Help put an end to on-the-job deaths
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Labor Day is the day our nation has set aside to celebrate the American worker. No one works harder, with more creativity and relentless drive, than Americans. But while we are enjoying barbecues and time with our families, we also must reflect on those who have lost their lives on the job.
As you may recall, the Mount Carroll community lost two young people in July in a tragic grain bin incident.
Fourteen-year-old Wyatt Whitebread had a winning smile, friendly way and generous heart. He loved riding his four-wheeler with his brother, and shooting with the Carroll County Long Spurs Trap Shooting Team.
Nineteen-year-old Alex Pacas was gifted in science, sports and music, and was hoping to get a degree in mechanical engineering. He loved his six younger siblings. He was their hero.
They were killed after entering a grain bin to help clear it.
So was 49-year-old Raymond Nowland, who was killed Aug. 27 at a facility in Geneseo.
In Colorado, 17-year-old Cody Rigsby was a high school quarterback, skateboarder and friend to all.
Cody was one of four high school students hired to help a company remove grain from one of its facilities. One day in May 2009, he entered a storage bin in an effort to clear it of buildup. He was not provided a body harness and lifeline, or other protections.
Like Wyatt and Alex, Cody fell into the grain beneath him and was completely engulfed.
Tragedies like these should not happen, especially to our younger workers.
As long as I am Labor secretary, my department will go after anyone who negligently puts workers’ lives at risk. With President Obama’s support, I also have been working to give back to the department the energy and tools needed to meet our most critical mission – protecting America’s workers.
In the past year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined grain operators in Colorado, South Dakota and Wisconsin more than $4 million for preventable fatalities and injuries, and is currently investigating the incidents in Illinois. But no amount of money will ever replace the pain that the families of these victims feel.
My department has put employers on notice. All employers, and especially those in high-hazard industries such as the grain industry, must recognize and prevent workplace hazards.
Some argue that inspection, enforcement and regulation are “inconvenient,” but keeping employees safe is good for workers and good for business, and should be common sense.
Everyone at the Department of Labor – especially OSHA – is working with employers and holding them responsible. No worker should lose his or her life for a paycheck, and no parent should bury a child because of a preventable hazard.
So, this Labor Day, by staying committed to good and safe jobs for all, we honor the families of Alex, Wyatt, Cody and Raymond. And, we remember the thousands of Americans killed on the job each year.
Note to readers – Hilda Solis, a former California congresswoman, is secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor.
