Lawrence O’Leary was on a parking garage
under construction at Logan Airport when he fell off the building.
David Sutherland was trying to get from
his sinking fishing boat to a rescue boat in the ocean off Gloucester.
Joseph Brady was crossing a road to a lot
in Stoughton where he was selling Christmas trees when he was run over.
Lenore Travis was operating a tractor on
her small family farm in Lincoln when the vehicle flipped over.
These were just five of the 63 persons who
died on the job last year in Massachusetts, according to the Massachusetts
AFL-CIO.
Yesterday, the AFL-CIO released its annual
report on deaths in the workplace, “2016: Dying for Work in Massachusetts,” in
conjunction with a ceremony at noon outside the State House. The purpose of the event, as reported by the
State House News Service, was “to remember those who died or were injured while
working in 2015, and to call for changes aimed at creating safer conditions on
job sites.”
Fifty-five of the 63 persons who were
classified as on-the-job fatalities either died or were killed while
working. The remaining eight persons in
that category were firefighters who died from work-related diseases.
The average age of workers killed by
injuries in 2015 was 47, and workers in their twenties accounted for 16% of
all fatal injuries, the report states, while workers 60 and older accounted for
27% of all fatal injuries. The AFL-CIO
described the construction sector as “one of the most dangerous for workers,”
with 18 on-the-job fatalities in 2015.
In addition to Dr. Davidson, a revered
cardiac surgeon, five
persons lost their lives through violence in the workplace, the report notes:
“…a delivery man and a taxi driver were
both robbed, shot, and killed…,” “a sous chef was stabbed with a 12-inch shushi
knife by a co-worker; a clerk was found shot in the parking lot of a cell phone
store; and a young man participating in a job-ready program was shot and killed
by a rival while shoveling snow.”
You may find the report by going to the
web site of the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health, www.masscosh.org/ and clicking on NEW
REPORT: Workplace fatalities in Massachusetts at a five year high.
Anytime we talk about death in terms of
numbers and statistics, the individuals who form the data are unavoidably
obscured, their deaths become abstractions, and we have difficulty seeing the
deceased as the daughters and sons, the brothers and sisters, the mothers and the fathers, the neighbors
and friends they were.
I'd like to push back against those tendencies, even
if I can do so in only a small way. I
want to put the names alongside the numbers.
These were individual, living souls, not statistics. Here is every person who
died on the job in 2015, as determined by the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. They're listed with their ages, occupations,
place and date of death:
A. “PHIL” PHILIP BOUCHIE JR. - 55
Acting Fire
Lieutenant, Gloucester, 01/13/2015
STEVEN REIS - 37
Carpenter,
Boston, 01/14/2015
MICHAEL DAVIDSON - 44
Cardiac
surgeon, Boston, 01/20/2015
JAVON BROWN - 36
Cell phone
store clerk, New Bedford, 01/22/2015
JOHN TEMPLETON
Fire fighter,
Marshfield, 01/22/2015
JONATHAN PERKINS - 38
Arborist,
Berlin, 01/23/2015
RONALD KAWEJSZA - 73
Chemical
processing machine operator, North Andover,
01/29/2015
PATRICK SLATTERY - 44
Brewery
Operator, Lowell, 02/06/2015
