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If I were the King of Hudson, one of the changes to Common Council meetings I would institute would be a requirement that each department head reveal any injuries that occurred in their department the previous month. And since most injuries to municipal workers occur in public works departments, Rob Perry would have an extra task every month: to announce to the council how many days his department has gone without an injury and how many days away from work any injured workers had.
With that in mind, let's have a look at the nine accidents involving city workers in 2025 that the city reported to OSHA on Form 300, titled Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses.
On January 11th, the "Foreman slipped getting out work truck, strained back and neck, hit the ground." That would have been the DPW Foreman.
On January 30th, the injury to a "Sr. Acct Clerk" is described as "walking up rear entry steps to the rear door @ 701 Union St. fell on metal stairs, deep laceration to right knee, cuts/scrapes to left knee, right/left wrists and bruising to left face." Ouch!
On February 5th, a "Code Enforcement Officer," while "inspecting the framing on the 1st floor of a residential home," injured himself while "walking on floor framing beams and slipped on a piece of steel re-bar, left leg twisted as I was falling." Are code officers really required to inspect framing while a house is being built or renovated? Should they ever be walking on framing beams and steel re-bar (whatever that looks like) to make an inspection?
February 11th saw a "Detective on N. 5th Street" suffer a "dog bite to right thumb." That would have been a HPD Detective.
On the same day, a "Building Maintenance Mechanic in the cemetery digging a grave pulled back muscle while digging."
The next injury occurred 4 months later, on June 5th, when a "Sr. MEO (?) getting in backhoe smacked knee on steel step."
On June 16th, a DPW "laborer was hurt while picking up garbage at the train station, slipped while getting onto back of truck, strained elbow and shoulder when he hit the ground."
9 days later, another injury to a "laborer" of the DPW sanitation crew occurred when he was "riding in garbage truck stepped out of truck twisted ankle on ground."
Sanitation work, particularly around and riding the back of garbage trucks, is very dangerous.
On September 10th, a "Police Officer in Joe Alley was injured while assisting other HPD members restraining a male that had become combative after a seizure, legs were restricted while upper body fell backwards, sprain to the left knee."
According to the report, none of these nine injuries resulted in any days away from work. Of course, not one these incidents was mentioned during reports by department heads in front of the Common Council last year. One wonders how serious an injury to a city worker has to be for it to be mentioned to the council and the public at a public meeting. And what if someone is out of work with an injury for weeks or months or for good? Still not worth disclosing? Not if I'm king!
The two injuries to DPW laborers are also found on a NY State Department of Labor (DOL) injury report, likely filled out by Rob Perry. The injury which occurred at the Amtrak parking lot is described a bit differently on this report. It says, "Stepped off the back of the garbage truck and slipped in (sic) a piece of plastic on the ground hit elbow and shoulder." Which was it? Did the laborer slip while "getting onto the back of the truck" or was he stepping off the back of the truck? Hmmm...
Strangely, the DOL report indicates that that worker missed five days of work as a result of his injury. Also not mentioned on the OSHA but mentioned on the DOL report was the detail that the injury to the laborer at the Amtrak lot resulted in one day away from work.
Another report which also details the five injuries at DPW last year shows that both laborers went to "Urgent Care." Apparently, none of the other three injuries at DPW required medical attention.
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