New Report: Short Shrift on Safety Costs Mass. Workers' Lives
Labor Unions and Workplace Safety Advocates Call for More Stringent Worker Safety Protections
A New Bedford fish processing worker might have lived to see his 41st birthday had the employer locked out an ice-making machine’s power source before the worker entered it. A Boston roofing employee could have returned home safe and sound had his employer provided training and properly inspected the mechanical equipment. Click here for report Click here for press coverage of the event
A Taunton pet food warehouse employee would not have fallen from a forklift to his death had the employer utilized a proper restraint system, a safety violation the company was cited for less than a year earlier.
A new report released today documents the loss of sixty-two workers killed on the job in the Commonwealth in 2009.
“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.”
“Sixty-two Massachusetts workers didn’t make it home this year due to a workplace fatality,” said Robert Haynes, President of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. “Many of those deaths could have been prevented through basic health and safety measures, and of those, many can be attributed to a willful and dangerous disregard for worker safety by employers. As we do every year on Workers’ Memorial Day, we must mourn the unnecessary loss of life through workplace accidents and rededicate ourselves toward preventing such tragedies in the future.”
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 Workplaces, comes on the eve of Workers’ Memorial Day. Every year on April 28th, workers killed and injured on the job are remembered and the call for improving workplace safety is renewed. This year, Workers’ Memorial Day will be commemorated on the steps of the Massachusetts State House on April 28th, 2010 at noon.
In Massachusetts in 2009, the average fine assessed to an employer with OSHA violations resulting in the death of a worker was a mere $13,306. Nine of the fourteen penalized employers faced fines of under $10,000. 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.
The report gives examples of deaths that could have been prevented. On May 4, 2009, a fish processing worker, Joseph Teixeria, was killed at a New Bedford seafood processing plant after becoming caught in the moving parts of a large industrial ice-making machine. The ensuing OSHA investigation found that Northern Wind, the employer, had failed to establish steps and procedures to power down and lock out the ice machine’s power source before employees entered the machine. An additional twenty-one health and safety violations were found at the plant, resulting in a $42,000 citation.
The report also highlights deaths and injuries that occurred in the public sector, where workers are not covered under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). Jeffrey Burgess, a 35 year old City of Attleboro employee, was struck and killed by a minivan while helping repair a water main break. Burgess had walked into the street to close the water valve when the minivan hit him, pinning him underneath a public workers truck. An investigation by the Massachusetts Division of Occupational Safety found that none of the employees of the water department had received formal work zone training or were familiar with the standard developed by the Federal Highway Administration to ensure safety in work zones.
The report highlights several issues of growing concern:
• Poor working conditions that plague immigrant workers in Massachusetts due to language barriers, lack of training and employer exploitation, coupled with fear of retaliation and deportation for speaking out about hazards that contribute to workplace deaths among immigrant workers. Far too often, temporary agencies fail to provide workers with so much as the name of their employer; making it impossible for workers to pursue workers’ compensation should they become injured.
• Workplace violence continues to hit the retail industry hard, with five deaths occurring as a result of work-related homicide this year. Many employers are not aware, or negligent of, basic precautions that can reduce the threat of death or injury when a robbery or other violent incident occurs.
• Recycling jobs, commonly associated with the “green jobs” movement, actually provide some of the dirtiest, lowest paid, and most hazardous jobs. At the same time, employers have capitalized on the idea of “green jobs” in order to qualify for public subsidies. A chemical release at a New Bedford recycling plant that resulted in the hospitalization over 100 workers this past August put a spotlight on this issue.
The report calls for regulations on both 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.
“Jeffery [Burgess]’s death has been devastating for the family and the union. You go to work and you never know when tragedy is going to strike,” said Arthur Lopes, President of Laborers Local 1144. “While we’ll never be able to bring back Jeffrey, we want to do everything possible to make sure that no other worker suffers the same fate.”
The complete report can be viewed at www.massaflcio.org or www.masscosh.org.
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About the Massachusetts AFL-CIO
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, contact Legislative and Communications Director Tim Sullivan at 617-680-2344 or visit www.massaflcio.org.
About the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (MassCOSH)
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 Executive Director Marcy Goldstein-Gelb at 617-642-1878 or visit www.masscosh.org.