CESAR MOYA-PADILLA - 60
Production
baker, Medford, 02/09/2015
KENNY LAMOUR - 21
Snow removal,
Boston, 02/11/2015
KEVIN “GEORGE” ST. PIERRE JR. - 22
Tow truck
driver, Auburn, 02/11/2015
RENE PAQUIN - 55
Logger,
Westminster, 02/18/2015
SEAN CORRIGAN - 42
Carpenter/contractor,
Canton, 02/22/2015
WAYNE PARMENTER - 52
Auto body foreman,
Wayland, 03/08/2015
ROBERT MAJOR - 45
Office
cafeteria manager, Wellesley, 03/14/2015
ADAM FRANCO - 32
Fire fighter,
Fall River, 03/16/2015
MICHAEL WILLETT - 54
Fisherman,
Nantucket Sound, 03/29/2015
BRUCE ALAN WOOD - 62
Bulk mail
driver, Plympton, 04/10/2015
RAYMOND THOMAS - 61
Fire
fighter/EMT, Hull, 04/13/2015
KIP BILLINGS - 62
Salesman,
Spencer, 04/14/2015
TIMOTHY MELCHER II - 24
Disaster
restoration technician, Wareham, 04/15/2015
JOEL REED JR - 36
Welding supply
driver, Plympton, 04/17/2015
LENORE TRAVIS - 67
Farmer,
Lincoln, 04/26/2015BRIAN “BUDZY” WHITE - 43
Drum technician, Westfield, 05/03/2015
JEFFREY SCHNEIDER - 60
Accountant,
Burlington, 05/04/2015
TODD “DEMSEY” ZULLO - 40
Musician,
Westfield , 05/05/2015
JOHN THEBEAU JR. - 62
Construction
dump truck driver, Saugus, 05/13/2015
NEIL FAIRNENY - 61
Maintenance
worker, Melrose, 05/30/2015
SCOTT MARK “SCO” SALMAN - 59
Fire fighter,
Boston, 06/04/2015
RICHARD “ROB” O’RILEY - 51
Construction
worker, Holyoke, 06/10/2015
RONALD “MOOSE” MORSE III - 40
Iron worker,
Somerville, 06/11/2015
SCOTT ROY HOLLIS - 26
Tree worker,
Littleton, 06/30/2015
CHARLES PACE - 65
Loader
operator, Plymouth, 06/30/2015
BRUNO FERRARA SR. - 55
Construction
company owner, Mansfield, 07/13/2015
JOSE LUIS MEDARDO TOBIAS-VALLE - 28
Car wash
employee, Malden, 07/19/2015
LAWRENCE O’LEARY - 54
Iron worker,
Boston, 07/24/2015
JOSE CHAVES REGO - 60
Construction
worker, Hudson, 07/25/2015
ROBERT HACKETT JR. - 58,
Paramedic,
Springfield, 07/25/2015
VASILIOS “BILL” PAPPAS - 61
Toll collector,
Auburn, 07/31/2015
DAVIDE NASCIMENTO - 28
Construction
worker, Longmeadow, 07/31/2015
JOSE LUIS VASQUEZ PEREIRA - 38
Garage worker,
Revere, 08/13/2015
RONALD MCKEAN - 49
Carpenter,
Boston, 08/17/2015
KEVIN MIRANDA - 48
Crane operator,
Taunton, 08/17/2015
ROBERT CHARPENTIER JR. - 68
Plumber, New
Braintree, 08/23/2015
ELIVELTON DIAS - 38
Restaurant sous
chef, Peabody, 08/29/2015
NICHOLAS DUMONT - 24
Construction
worker, Taunton, 09/04/2015
KENNETH MONTGOMERY - 74
Fleet manager,
Braintree, 09/15/2015
DONALD “SPONGY” SPONGBERG - 52
Commercial
truck driver, Lexington, 09/30/2015
ROBERT “BOBBY” QUINN - 57
Fire fighter,
Somerville, 10/04/2015
KYLE ASHWORTH - 21
Motorcycle
mechanic, Boylston, 10/16/2015
ANTHONY COLARUSSO - 39
Fire fighter,
Plymouth, 10/20/2015
ROLAND WILLARD SHAW - 85
Mechanic,
Newton, 10/24/2015
JEFFREY MARHEFKA - 44
Master builder,
Worcester, 11/04/2015
NICHOLAS KOBUS - 28
Licensed
electrician, Paxton, 11/04/2015
FAN CHEUNG LI - 40
Deliveryman,
Springfield, 11/07/2015
DONALD DEPINA - 66
Taxi driver,
New Bedford, 11/28/2015
JAMES BURGESS - 45
Construction
worker, Boston, 12/02/2015
DAVID “HEAVY D” SUTHERLAND - Eel boat
captain,
Cape Ann,
12/03/2015
ALCIDES VEIGA - 43
Warehouse worker,
Easton, 12/09/2015
JOSEPH BRADY - 71
Christmas tree
salesman, Stoughton, 12/11/2015
FREDWILSON DOSSANTOS - 23
Construction
worker, Marion, 12/16/2016
PAUL SULLIVAN - 48
Fire
lieutenant, Somerville, 12/19/2015
EDGARD NIEVES - 30
Machinist,
Holden, 12/24/2015
2016
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