Chambers: Honor our fallen workers by doing your part to protect others
In July 2022, a 40-year-old laborer fell to his death while performing demolition on an old hotel in State College — without employer-provided fall protection. A month later, a 19-year-old technician employed with Centre WISP was installing high-speed internet cable at a work site in Gregg Township. The bucket he worked in made contact with overhead power lines and he was fatally electrocuted.
Federal safety investigations that followed determined the employers failed to implement work practices that complied with OSHA regulations and could have better protected the two employees. Sadly, workplace deaths are an all-too-common occurrence in the U.S.
Since these tragic incidents last year, an additional 17 workers have lost their lives at work sites located in the 14 counties covered by OSHA’s Harrisburg Office, which includes Centre County.
These numbers remind us of the dangers many workers face. Behind these numbers, there are people who mourn each loss. For them, these statistics are loved ones: they’re parents, children, siblings, relatives, friends, or co-workers.
For those left behind the day their loved one was lost becomes a sad remembrance. Graduations, birthdays, anniversaries, and other special times are forever tainted.
To pay tribute to those whose jobs claimed their lives, April 28 is Workers Memorial Day. An opportunity for us to pause and join those families, friends, and co-workers to recall those who suffered work-related injuries and illnesses. The remembrance also recognizes the grief that their survivors face in the days, months and years after.
Workers Memorial Day also reminds us that more must be done to prevent workplace deaths and injuries. For those of us at the U.S. Department of Labor and, specifically, its Occupational Safety and Health Administration, this annual commemoration reinforces our commitment to developing and enforcing standards and initiatives to safeguard workers and guide employers as they work to provide safe workplaces.
Remember, we all have a role to play in making sure our nation’s workplaces do not endanger our safety and health. If you see people exposed to workplace dangers, don’t ignore your concerns. Alert the employer or contact your local OSHA office or law enforcement agency. Demand that the stores you frequent, the companies that get your business, and those you hire don’t endanger the people they employ. If they won’t, take your business to those who respect their workers’ rights to a safe and healthy workplace, and who don’t put profit ahead of the lives of the people who help them earn it.
On Workers Memorial Day 2023, let’s remember those who didn’t return home after work and commit ourselves to making sure that no one is forced to trade their life for a paycheck.