When most people are turning in for the night, Cecilia Avila punches a time clock at Sandburg High School, loads up her custodial cart and gets to work. Mopping up after nearly 4,000 students each night is no easy task. And after a series of outbreaks of a drug-resistant staph infection, known as the superbug, earlier this year, the job has gotten more intense. So have the chemicals she uses to clean. Sore throats. Nose bleeds. Stomach cramps. Those are the reactions Avila and some of her co-workers in the three-school district have experienced since switching to the hospital-grade solutions. "We try to protect ourselves," the Blue Island woman said. She often waters down the chemicals to make them more tolerable. "But we need gloves and masks." District 230 officials haven't been quick to call on ARAMARK - the Philadelphia-based company that holds the $5.4 million-a-year maintenance contract - to provide more safety gear, which a company spokeswoman says already is on hand in the district. Why? Supt. James Gay said it's because he hasn't been approached by the staffers with any "concrete issues." The janitors first brought their concerns to the school board last month and were told to put them in writing. Read more- Source: http://www.southtownstar.com/news/820503,copy_of_030108sick.article
