Weekly Toll

A partial list of the roughly two-hundred American workers killed on the job over the past two weeks.

DOT worker killed on the job took safety seriously

CUMBERLAND, RI -- Francis R. Lussier, the state Department of Transportation worker who was run over and killed on Route 146 on Thursday, was a man who took great pride in his work, according to friends and family.

Lussier, 52, of 31 Vivian Ave., known as Chuck, had worked for the DOT for 31 years.

According to the state police, a pickup truck being driven by DOT worker Edward F. Clark, 61, of North Providence, was attempting to leave the left lane of Route 146 North. The lane had been cordoned off so the DOT crew could work in the road's median strip. Clark mistakenly backed up instead of moving forward. Lussier was walking toward his truck in the cramped work zone and was hit.

The state police said the truck knocked Lussier down and then ran over him. A Lincoln rescue crew transported Lussier to Rhode Island Hospital. He had severe head and chest injuries, the state police said. He died at 1:33 p.m. at the hospital.


Welder killed at Route 46 bridge project

RIDGEFIELD PARK, NJ - A welder working on the Overpeck Creek Bridge construction project was killed Friday when a piece of steel toppled onto him, police said.

Carlos Zhinin, 35, of Orange was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

The accident occurred at 3:10 p.m. on the west side of the Route 46 bridge and was originally reported as a car accident, police Lt. John DiNiro said.

But when officers arrived, they found Zhinin trapped between two pieces of heavy steel.

"They couldn't get to him to perform CPR," DiNiro said of the officers.

Workers from Nacirema Environmental Inc. of Bayonne were cutting up the roadway foundation and bridge railing as part of a project to replace the bridge, which is between Route 95 and Grand Avenue.


Accident kills man at TVA nuclear plant

ATHENS, AL -- A north Alabama man has died from injuries suffered in an accident while working in the Tennessee Valley Authority's nuclear plant near Athens.

Richard "Bubba" Haynes, 42, of Killen, who had been on life support, died Thursday at Huntsville Hospital. He was injured Saturday at Browns Ferry nuclear plant when struck by heavy equipment that he was helping move in the Unit 1 reactor, according to plant officials.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the accident, as is Haynes' employer, Illinois-based L.E. Myers. A second worker was injured but was treated and released from the hospital. More on LE Meyers here.


Hanover grocery worker crushed by truck;

HANOVER, MA - A 42-year-old grocery worker was struck and killed by a delivery truck at Hanover Mall.

William Winters of Pembroke was waiting to unload a trailer-truck at Trader Joe's early Sunday when the accident occurred.

Winters was taken by ambulance to South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, where he was pronounced dead.

Police Lt. Walter Sweeney said Winters was crushed between the truck and the loading dock.


Construction worker killed on Kingsbury site Dump truck backs over man

KINGSBURY, NY -- A worker was killed in an accident at a construction site in Washington County.

The accident happened Wednesday morning at a future apartment complex site on Dix Avenue in Kingsbury.

The crew was working on paving over the roadways at the site.

Thirty-five-year-old Jay Golden of Hudson Falls was kneeling down to paint some lines on the road. That's when a dump trucked backed into him.

Officials say he suffered massive trauma to the chest.


Two killed in Hastings shooting

HASTINGS, Minn. - Two young men are on the run after shooting and killing two employees of a Hastings auto glass shop this afternoon.

Police say that two men stormed into Gordy's Premier Auto Glass in Hastings around 1:45 and opened fire. A man and a woman working at the store were killed. Authorities have not released their names.

The two men remain at large.

Witnesses say shortly after the shooting they saw a blond-haired and brunette man carry glass out of the store and put it in a car before speeding off.


Highway worker dies while directing traffic

BOLTON, NY - A highway worker was struck and killed by a dump truck that had faulty brakes and was 20,000 pounds overweight, authorities said.

The victim, Linda Curtis, 47, of Lake George, was directing traffic for the Warren County Department of Public Works at 2:35 p.m. Thursday when the driver lost control of the dump truck carrying 75,000 pounds of materials to a bridge construction project.


Fort Lauderdale Police Department mourns officer killed in I-95 traffic stop fall

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL -- Officer Jose Diaz wasn't even on the clock early Saturday morning, but he died in the line of duty.

Diaz was driving home from an off-duty detail and didn't have to respond to a call for backup at 4 a.m. on Interstate 95. There, officers pulled over a man suspected of impersonating a police officer, a man who turned out to have done nothing wrong.

Diaz went to the scene anyway, and while trying to back up his fellow officers, he scooted between his cruiser and a waist-high concrete wall, lost his balance and fell 100 feet to the ground below.

Paramedics rushed the 37-year-old police officer, husband and father of two to Broward General Medical Center, said Officer Bill Schultz, spokesman for the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. They pronounced him dead in the emergency room


Officer killed in crash

South Bend, IN -- A 34-year-old Pulaski County sheriff's deputy was killed early Friday when he lost control of his vehicle while responding to a call.

Killed was Shad Bassett, of Winamac, a two-year veteran of the Pulaski County Sheriff's Department.

