Im not sure if this would apply since the students arent actually hired for the labor they do on campus, but most of the working conditions at HLA for students fall well below OSHA standards. During my time there we where required to to do things like choping wood and whatnot without any form of saftey equipment (gloves, goggles etc.) we also had to handle garbage (incuding rancid maggot covered food) without any type of sanitary protection. We also had to pick up goose droppings without any form of sanitary protection. So i was wondering if any of the more legal minded people here think that that contacting OSHA would be a worthwhile measure to persue.
Please read the following artincle from GoAskAlice.com, which is Columbia University Q&A forum on various health topics. Geese feces are full of bacteria and other pathogens.
No one should be handling geese feces!Canada geese feces can be hazardous to people's health. The elderly, children, and pregnant or breastfeeding women are particularly susceptible to health risks posed by parasites that inhabit Canada geese feces. At even higher risk are those with weak immune systems, such as people with HIV/AIDS, chemotherapy recipients, and recent organ donors and recipients. Similarly, people with gastrointestinal (GI) problems, such as ulcers and irritable bowel disease, are also at increased risk, since they, too, cannot easily combat parasites from Canada geese feces.
Geese feces usually contain the parasites cryptosporidium, giardia, coliform, and campylobacter. Cryptosporidium poses the most serious health hazard, since it causes cryptosporidiosis, an illness with the following symptoms:
watery diarrhea
dehydration
weight loss
stomach cramps or pain
fever
nausea
vomiting
Cryptosporidium was responsible for a 1993 outbreak of disease in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when the city's water supply became contaminated. One hundred people died and 400,000 became ill during this epidemic. The risk for a city or town's water supply becoming infected with cryptosporidium lingers as some municipalities do not check their water for this parasite at all. Wisely, New York City has been testing its water supply regularly for this parasite since 1992 as part of its water safety monitoring program.
In most cases, geese excrement cannot cause bodily harm to people unless it's inhaled or ingested. Children are more at risk for accidental ingestion of Canada geese feces since they usually play directly on the beach. Most healthy people infected with cryptosporidium have extended diarrhea and other symptoms associated with cryptosporidium, which usually dissipate with time if no other GI problems are present.
This infection can become serious if untreated since dehydration can set in. As a result, if people have GI distress for more than a couple of days, they need to see their health care provider. Parazyne, an herbal medication used to treat water-borne parasitic infection, may be recommended.
Some geographic areas with high numbers of geese have developed plans to reduce their number. Methods used include startling with loud noises, removing nesting material if no eggs are present in the nest, and relocating geese by trained animal personnel. Interestingly, Canada geese are a federally protected animal and killing this bird or destroying its eggs without a legal permit is a punishable offense.
So if you are at the beach with children, you can point out geese feces to them with instructions to stay away, and can tell them not to place their hands or fingers into their mouths while they are playing on the beach. Also, they need to wash their hands after leaving the beach and, even more importantly, before eating. Clearly, this may be a challenge, but taking measures to prevent infection with cryptosporidium is worth it.
If you are concerned about this as a public health issue, you can contact your municipal public health department, or county or state Department of Health and Human Services. You can inquire about what they are doing to deter Canada geese in a specific location from nesting, and also what they are doing about cleaning up the waste. If they have no plan or intention, then you can register a complaint. It is the complaints that let the officials know not only about the problem of Canada geese, but also of the concern in their area. This is what often makes things happen.
Readers can check out the following resources for more details:
"Cryptosporidium and Giardia Background Information and Monitoring Program" on The City of New York Department of Environmental Protection web site
Indiana Department of Natural Resources' Division of Fish and Wildlife website
"Geese Excrement Poses Health Risk, MCO Researchers Discover" on the Medical College of Ohio web site
http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/3669.htmlhttp://www.aphis.usda.gov/ws/researchre ... port06.pdf