In March 2022, only three weeks after being hired by his new employer, 57-year-old Brinson Sangster and a co-worker were replacing roof panels when Sangster stepped in an area with no roof panels or purlins for support. He fell about 30 feet, striking a metal pole before his deadly landing on the concrete floor below. His employer had failed to provide Brinson with fall protection required for employees doing roof work at dangerous heights.
An investigation later found the employer ignored OSHA regulations that could have prevented Brinson Sangster’s death. Sadly, workplace fatalities happen too often in the U.S., leaving scores of grieving families, friends and co-workers behind.
In 2021, 5,190 workers died on the job in the U.S., or about 14 people a day. In Louisiana, 37 workers lost their lives in fiscal year 2022, 14 of them in construction.
Behind these numbers, there are people who mourn each loss. These statistics are their loved ones: they’re parents, children, siblings, relatives, friends or co-workers. For them, the day their loved one was lost becomes a sad remembrance. Graduations, birthdays, anniversaries and other special times are forever tainted.
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. Tell the employer or call 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.
RODERIC M. CHUBE
area director, OSHA Baton Rouge Area Office
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