He leaves behind a wife and three children.


Officer Killed In Line Of Duty Laid To Rest

A Bucks County police officer killed in the line of duty was laid to rest Friday with full police honors.

Officer Brian Gregg was shot and killed last Thursday night after he had taken a suspect to Saint Mary Medical Center in Langhorne for a DUI test.

Bagpipes played as his coffin was taken from Saint Andrews Church in Newtown and placed in the back of a horse-drawn carriage.

Hundreds lined the streets of Newtown as the carriage carried Gregg to his final resting place.

The 46-year-old officer was appointed only about a year ago a full-time position with the department.

He leaves behind a wife and 4-year-old son.


Officer killed in Saturday bank holdup is identified

Norfolk, VA -- A Chesapeake police officer was shot and killed in a bank holdup in Deep Creek Saturday morning. The suspect was also killed and a hostage was injured.

The shootout took place following a robbery at the Bank of Hampton Roads at 852 N. George Washington Highway.

Police say Larry Donnell Blount, 43, held up the bank and took a hostage to his car. The first officer arrived at the bank two minutes after the alarm call was dispatched, and noticed black Toyota speeding away from the bank. A second officer arrived and chased the Toyota, which crashed into a guardrail at the end of Old George Washington Highway.

According to police, Blount got out of the car and was pointing a gun at the hostage. The hostage managed to break free, and Blount exchanged gunfire with police. One police officer, Michael Kevin Saffran, and Blount were shot in the exchange.

Police say Blount died at the scene, and the officer and hostage were taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. The officer later died at the hospital, and the hostage, who was shot in the leg, was said to be in good condition.


Black security guard fatally shot by man at a club

TIFTON, Ga. -- A black security guard was fatally shot by a Hispanic man at a lounge Wednesday night, police said.

The security guard, Bobby Lee Scott, 30, was shot after he refused to let an intoxicated man into the club, police said.


Agency investigates man's death at plant

Augusta, GA -- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is conducting an investigation into the death of an E-Z-Go employee Thursday, authorities said Friday.

G.T. Breezley, the area director of the Atlanta East OSHA office, said an inspector was inspecting the company, located in the 1400 block of Marvin Griffin Road, on Friday.

Joe Thuan, 48, of Grovetown, died after his head was crushed as he tried to dislodge a jammed golf cart from an assembly-line machine, according to Richmond County Deputy Coroner Charlena Graham.


Worker killed in industrial accident

FORT HALL, ID - One of the largest local rescue missions in recent history ended unsuccessfully Thursday when a Fort Hall man died after being pinned beneath a 2,500-pound pipe.

Freddie Johnnie was working on installing an uphill section of an 11-mile long natural gas pipeline near Two and a Half Mile Road when a cable reportedly broke and a 60-foot section of pipe tumbled down on top of him.

Other workers present immediately called 911, but the earthen walls of the 8-foot trench in which Johnnie lay proved problematic to rescuers.


Worker killed in farmhouse explosion

PHOENIX, N.Y. -- An explosion early Thursday on an Oswego County farm left one migrant worker dead and nine others injured, authorities said.

Oswego County Sheriff Reuel Todd said the explosion occurred about 6:20 a.m. in the workers' two-story wooden and concrete living quarters on a farm just north of the village of Phoenix, about 20 miles north of Syracuse.

Authorities were not yet releasing the name of the victim. Todd said the man was found pinned under a concrete slab.


Hi-Lift Too Close To Train Tracks

Evansville, IN - The Vanderburgh County coroner says 47-year-old Donovan Sailer Jr. of Paoli died of a broken neck and severed artery. His co-worker, 50-year-old Mike Scales is listed in fair condition at Deaconess Hospital. The National Transportation Safety Board is conducting an investigation into the accident. The train's "black box" information has been downloaded, and will be analyzed for things like speed and when brakes were applied. The investigators will also be looking at radio traffic records to see if there was any miscommunication between the contractors working on Diamond Avenue, the railroad office and the engineer that may have contributed to the accident.


Truck driver killed by rig

Mobile, AL - A 62-year-old Escambia County man died Monday when he fell beneath a tractor-trailer rig as it was being loaded, according to Monroe County Sheriff Tom Tate. Tate said Charles Edward Coleman of Barnetts Crossroads was a truck driver, and was standing outside his truck as another man loaded heavy equipment onto a connected flatbed trailer. "The truck was parked on an incline," Tate said, and as the other man loaded the equipment, the truck began to slide. Coleman apparently tried to jump into the cab to gain control of the truck, but fell beneath it, Tate said.


Seven Mile Bridge open after fatal crash

Miami, FL - The bridge, only two lanes wide, suffered some damage, including surface buckling from the fire's heat and chipping along its concrete barrier walls. But fiber optic cables and drinking water pipelines that run beneath it weren't harmed, as officials had originally feared. Killed in the fire was truck driver Syed R. Zaidi, 45, of Miramar, who burned to death in the cab of his rig, state highway officials said.


