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California Embarks on Setting ‘Condoms in Porn' Health RegulationsLOS ANGELES --(Business Wire)-- California's Department of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) will explore strengthening adult film worker safety regulations in California during its next regularly scheduled Standards Board meeting (Item # IV "B") on Thursday, March 18th in Costa Mesa. The action comes in response to a petition filed in December by AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) seeking an amendment to broaden the Cal/OSHA's "bloodborne pathogens" workplace safety regulations to better encompass adult film industry worksites. At Thursday's meeting, state officials will consider Cal/OSHA's own staff's recommendation to create an advisory panel to determine whether and how to amend state health statutes to better protect adult film workers. Several former adult entertainment actresses, a current producer/director/performer as well as several public health advocates will testify at the meeting in support of Cal/OSHA's creation of an advisory panel as well as ultimately changing state health regulations. WHAT: PUBLIC HEARING & TESTIMONY 10am (Item #IV "B") Cal/OSHA to consider creating advisory panel on adult film worker safety WHEN: THURSDAY, March 18th 2010 -10:00 AM Pacific WHERE: Meeting: Costa Mesa City Council Chambers, 77 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa, CA (News - Alert) 92626 WHO: Shelley Lubben, former adult entertainment actress and founder of Pink Cross Foundation Jan (Meza) Merritt, former adult entertainment actress and member of Pink Cross Foundation Madelyne Hernandez, former adult entertainment actress and member of Pink Cross Foundation Dave Pounder, Producer/Director/Performer, President, Dave Pounder Productions Tim Tritch, Former Laboratory Representative/Account Manager; clients includes AIM Clinic Robert Kim-Farley, MD, MPH, Director, Communicable Disease Control and Prevention Program, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Mark McGrath, Adult Film Industry Subcommittee, Reproductive Health Interest Group, UCLA School of Public Health, UC Berkeley Research Fellow Michael Weinstein, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, President Brian Chase, Assistant General Counsel, AIDS Healthcare Foundation CONTACT: Ged Kenslea, AHF Dir. of Communications (323) 791-5526 cell (323) 308-1833 office Also: WHAT: POST Cal/OSHA HEARING TELECONFERENCE-12:30 PM Pacific Advocates respond after Cal/OSHA hearing on adult film health and safety WHEN: THURSDAY, March 18th 2010 -12:30 PM Pacific Teleconference Dial in information: +1.877.411.9748 participant code #7931503 WHERE: Hilton Hotel Orange County/Costa Mesa, 3050 Bristol Street, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 Late last week, Cal/OSHA officials released its staff evaluation of AHF's petition as well as a proposed decision that the Cal/OSHA's Standards Board is expected to evaluate and act on during Thursday's meeting. In its proposed decision (http://www.dir.ca.gov/oshsb/petition513.html), Cal/OSHA officials wrote: "In light of the evaluations, it is apparent to the Board that serious consideration should be given to the possible amendment of Section 5193 in order to give greater protection to employees in the adult film industry."(Emphasis added) "This is a huge step in the right direction toward protecting the health and safety of adult film workers here in California, and I want to thank Cal/OSHA officials for their work on this and urge its Standards Board members to vote in favor of convening an advisory panel on this issue," said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. "Although workers in adult films should enjoy protections under the current phrasing of Cal/OSHA's regulations, the adult film industry has steadfastly refused to take any steps to protect its workers from diseases spread by bloodborne pathogens, resulting in thousands of employees becoming infected with sexually transmitted diseases. AHF filed this petition because adult film industry producers were unwilling or unable to comply with current Cal/OSHA regulations and to take steps necessary to protect performers by providing and enforcing the use of condoms during filming." "I was a porn star living the glamorous life. Drug overdoses, herpes, suicide attempts and abuse at the hands of the porn industry," said Shelley Lubben, former porn actress and founder of the Pink Cross Foundation, an IRS approved 501(c)(3) public charity dedicated to offering adult industry workers emotional, financial and transitional support for those who want out of the adult industry. "In my time in the industry, I did some very hardcore movies, and only drugs and alcohol could get me through them. I played a crazy game of Russian roulette with my life. The industry did not and still does NOT enforce condom usage, so STDs and HIV were and still are--a high risk among porn actors and actresses. While my own life has taken an entirely new and profoundly fulfilling direction and I now work to help performers leave the industry