NEW REPORT: Massachusetts Worker Deaths Hit Four Year High

Massachusetts AFL-CIO & Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (MassCOSH)

CONTACT: Tim Sullivan Whitney Soenksen

Massachusetts AFL-CIO MassCOSH

tsullivan@massaflcio.org whitney.soenksen@masscosh.org

(W) (781) 324-8230 ext. 11 (W) (617) 825-7233 ext. 14

NEW REPORT: MASSACHUSETTS WORKER DEATHS HIT FOUR YEAR HIGH Immigrant fatalities out of proportion

BOSTON, MA 4/28/08 – A Lynn teenager could have lived to see his 18th birthday if his employer hadn’t put him in a dangerous roofing job without fall protection and training. A South Weymouth technician might be alive today had his employer provided him with elevated buckets that were insulated. A 45 year old paramedic may not have suffered a fatal heart attack had he not been working his second 24-hour shift.

A new report released today documents the loss of 80 workers killed on the job in the Commonwealth in 2007. This is an increase of four from the previous year and the highest number of fatalities in the past four years. Many of these deaths could have been prevented had the employers instituted basic and often inexpensive safety measures.

“The findings are extremely disturbing,” said Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, executive director of the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health and the report’s co-author. “It’s not just the number, which is unacceptable. It’s also what’s behind the numbers – that so many of these men and women could have been with us today had their employer not given safety short shrift.”

“It is an absolute outrage that in this day and age, we have such a high number of lives lost on the job,” remarked Robert J. Haynes, President of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. “The 80 workplace deaths of 2007 represent great personal suffering for loved ones. We have come a long way in improving safety measures at work, but clearly there’s much more work to be done.”

The report released by the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupation Safety and Health (MassCOSH) Dying for Work in Massachusetts: The Loss of Life and Limb in Massachusetts, comes on the eve of Workers Memorial Day. Every year on April 28, workers killed and injured on the job are remembered and calls renewed for improving workplace safety. This year, it will be commemorated on the steps of the Massachusetts State House on April 29, 2008 at noon.

In Massachusetts in 2007, the average fine assessed to an employer with OSHA violations resulting in the death of a worker was less than $5,000. Unfortunately, too many employers determine it to be cheaper to violate OSHA regulations than to comply with them, ignoring the potential human costs. The report also found that at OSHA’s current rate of inspection, it will take a staggering 121 years for the agency to complete inspections of all workplaces under its jurisdiction.

“It appears that some employers view fines as a cost of business,” Goldstein-Gelb remarked.

The report gives many examples of deaths that could have been prevented. On the afternoon of August 30, 2007, Benedelson Ovalle Chavez, a 17 year old Lynn resident, fell 20 feet to his death while fixing the roof of a Salem church. Employed by the company for just two months, he had received no training nor fall protection. A recent immigrant from Guatemala, Chavez spoke no English and, eager to earn money for his family, was given work that was extremely dangerous even for a well-trained and equipped adult.

Benedelson’s employer, B.C. Construction, was fined $22,400 by OSHA for, among other violations, a repeat violation of fall protection requirements. The General Contractor, Olympic Painting and Roofing Company, a company with a long history of labor and safety violations, remains free of any charges.

On that same day, Richard Powers, 45, a Gloucester-based Beauport Ambulance company paramedic collapsed and was found dead after retuning from a call near the end of working his second 24-hour shift in a row. Stressful and demanding work conditions appear to be contributing to or are the primary cause of Powers’ death.

On October 26, 2007 Gary Gibbons, a 53 year-old service technician was killed on the job while attempting to repair a problem on Verizon phone lines. Gibbons was electrocuted while working in an elevated bucket near high voltage electrical wires. Gibbons' death – the fifth Verizon workplace fatality in 2 years – highlights persistent safety concerns raised by workers at the huge telecommunications company.

"It's no surprise there has been so many serious accidents and fatalities," said Gene McLaughlin, business manager of Local 2322 and plant chairman of System Council T-6 that covers Verizon's New England operations. "Management has begun stressing productivity over safety by pushing unreasonable increases in productivity on employees.”

The report highlights several issues of growing concern:

• Disproportionately killed on the job, immigrants accounted for 20% (16/80) of workplace fatalities, while their representation in the workforce was 16.97% in 2007. Immigrants suffer from poor working conditions, lack of training, employer exploitation coupled with fear of retaliation and deportation for speaking up about hazards.

• In all sectors of the economy, companies rush to increase profits at the expense of workers’ health and lives by downsizing, understaffing, overloading workers, extending hours of work, combining jobs, and contracting out. Misclassification – when employers treat employees as independent contractors – has enabled some employers to distance themselves from the dangerous conditions of a workplace – and the resulting injuries and deaths.

• Fishing claimed the lives of more workers in Massachusetts during 2000 - 2007 than any other single occupation. Commercial fishing has been found to be the most dangerous industry in the country.

The report calls for regulations on the state and federal level to be strengthened. These improvements would include protections for public employees, protection for immigrant workers, improvements in Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation, and comprehensive workplace safety programs.

“The fact that workers lost their lives as a result of employers neglecting basic safety measures is an absolute injustice,” remarked Haynes. “Our fight for good jobs, and for health and safety at work, will continue until all workers are able to go to make a living at work and return home with their lives, limbs, and health intact.”

The complete report can be viewed at www.masscosh.org or www.massaflcio.org

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The Massachusetts AFL-CIO is the largest umbrella labor organization in the Commonwealth, representing hundreds of thousands of working families from member unions and serves as the voice of working families in Massachusetts. Offices are located at 389 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148. For additional information, call 781-324-8230 or visit www.massaflcio.org. Robert J. Haynes is the President of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. Tim Sullivan is the contact for the press and may be reached at (781) 324-8230.

The Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (MassCOSH) is a nonprofit coalition, bringing together workers, unions, community groups, and health, safety and environmental activists to organize and advocate for safe, secure jobs and healthy communities throughout eastern and central Massachusetts. Through training, technical assistance and building community/labor alliances, MassCOSH mobilizes its members and develops leaders in the movement to end unsafe work conditions. For more information, contact Membership and Communications Coordinator Whitney Soenksen at 617-825-7233 x14 or visit www.masscosh.org.