Decatur police mourn death of officer

DECATUR, IL - Robin Vogel was an enthusiastic officer and a rising star at the Decatur Police Department, officials said Tuesday. So the death of the 37-year-old mother and one-time Springfield police dispatcher after a two-vehicle collision over the weekend has been especially difficult for her fellow law enforcers. "Robin was dedicated to her job, spirited, and her enthusiasm couldn't help but rub off on all she came in contact with," said a visibly shaken Police Chief Mark Barthelemy during a news conference. "She is going to be missed far more than words will be able to say."


Man dies from injuries at factory

Marion, IN - Shelbyville man has become the second person within two months to die while salvaging equipment and parts inside the former Thomson television picture tube plant in Marion. Marvin Tinsley, owner of salvage company MKT Inc., died Wednesday morning in St. Joseph Regional Burn Center in Fort Wayne, hospital spokesman Geoff Thomas said. Tinsley suffered severe burns in an electrical fire that started when he and other workers cut through a live cable at the closed factory.


Video Store Owner Killed by Armed Robbers

Detroit, MI - Gunfire erupted in a video store between two armed robbers and the owner, and the owner later died from his injuries. Police say they have one suspect in custody, but another is on the loose. Friends and coworkers of Wally, the owner of City Video, went to survey the gruesome scene Thursday. Broken glass and bullet holes revealed some of the harrowing details from Wednesday night’s shooting. Tyisha Anderson-Shelton is a former employee of City Video, and had this to say about Wally: "He was a good guy. He was cool. He was trying to do his religion. He was very strong on religion. He was very helpful for the people in the neighborhood. If you needed a job, he tried to help you as much as he could. It’s just sad to see someone loose their life over something so frivolous." Detroit police say that around 9 p.m. Wednesday, two men armed with guns stormed into the store at 6 Mile and Evergreen. The owner had a gun as well, having been robbed several times. A shootout followed.


Greater peril for foreign workers

FRAMINGHAM MA -- The death of Brazilian Valdecir Rodrigues this week in an industrial accident is the latest incident in a growing trend of workplace fatalities among immigrants that researchers find troubling. Rodrigues, who died Monday when more than a ton of granite slabs fell and crushed him at a Marlborough plant, is the first Brazilian death on the job this year. Since 1999, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Occupational Health Surveillance Program, 11 other Brazilians have died on the job.


Tucson man crushed and killed by paver machine

Tucson, AZ - It happened as Ashton Construction crews were getting ready to repave a section of Miracle Mile near Flowing Wells last night. Eric Kidd, 48, died after a paver machine collapsed and crushed him. Kidd's body was found last night when other workers arrived on the job site. Workers stood and watched as police tried to figure out what went wrong. Police say Kidd had started work early, and began using the paver machine when it suddenly collapsed. "Workers arrived at about 7:45pm," says Sgt. Mark Robinson of the Tucson Police Department. "I believe one of them noticed a hard hat in the area that was on the ground." "And he is trapped between two pieces of the machinery." Kidd died before anyone could save him. His death is now the second construction death to happen in Tucson in the last month. Thomas Goodman died last month of electrocution while doing construction on Tucson's north side. Both Goodman and Kidd were employees of Ashton Construction.


Scientists killed in accident with log truck remembered as pioneers

WA - The Washington state seismologist and a fellow prominent volcano researcher killed in a log truck accident Tuesday near Humptulips were remembered by friends as pioneers in their fields. “He was a renaissance person,” retired professor Al Eggers said of Daniel J. Johnson, 46. “I knew him from the time he was a sophomore at the University of Puget Sound and was in my mineralogy class. State seismologist Anthony Qamar, 62, a research associate professor of earth and space sciences at the University of Washington, had been a key scientist among those at the university who study earthquakes and volcanoes. Qamar and Johnson were on an Olympic Peninsula trip to check on instruments and collect data concerning the “slow-slip” quake that recently occurred off the coast, UW seismology spokesman Bill Steele said. They were killed when an apparent equipment failure caused logs from a southbound log truck to fall off and crash into the car the Seattle men were in. Both died at the scene. An exact cause of the equipment failure is still be investigated, the State Patrol said.


Man Killed In An Industrial Accident Is Identified

Salt Lake City, UT - A man killed in an industrial accident at a Salt Lake City business has been identified. Authorities say 41-year-old Matthew Walker was killed yesterday at Lund Machinery. Police say Walker was helping a co-worker unload a mobile scaffold lift from the back of a semi when it got stuck. Officers say the workers tried to use a forklift to free it, but were unsuccessful. So the workers decided, Walker would lift the machine with the forklift after the other released the tie down cable. However, for some reason, Walker dismounted the forklift and got between the two machines just as the other employee released the tie down cable. Walker ended up getting crushed in between the machines. He was later pronounced dead.


Gas Station Worker Hit By Truck, Dies

SIMSBURY, CT -- A beloved employee of Gibbs' Mobil died Tuesday after a pickup truck ran over him as he crouched by the gasoline pumps repairing pavement cracks, police said. Carl J. Kaminski, 68, who made coffee and did maintenance for 10 years at the Hopmeadow Street gas station, suffered severe head trauma in the 10:54 a.m. accident and was pronounced dead at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Capt. Peter Sevetz said.


