompanied by the prevention delegate of health area 1 of Toledo from the Federation of Health and Socio-Health Sectors CCOO Toledo, José Ángel Díaz, and the general secretary of CCOO Toledo, Federico Pérez, the CCOO-Health representative lamented the delay in this labor issue, as since March 2024, when this union filed the first complaint with the Labor Inspection, «a year had to pass for action to be taken.»
«We have not been drastic in taking measures because we were aware and responsible for what stopping such an essential service could entail. But the damage to the health of the workers has become increasingly evident,» she warned.
OVER A HUNDRED INCIDENTS AND 32 WORK LEAVES
According to the prevention delegate at the hospital center, the fifty workers in the Pathological Anatomy laboratory have experienced over a hundred incidents during this time, resulting in up to 32 work leaves.
Convinced that the problems not only affect this laboratory but also the Genetics, Microbiology, Hematology and Blood Bank, and Biochemistry laboratories, he has requested the halt of activities in all of them, as the workers «are going to the emergency room with loss of consciousness, nosebleeds, ulcers, red eyes, or hoarseness.»
With this in mind, he is hopeful about the meeting they will have with the Sescam management on Thursday, where the health authority will present their contingency plan, which on Tuesday assured will include «all necessary resources, both internal and external, to ensure that patient care is not affected after this halt.»
«Awaiting their proposal, we will ask for masks with a broad spectrum to protect workers from various products, not only from formaldehyde but also from other types of chemicals,» Díaz demanded.
NEGOTIATION WITH SESCAM
«We will once again bring to the table the proposals that have not been addressed so far and new ones regarding the relocation and working conditions of the affected professionals. A negotiation stage is now opening,» emphasized the secretary of CCOO-Health and Socio-Health Sectors of Castilla-La Mancha, stating that the atmosphere among the professionals in this department is «getting hotter every day» as the Sescam, instead of «protecting its workers, has done the opposite.»
Finally, it was the provincial secretary of CCOO who praised the «brave and responsible» actions of the Labor Inspection, considering that they were «forced to make this decision of this magnitude, facing a serious and imminent risk to the workers’ health.»
«The halt of a large part of the work carried out in the Pathological Anatomy laboratory is an unprecedented decision, directly affecting over fifty workers and indirectly impacting the entire healthcare system of the province of Toledo,» Pérez pointed out, concluding by denouncing that throughout this lengthy process, CCOO delegates have felt «abandoned and disregarded by the Sescam management themselves.»