Three years and three months ago, Rosa Isela Batalla Morales learned that her son had been buried alive. “My husband got a call,” she recalls. “I don’t know exactly what they said to him, but they told him that there had been an accident, a collapse, and my son was the one who had been buried completely … had disappeared into the earth.” Morales urges other workers like her son to stand up to their employers when asked to do something dangerous: “When they are on the construction site, at work, they should assert their rights,” she said. “To put food on the table, to support their families, they don’t mind putting themselves at risk—they say, ‘Oh, don’t worry, I’m just going down there for a minute,’ but that’s all it took for my son to be gone, one second.” Though it’s a slow process, she hopes the criminal cases will show families that there are laws to support workers. “Maybe not in every case, not every time—it takes time for the law to catch up,” she said. “But there is justice.” Read more here: https://lnkd.in/guD7iJ_e #ThinkInsideTheBox #TrenchSafety #ExcavateSafe
Rest in peace Juan. The government is slow to enact heavy fines and jail time for these companies, but if one of there own dies... all hell is going to break loose.
I have worked many years in the pipeline industry and I have seen many excavations that did not meet the standards! I have worked with many Superintendents that would never put a worker in a situation where they could potentially lose their life, but I have encountered a few that don’t care about the dangers of excavations. We ALL need to be held to a higher standard!! We can replace materials, tools, equipment, but We can’t replace LIFE!!!
This case has produced some interesting comments, beyond the response of safety professionals. The calls for more aggressive use of the laws that are in place are increasing and on occasion I think the Memorandum of December 2015 between DOJ and DOL, that egregious violations of the standard would be upgraded to felonies is actually happening. However, the conversation seems to be primarily between safety professionals in this media...contractors seldom respond to posts as he one above, and on occasion a field worker. For that reason, posts of this nature, should be shared as widely as possible, so that those whose lives are in danger realize their options and that there are basic safety concepts that are critical to their welfare. Those social media outlets that @TEST is intending to reach, and your sharing to your followers would be helpful Contractors would do themselves a favor by providing OSHA 10 to their workers, and not, as many have said---"I do not send them to an OHSA 10 learning opportunity because it serves to empower employees". What a telling statement. Several associations that are utility contractor oriented should not countenance, and they have, such an attitude. Have courage!