Paoli man dies in accident

PAOLI, IN - One of Donovan "Don" Sailer's greatest joys in life was spending Christmas with his nieces and nephews. "He liked surprising them," Bruce Sailer said of his brother this morning, a day after Don was killed in a construction accident. Bruce said, "He enjoyed Christmas more than anybody in the family. "Don, one month short of his 48th birthday, died at the scene when a train hit a hydraulic lift at an overpass where he was working in Evansville. Another worker, Mike Scales, 50, of Evansville, was taken to Deaconess Hospital, where he was listed in fair condition Monday evening. A CSX train traveling south struck the lift that was operated by Gohmann Asphalt doing work on the overpass.


Evansville police said the lift apparently was too close to the track

DIAMONDVILLE, - - Robert Eugene States, 60, died Monday after a backhoe he was operating overturned on his property along Railroad Avenue in Cherryhill Township. Chief Deputy Coroner Mike Baker reported that States was lowering a drainpipe into a ditch when the machine became unstable. As it overturned, States was thrown into the ditch and died from a fracture of the cervical vertebrae. States' son David States said they planned to work on the nearly completed project together today, but that his father always liked to stay busy. "He didn't like sitting still too long," he said. The machine was positioned on an unsafe grade and tipped because of the weight of the pipe, according to Baker. The accident occurred at 11:54 a.m., and States was discovered by his wife of 28 years, Deborah.


FALL KILLS BRIDGE WORKER

New York, NY -- A construction worker tumbled to his death in the Harlem River yesterday while working on the Third Avenue Bridge as co-workers looked on in horror.

Kervin Collado, 27, of The Bronx, slipped and fell, his head striking an abutment on the way down, at about 8:15 a.m., eyewitnesses said.

A Fire Department rescue team pulled him from the murky waters, but he was pronounced dead at Harlem Hospital.

Stunned co-workers said Collado had just had his second child and had recently purchased a home in the Parkchester section.

"He slipped," said fellow dockbuilder Joseph Griffin, 42. "A couple of guys went in, but it was too late. The current grabbed him. I worked with him for 15 months. He was a very happy guy — very safety-conscious. It was a bad day." More here.


Man arrested after allegedly shooting co-worker

SACRAMENTO, CA -- A Sacramento man who sheriff's officials believe fatally shot a former co-worker was arrested after a SWAT team swarmed the backyard of an apartment. Ryszard Topor, 47, was shot Monday in the lobby of the engineering firm where he worked with Juan Menendez, 37, sheriff's spokesman R.L. Davis said. Investigators haven't determined a motive for the shooting, Davis said. Menendez had been fired from the Carter & Burgess engineering firm Sept. 19 after working there about three months, but Topor did not supervise him, Davis said. "After the blink of an eye, a family lost a husband and a father," Davis said. "We are very fortunate that we were able to take (Menendez) into custody in a short amount of time."


Sheriff's office at a loss over deputy's death

Gainesville, GA - The sudden death of a Hall County Sheriff's Office deputy early Monday still had those who knew James Timothy White baffled Tuesday. White, 38, of Lula died about 1 a.m. at Northeast Georgia Medical Center, a day and a half after he was injured in a wreck Saturday afternoon while on duty. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Rock Springs Baptist Church in Homer. Details on White's cause of death remained sketchy Tuesday, pending toxicology tests performed by the medical examiner's office. Hall County Sheriff Steve Cronic said the tests generally take at least four weeks, but the medical examiner's office is trying to speed it up.


Man found dead in Roanoke market

Roanoke, VA - Authorities on Tuesday were investigating a killing inside Amelio's Market on Bennington Street Southeast in Roanoke. Police did not immediately identify the gunshot victim, who was found dead in the store around 5:20 p.m. But Crystal Gibson-Murad said the victim had to be her husband, 48-year-old Awni "Major" Murad, who was working in the store. "Please tell me he's OK. ... Oh, no," cried Gibson-Murad as she approached the crime scene. A city police officer consoled her and they spoke softly as she leaned her elbows on the back of a car in tears.


An Ethiopian Found Shot to Death in North Carolina

Wilmington, NC - Geremew Zeleke, an employee of a North Fourth Street convenience store in Wilmington, NC, USA was shot to death during an apparent robbery attempt on Friday 5 January 2001, a North Carolina daily newspaper, Wilmington Morning Star reported. When police arrived, Geremew Zeleke, 33, was found dead, apparently shot to death, the newspaper said. Police are looking for at least two suspects. The victim was married a week before his death and leaves behind a 12-month-old child, the report said. His burial was conducted last Thursday in Wilmington, NC. Meanwhile, an e-mail message sent to Addis Tribune by an Ethiopian said collegues of the deceased are unable to reach his family. The message said they have learnt that Geremew Zeleke had sibilings who lived with their aunt in Addis Ababa, around the area called Campo Asmara.


