About CACOSH

History

Over 30 years ago, occupational medicine physicians joined activist labor leaders to address the carnage in Chicago's work places. Too many workers were being killed and crippled on the job. They formed CACOSH to advocate for the right of all workers to safe and healthy workplaces.CACOSH was the first of the over twenty COSH groups in the United States today. The groups it has spawned span the nation from the East Coast to California, even penetrating the right-to-work states in the South and reaching north to Alaska.

The Chicago Area Committee on Occupational Safety and Health has been involved in a variety of projects designed to outreach to the population of workers, to train workers in Health and Safety concepts, and to help address specific concerns brought by members, organizations, or individual workers.

Projects have included creating workers' guides to Illinois Workers' Compensation laws, making recommendations to reform Workers' Compensation, and taking the message of workers' rights to vulnerable workers including teens, immigrants and refugees, 'contingent' workers, workers of color, and low-income workers.

CACOSH Today

Today the need for an aggressive health and safety movement is greater than ever. New technologies and cutthroat competitiveness put new stresses on workplace safety. Resources devoted to health and safety have declined with the strength of the union movement. Meanwhile, cuts in government funding have crippled efforts to enforce standards and corporations are aggressively rolling back environmental, health and safety protections. CACOSH is trying to push back!

CACOSH seeks to unite attorneys, health and safety professionals, doctors, union leaders and activists, and individual workers. We serve labor unions, community organizations, and union and nonunion workers by providing education, information, advocacy, and strategic advice.

Board of Directors 2008

• Richard K. Johnson, President
  • Katz, Friedman, Eagle, Eisenstein, Johnson & Bareck
• Helena Harlow Worthen, Secretary-Treasurer
  • Labor Education Program, UIUC
• Ian Elfenbaum, Vice President
  • Elfenbaum, Evers & Amarilio
• Marsha Katz
  • Local 4100, IFT, AFT, AFL-CIO
  • Governors State University, College of Business and Public Administration
• David Menchetti
  • Cullin, Haskins, Nicholson and Menchetti
• Gregory Ehrendreich
  • Industrial Workers of the World
  • Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance
  • Chicagoland Green Collar Jobs Initiative

CACOSH Needs You!
CACOSH is a small organization, and has limited resources of time and money to fill requests, research problems, and provide safety answers for Chicagoland's workers. If you have expertise in OHS/EHS fields, organizing, and activism, please consider volunteering to help CACOSH. You can reach us at our Contact page.

How Can I Support CACOSH?
CACOSH is a member of Community Shares of Illinois. Community Shares is a non-profit organization that represents over 70 different community organizations in Illinois that seek to improve quality of life in the state through their work on social issues.

Donate Now by clicking the box at the right! You can also support CACOSH by donating to Community Shares through your workplace giving program, if available.