altogether, I wholeheartedly support the call to amend Cal/OSHA regulations to better protect those still involved in the ongoing production of adult films in California." "It breaks my heart to acknowledge that during my time as a porn star, I've done a scene with 25 men and even though I was assured that all of the STD testing had been taken care of by the producers, in my heart I realize now that this was probably a lie because I never saw the tests for myself," said Jan (Meza) Merritt, former porn actress and member of the Pink Cross Foundation. "There are thousands of porn stars actively working in the adult industry. How much higher is the risk of getting HIV and other STDs in an industry where you have not only one sexual partner per day, but several or more and condoms are looked at as an unnecessary, negative component of this industry? I urge Cal/OSHA to convene an advisory panel to thoroughly consider amending California safety and health regulations covering the industry." Background on AHF's Petition to Cal/OSHA AHF filed its petition at the final 2009 meeting of the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Cal/OSHA) in mid-December in Sacramento. The petition sought an amendment to California Code of Regulations, Title 8, Section 5193 "Bloodborne Pathogens" and asked Cal/OSHA to clarify protections for workers in the adult film industry and to explicitly include a condom requirement. As reported by the Associated Press (News - Alert) at the time, ("AIDS group wants rule requiring condoms in porn" AP, 12/16/09) AHF said, "regulations to prevent the spread of bloodborne diseases in hospitals should extend to adult film sets. The current regulations aren't clear enough." Cal/OSHA's proposed decision also noted: "In view of the fact that the Petitioner does not represent all stakeholders and in view of the complexity of the issues, the possibly differing approaches to potential rulemaking and possible issues regarding federal equivalence, the Board concludes that an advisory committee would be of great benefit in determining the manner (if any) in which Section 5193 should be amended. Labor Code Section 147.1(c) provides, in effect, that the Division is to take the lead in developing and presenting proposed health standards to the Board, in which case, it is appropriate that the Division take the lead with respect to the advisory committee discussed herein." (Emphasis added) "In view of the foregoing, the Board grants the Petition that is the subject of Petition File No. 513 to the extent that the Division is requested to convene an advisory committee representing stakeholders in order to consider possible amendments of California Code of Regulations, Title 8, Section 5193 as it pertains to employees in the adult film industry. If determined necessary, regulatory language or amendments should be developed for the Board's consideration at a future public hearing." Background on STDs including HIV in the Adult film Industry and AHF's Ongoing Advocacy AHF's action was prompted by the ongoing epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in California's adult film industry. According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LADPH), workers in the adult film industry are ten times more likely to be infected with a sexually transmitted disease than members of the population at large. LADPH documented 2,013 individual cases of chlamydia and 965 cases of gonorrhea among workers between the years 2003 and 2007. LADPH has observed that many workers suffer multiple infections, with some performers having four or more separate infections over the course of a year. In addition, LADPH has stated that as many as 25 industry-related cases of HIV have been reported since 2004. Included in the presentation will be two PowerPoint slideshows created by Peter R. Kerndt, MD, MPH, Director, Sexually Transmitted Disease Program for LADPH detailing the rampant epidemic of STDs in Los Angeles' adult film industry and the need for condoms to prevent disease transmission. This past August, AHF filed sixteen worker-safety complaints with Cal/OSHA over the lack of condom use in adult films made in California. AHF supported its complaints with the submission of nearly 60 adult DVDs filmed in California and in which the performers do not wear condoms. The complaints asserted that the films demonstrated unsafe potentially life-threatening behavior in a California workplace, as the sexual acts filmed without participating performers using condoms depict the unprotected exchange of bodily fluids. AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is the largest global AIDS organization. AHF currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 130,000 individuals in 22 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean and the Asia Pacific Region. www.aidshealth.org The Pink Cross Foundation is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) public charity dedicated to offering adult industry workers emotional, financial and transitional support for those who want out of the adult industry. www.thepinkcross.org and www.shelleylubben.com |