Grain Elevator Death

Topeka, KS - A federal investigator is expected at a grain elevator in northern Kansas Monday to look into how a worker died on the job. Authorities say 48-year-old Allen Hansen of Downs became caught in a conveyor at the Midway Co-op Friday night. Osborne County Sheriff Curtis Miner said other workers who hadn't seen Hansen for some time found him in the basement. The elevator was open to take grain from the fall milo harvest. A representative of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration was expected to be at the elevator Monday.


Truck driver killed when truck rolls, pins him

BECKLEY, W.Va. — A Pennsylvania man who died when his tractor-trailer truck rolled backward and pinned him in a rest area parking lot may have lain under the truck for an hour before his body was discovered. David Meredith, 32, of Bethel, Pa., was killed Monday afternoon at the Beckley Travel Plaza on southbound Interstate 77-64, said West Virginia State Police Sgt. D.A. Gunnoe. The busy travel plaza includes a restaurant, shops and a gas station and is next to the Tamarack arts and crafts center. A travel plaza employee saw the tractor-trailer pull into the parking lot just after 3 p.m. Meredith's body was found about 4:15 p.m. by another truck driver.


Dead man identified

Greenwood, MS - A man who was found in a cotton field off Malmaison Road Saturday has been positively identified, according to Leflore County Undersheriff Jimmy Tindall. The body of John Whittemore, 51, of 8064 County Road 318, was identified Wednesday by state pathologist Dr. Steven Hayne, Tindall said. Whittemore was found late Saturday afternoon by a crew picking cotton on farmer Harry Lott's field. He was found not far from his three-wheeler and likely suffered injuries from a collision with a tree, said Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks Monday. Whittemore had been reported missing on Sept. 10 and that deputies had looked for him that afternoon and again on Sept. 15.


Pulaski County deputy killed in crash

MEDARYVILLE, Ind. — A Pulaski County sheriff’s squad car spun out of control and ran into a tree today, killing the deputy inside, police said. Deputy Shad Bassett, 34, of Winamac was responding to a call when the crash happened about 12:15 a.m. on Ind. 39 in a rural area about 50 miles north of Lafayette. He was pronounced dead at the scene of massive head injuries. A preliminary investigation by Indiana State Police did not find a reason for why Bassett’s car left the roadway, going into a drainage ditch before hitting a tree at the driver’s side door. Police said Bassett was wearing a seat belt


Deputy Killed On His Way To Work

SAN ANTONIO -- A 36-year-old jailer at the Bexar County Sheriff's Office was killed late Thursday in a motorcycle crash on the Northeast Side. San Antonio police said Fernando Orozco was on his way to work at 11 p.m. when it's believed one of the tires of the victim's motorcycle blew out, causing the deputy to lose control of the bike and slam into a guardrail at Interstate 35 South near Loop 410. Orozco was ejected from his motorcycle and landed in a lane of the Interstate, where he was run over by a sport utility vehicle, police said. The victim was transported to Brooke Army Medical Center, where he died. The driver of the SUV lost control of her vehicle and hit a guardrail and then broadsided an 18-wheeler. The woman and two children riding with her were transported to a local hospital with minor injuries.


Worker killed in industrial accident

FORT HALL - One of the largest local rescue missions in recent history ended unsuccessfully Thursday when a Fort Hall man died after being pinned beneath a 2,500-pound pipe. Freddie Johnnie was working on installing an uphill section of an 11-mile long natural gas pipeline near Two and a Half Mile Road when a cable reportedly broke and a 60-foot section of pipe tumbled down on top of him. Other workers present immediately called 911, but the earthen walls of the 8-foot trench in which Johnnie lay proved problematic to rescuers. ”When we were live on scene, we could not even visualize the victim,“ said David Gates, division chief for the Pocatello Fire Department. ”You take precautions ... to make sure rescuers don't get killed.“


Ala. plant worker dies after accident

ATHENS, Ala. - A nuclear plant worker who was struck by heavy equipment inside a reactor has died from his injuries. Richard Haynes, 42, of Killen was helping move the equipment in the Unit 1 reactor at Browns Ferry when he was struck Saturday, plant officials said. He died Thursday. No possible reactive elements were nearby, said Browns Ferry spokesman Craig Beasley. A second injured worker was treated and released. Unit 1, which was shut down in 1985 amid safety concerns, is being prepared for a 2007 restart. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Haynes' employer, Illinois-based L.E. Myers, were investigating. Officials at the Tennessee Valley Authority, which owns the nuclear plant near Athens, said the last fatal accident at Browns Ferry was in 1985 when a piece of a crane fell through an office roof and struck a man.


E-Z-Go worker killed on job

An E-Z-Go employee was killed Thursday afternoon when he was crushed as he tried to free a jammed golf cart from an assembly-line machine. Joe Thuan, 48, of Grovetown, was pronounced dead at Medical College of Georgia Hospital at 5:20 p.m. - less than an hour after the accident. An autopsy will be performed late today or Saturday at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab on Phinizy Road, Assistant Richmond County Coroner Charlena Graham said. Mr. Thuan was trying to dislodge a cart that was stuck in the unload station at the end of the line when his head was crushed in the machinery, Ms. Graham said. In a statement released late Thursday night, John Garrison, E-Z-Go's president said, "Joe was a stellar member of the E-Z-Go family - respected and admired by all of the employees who worked with him." Mr. Garrison also said that the company, located on Marvin Griffin Road, is investigating the accident.


