• Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Your neighborhood. Your News.

newsMilwaukee NNSMilwaukee NNSSearch
Subscribe to NNS today!
Advertisement
  • Home
  • News
    • Arts and Recreation
    • Community
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Health and Wellness
    • Housing
    • Public Safety
    • NNS Spotlight
    • Special Report
  • Posts From Community
    • Submit a Story
  • Community Voices
  • How To
  • Multimedia
    • NNS Local Video
    • Photos
    • NNS on Lake Effect
    • NNS WGLB 1560 Radio
  • Subscribe
  • Donate
  • About
    • Staff
    • Partners
    • News 414
    • The neighborhoods we cover
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Diederich College of Communication, Marquette University

You are here: Home / Home / Carousel / Milwaukee groups partner to reduce worker exposure to lead paint

Milwaukee groups partner to reduce worker exposure to lead paint

May 23, 2014 by Edgar Mendez Leave a Comment

Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin
Tobias Brumfield seals off an area before he begins lead abatement work in the upstairs bathroom of a Milwaukee home. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)

Tobias Brumfield seals off an area before he begins lead abatement work in the upstairs bathroom of a Milwaukee home. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)

Forty percent of abatement workers for the Social Development Commission’s Lead Hazard Reduction Assistance Program who were tested had elevated levels of lead in their blood, according to Ofelia Mondragon, manager of the program.

Seven contractors worked with SDC to have their employees tested. According to Mondragon, blood lead tests revealed that about a dozen of the 27 workers had blood lead levels above 10, the threshold at which the Milwaukee Health Department intervenes when children are tested.

Though that level is not necessarily dangerous for adult workers, they risk exposing their own children to the lead-saturated dust particles they’re exposed to at work.

A Layton Boulevard West house is the site of a series of workshops on lead-safe work practices for local contractors. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)

A Layton Boulevard West house is the site of a series of workshops on lead-safe work practices for local contractors. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)

In response to the test results, SDC has partnered with Layton Boulevard West Neighbors (LBWN), and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) to run free lead-safe work practices workshops for local contractors. The workshops are being conducted at a home in the Layton Boulevard West neighborhood that had been foreclosed, but is now being rehabbed as part of LBWN’s Turnkey Program. The house will be completely renovated, made energy efficient and sold later this summer.

The workshop provided an opportunity for lead-safe worker Tobias Brumfield, of Milwaukee, to stay current on state regulations while focusing on controlling the dangerous worksite dust.

“It’s really easy to breathe it in,” said Brumfield.

The workers are trained in real-life scenarios. At a recent workshop, the trainees were removing and containing lead in a house where four children, two under 6 years old, live.

Once they’re given the outline “they create their action plan and get to work,” Mondragon said.

Miriam Hasan, lead removal inspector for DHS, observed the trainees to make sure they followed best practices.

Hasan said the city is especially challenged by lead exposure, compared to others in the state, due to the dense concentration of population and old housing stock.

Ninety-two percent of the housing stock in the city of Milwaukee has lead in it, much of it hidden under layers of paint, according to Ramona Jensen, outreach manager for the SDC program.

In many homes, especially those built before 1950, the layers of newer paint eventually peel and chip away, exposing crackled layers of dangerous lead-based paint known to cause damage to the brain and other vital organs and lead to behavioral problems, learning disabilities and seizures in children.

“There are a lot of kids in Milwaukee and a lot of problems with exposure,” said Hasan.

Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin

Filed Under: Carousel, Home, Housing, Layton Boulevard West, Neighborhoods, News, South Tagged With: housing, lead paint

Edgar Mendez

About Edgar Mendez

Facebook |  Twitter | More stories from Edgar

Edgar is a senior staff reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. Mendez is a proud graduate of UW-Milwaukee, where he double majored in Journalism and Sociology, and of Marquette University, where he earned a master’s degree in Communication. As an accomplished journalist, Edgar’s awards include a 2018 Regional Edward R. Murrow award, several press club awards and a Society of Professional Journalists’ regional award for columns dealing with issues such as poverty, homelessness and racism.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement

Top Stories

Advertisement

How To …

How to avoid stimulus check scams

A new round of stimulus checks will likely also bring out a new round of scams. Here’s what to watch out for.

More "How To" articles

Advertisement

Recommended Reading

A Vaccine Reality Check

The Atlantic

UWM study on the state of Black Milwaukee describes the city as ‘the epitome of a 21st century racial regime’

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Videos Show How Federal Officers Escalated Violence in Portland

The New York Times

These mayors want to fight Covid-19 and the recession with one big idea: A guaranteed income

Vox

The World John Lewis Helped Create

The Atlantic

News

  • Arts and Recreation
  • Economic Development
  • Education
  • Health and Wellness
  • Housing
  • Public Safety
  • NNS Spotlight
  • Special Reports
  • Multimedia
    • NNS Videos
    • Photos
    • NNS on Lake Effect Radio

Engage with us

  • Posts from Community
  • Community Voices
  • Submit a Story

About NNS

  • Staff
  • Partners
  • News414
  • The neighborhoods we cover
  • Internship opportunities
  • Careers
  • Terms of use
  • Advertise

Connect with us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS feed

Communities

Contact

mailing address
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Diederich College of Communication
Marquette University
1131 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Johnston Hall 430
Milwaukee, WI 53233

email
info@milwaukeenns.org

phone & fax
PHONE: 414.604.6397 FAX: 414.288.6494

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service is a project of Diederich College of Communication and Marquette University.
© 2020 Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. Terms of use.
1131 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee WI 53233 • info@milwaukeenns.org

Copyright © 2021 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in