Road worker killed by truck

BOLTON LANDING, NY -- A county worker flagging traffic was killed Thursday afternoon when she was struck by a dump truck which had lost its brakes and was trying to maneuver around the construction site. Linda Curtis, 47, of Lake George, stepped from between two other construction vehicles on New Vermont Road when she was struck just after 2:30 p.m., according to the Warren County Sheriff's Office.


Female racer dies after crash

A 48-year-old female race car driver died Sunday after being injured during a racing accident Saturday night at a Nashville area track. Anita Clem's car rolled over onto its top coming out of turn 2 after hitting another car and the wall in a race at the Highland Rim Speedway in Robertson County, according to eyewitnesses. Clem, of Cottontown Tennessee, died at 10:15 a.m. yesterday from her injuries


Two Killed in Taxicab Crash, Driver Arrested

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- A taxi driver and passenger are dead after a high-speed hit-and-run crash late Sunday night. The cab was also carrying two other passengers who were hurt in the collision. Police say it started when Kevin McGuinness, 43, of San Francisco, allegedly slammed his Toyota Tundra pickup truck into a car and fled the scene. The victim of that accident gave chase in his car before McGuinness eventually crashed his pickup again into a taxicab about 11:45 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of Webster St. and Broadway. The taxicab driver, Zareh Sanjikian, and a passenger were killed in the crash. Authorities were not releasing identities of the other victims. Sanjikian would have turned 76 on Monday.


Owner Killed and Three Others Shot in Barbershop

An owner of a barbershop in Upper Manhattan was killed yesterday afternoon when a disgruntled former owner of the shop walked in and shot him and three other men, the police said. The gunman, identified by the police as Eddy Espinal, 40, was arrested around the corner from the shop, which is on St. Nicholas Avenue near West 189th Street in Fort George, after a passing police officer saw him running away.

Mr. Espinal entered the shop and fired six shots at the two current owners, emptying his revolver, the police said. The two other men who were wounded may have been customers and did not seem to be targets, the police said. They were hit by bullets that had already passed through one of the owners. The man who was killed, identified by a co-worker as Ernesto Filpo, 25, was struck four times - in the shoulder, thigh, leg and back; he was pronounced dead a short time later at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, the police said. The other owner, identified by the police as Franklin Rodney, 31, was shot in the stomach and was listed in critical condition at the same hospital. Mr. Rodney is the father of four children, ranging in age from 4 months to 4 years, said the co-worker, Fran Rosario.


California Officer Dies After Being Hit By Car

CA - Rocklin Police Officer Matt Redding was struck and fatally injured by a white Ford pickup truck. The collision occurred while Officer Redding was directing traffic on North-Bound Highway 65 just south of Stanford Ranch Road. The Pick-up truck that struck Officer Redding left the scene was spotted by other police officers a short distance away and stopped. The driver, 25 year old Eric Dungan of Lincoln, was arrested for Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol and Felony Hit and Run Driving, and Vehicular Manslaughter with Gross Negligence.


Puna man killed in industrial accident

HI - A 43 year old Pohoiki man was killed Thursday (October 6, 2005) from injuries he sustained while working at a job site in the Hawaiian Shores Subdivision in Puna. The victim was identified as Thomas Roth. Responding to a 1:56 p.m. call, Puna Patrol Officers determined that the victim was reportedly electrocuted while working on a tree trimming crew on Maiii Street in the Hawaiian Shores Subdivision. The victim was transported by Fire Rescue personnel to the Hilo Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 3:02 p.m.


Hastings couple shot, killed in daylight attack at store

A Hastings couple was shot and killed in a brazen attack inside an auto glass shop Saturday afternoon, and police are searching for two young men seen speeding from the scene in a red Pontiac. Hastings police were called to Gordy's Premier Auto Glass on Vermillion Street in Hastings at about 1:50 p.m. Saturday and found the bodies of a man and woman. Police haven't identified the victims, but friends and a family pastor identified them as Peter J. Niedere and his wife, Patricia, who own the auto glass shop. Paula Johnson, who works at the Domino's Pizza next door to Gordy's, said she was at an employee meeting when the shooting happened. Her husband and 11-month-old baby were waiting for her in the parking lot. "Next thing he knows, he hears a gunshot," Johnson said.


Office gunman kills one, then self

Edgewater, MD -- A man armed with a rifle walked into an Edgewater mortgage company yesterday afternoon and shot two people, one fatally, then drove his truck to a nearby drugstore and killed himself. Kenneth Brian Kertesz, 43, of Waldorf was pronounced dead at Prince George's Trauma Center a few hours after being shot in the chest at his workplace, Universal Mortgage and Finance. An "associate" who had stopped by to visit, William Augustus Snow, 44, of Chesapeake Beach, was treated at Anne Arundel Medical Center for a minor gunshot wound to his shoulder, county police said.


Shot on Job, Woman Dies 4 Days Later

Newburgh, NY - Four days after she was shot in the head by a disgruntled former employee, the office manager of a Hudson Valley cosmetics company died yesterday, the authorities said. JoAnne Obrien, 48, was pronounced dead at St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital in Newburgh early yesterday, according to the police chief of New Windsor, N.Y., Michael Biasotti. She had been on life support since the attack. Also yesterday, the police revealed that several hours before the attack, the former employee, Victor M. Piazza, who was managing a coin-operated laundry in Richmond Hill, Queens, mailed a letter to one of his employees at the laundry in which he alluded to the impending violence. Several hours later, Mr. Piazza walked into the offices of the cosmetics company, Verla International, in New Windsor, where he shot Ms. Obrien and the company's owners. He then killed himself. Mr. Piazza was fired from his job in February 2004 because he had downloaded child


Laurel man killed in work accident

MIWEST, MT - A Laurel, Mont., man was killed when two pipes broke loose at an Anadarko Petroleum Corp. pipe yard here. Daniel Shaules, 37, died Wednesday, said Sgt. Mark Sellers of the Natrona County Sheriff's Department. Sellers said Shaules was helping to stack the 41-foot, 1,500-pound pipes when one hit his legs, knocking him down. The second pipe apparently hit Shaules in the chest. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration was notified of the accident.


Bucks County Cop Killed

Allentown, PA - One police officer is dead and another hurt after a shooting in a Bucks county hospital. It happened last night at saint mary medical center in middletown township. Police say robert flor...a drunk-driving suspect...was brought to the hospital for blood tests. We're told he somehow got a gun in the emergency room and shot and killed 46-year-old Brian Gregg...a newtown police officer. Another officer...31-year-old james warunek was shot in the chest. The gunman also shot an emergency room worker.


Store clerk killed in attempted robbery

Pleasant Grove, TX - Feroz Noor-Ali Lalani was counting the days until he would be eligible for U.S. citizenship next year. Four years of anticipation made him giddy whenever he talked about it, said his co-worker, Aziz Akbarali. The two men grew up about 10 miles apart in Karachi, Pakistan, and ended up working at the same Pleasant Grove gas station "looking for a better future from a Third World country," Mr. Akbarali said. But about 3:20 a.m. Friday, Mr. Lalani's dream ended. He was fatally shot during an attempted robbery.


Worker struck, killed by paving machine

FORT WORTH, TX - A contract worker was killed this morning when he was struck and dragged beneath an asphalt paving machine during a project at South Hulen Street and Overton Plaza.

The employee, whose name has not been released, was pronounced dead at the scene. More than 2 1/2 hours after the accident, his body remained partially lodged beneath the machine.


Worker drowns on his lunch break

Boulder, CO -- A construction worker drowned Wednesday while trying to swim across a retention pond in northwest Harris County during his lunch break, authorities said.

The man, whose identity was not available, was about halfway across the reservoir near the 2000 block of Boulder when he started having difficulty swimming, deputies said.

Another worker tried to swim to the man, but was unable to reach him in time, deputies said.


Ship Channel dock worker killed by snapped cable

Houston, TX -- A dock worker was killed Tuesday morning when a cable on a crane carrying heavy steel equipment snapped, knocking him 20 to 30 feet through the air.

Witnesses said Abelino Ponce, 54, of the 8200 block of Brockton, was standing near the crane onboard the cargo vessel Ma Altair when the 1 1/2 - to 1 3/4 -inch cable struck him on the right side, a police report said. The man landed on another part of the Panamanian-registered ship.

Workers were unloading the steel products from the foreign vessel, which was in port beside the New Marine Terminal warehouse on the Number One Wharf at Magnolia Park, along the Houston Ship Channel.


Officials investigating worker's death

Evansville, IN -- The death of a worker killed while dismantling the former AMAX Coal Co. dragline in Warrick County on Saturday still is being investigated.

Juan Gonzales, 32, died around 10 a.m. Saturday, said Warrick County Coroner Ron Bacon.

He had been working for Par Company of Nitro, W.Va., dismantling the long idled dragline - a giant strip mining shovel - on St. John's Road in northern Warrick County. Bacon said Gonzales died instantly of massive head and chest trauma when pieces of the cable from the dragline boom arm struck him like shrapnel. Workers had cut the line to drop the boom. An autopsy was being performed to determine the exact cause of death.

The dragline, Bacon said, is owned by Warrick Holding Co., which bought it from AMAX and hired Par to dismantle the equipment so that it can be sold for scrap. The property is owned by developer Tom Newmaster, he said. Workers have been on the job dismantling the dragline for two weeks.

Bacon said Gonzales is a native of Mexico but his immigration status was unclear.


Man killed in factory accident

NEW PARIS, IN -- An Elkhart man was crushed by a small bus being moved through a factory Thursday afternoon.

Aleksey Ivanov, 26, was working at the Turtle Top shuttle bus factory when a vehicle "inadvertently lurched, moved forward and pinned him against the wall," said manager Rob Cripe.

The accident happened around 1 p.m.; an hour later, Ivanov died at Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne.

"This was not operator error; it has to be determined (whether it was equipment failure). ... This was just an accident; we hold nobody responsible for it," Cripe said Friday, when the factory was closed.

"We're a pretty heavily family-oriented company, so we treat the employees like family. It hit pretty hard," he added.


1 body found in copter crash

Seattle, WA -- The remains of one person were recovered Friday as search crews combed the waters of Puget Sound north of Seattle for the wreckage of an Airlift Northwest medical transport helicopter -- the second deadly accident to befall the company in 10 years.

The pilot and two nurses aboard the twin-engine Agusta A109 helicopter were killed when the aircraft crashed Thursday night into the waters off Edmonds, authorities said. No patient was aboard.

"It's with obvious sadness that we're gathering here today for this tragedy," Dr. David Baker, Airlift Northwest's acting medical director, told reporters Friday. "We're all deeply affected by their loss."

Baker offered condolences to the families of the crew, identified as pilot Steve Smith, 59, of Whidbey Island, and nurses Erin Reed, 48, and Lois Suzuki, 47, both of Seattle.


Man, 60, Killed in Bulldozer Accident

FORT GREEN, FL -- A 60-year-old Bartow man was killed Tuesday morning when his bulldozer went into a water-filled pit at a Mosaic Co. phosphate mine in northern Hardee County.

John L. Brinson, a longtime employee, was pronounced dead on arrival at Florida Hospital Wauchula shortly after the accident, said David Townsend, a Mosaic spokesman. The Medical Examiner's Office determined he drowned.

The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration is investigating the accident, said Suzy Bohnert, an agency spokeswoman. She could not say when the report would be available.

Brinson had been told to push dirt into the water to clear an opening so a pump could be placed in the water to reduce the water level. Later, another mine employee, Tony McVay, called Steele by radio to report he couldn't see the bulldozer at the pit and that smoke and bubbles were coming from the water, the deputy said.


Tribune Ad Worker Killed In 301 Crash

RIVERVIEW, FL - A Tampa Tribune advertising employee was killed in a traffic accident while on her way home Wednesday afternoon.

Christa J. Ferrari, 61, was preparing to turn left on southbound U.S. 301 about 4:40 p.m. when her 2000 Hyundai Elantra was struck by a minivan traveling north on the highway, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Rte. 17 crash kills truck driver

VESTAL, NY -- Two trucks traveling east on Route 17 bumped into each other early Monday afternoon, causing one to veer into the grassy median and roll over several times, killing the driver, Thomas Brink, 62, of Nichols, who was ejected from the truck.

Brink was an employee of F.S. Lopke Contracting of Apalachin, according to the company's owner, Frank S. Lopke, who was at the accident scene Monday afternoon. The victim was driving a Lopke-owned dump truck.


Construction accident kills worker at Thanksgiving Point

LEHI, UT — A construction worker died Friday after being struck in the head by a steel beam.

Anthony Bugni, 28, of Divide, Mont., who was working on a building at Thanksgiving Point, died instantly, Lehi Police Sgt. Jeff Swenson said.

Bugni was working on the third story of the building frame when he was struck by a beam that dropped about 6 feet while being moved by a crane, Swenson said.
Swenson said there were conflicting reports on the weight of the beam, ranging from 1,200 to 2,500 pounds. But the weight was significant enough that the accident killed Bugni at the scene.

Bugni was wearing a hard hat and his safety harness kept him from dropping three stories to the ground after he was struck.


Officer slain in Wayne County

Jackson, MS -- A Waynesboro patrolman was fatally shot in the face after a traffic stop, becoming the state's third officer killed this year in the line of duty, an official said Thursday.

Jamie Walker, a two-year officer, was killed around 11:25 p.m. Wednesday after pulling over a Ford van reported stolen earlier that night from a local bar, Mayor Joe Taylor said.

The driver, James Elmer Hartley, 32, of State Line is charged with grand larceny and capital murder. Hartley is being held without bond at the Wayne County Jail, a jailer said.

"Before (Hartley) rolled the window down, he shot Walker in the face through the glass with a shotgun," Taylor said. "Backup was turning onto the street and saw him lying on the ground."


Stewart farmer killed in grain bin accident

STEWART, Minn. -- Rescuers cut a hole in a grain bin in an attempt to reach a trapped farmer but were unsuccessful.

Randall Hillman, 47, was pronounced dead at his father's farm Thursday evening, said Sibley County Sheriff Bruce Ponath.

Ponath said Hillmann was apparently trying to break up the top level of grain in a bin when the grain gave way. Hillmann was buried.

Rescuers were called, but they could not get to the trapped farmer in time. Ponath said Hillmann was under the grain for 20 to 25 minutes.


Burned worker dies from injuries

ZANESVILLE, OH -- John Wallace was a man who loved life.

The 51-year-old man was known for his egregious laugh and contagious sense of humor. Friends say Wallace was the kind of guy you had to laugh with.

Wallace, an employee with Brock's Welding and Repair Service, was killed as he was performing a routine oil drum repair at Oxford Oil Co. on 4900 Boggs Road.

Sparks from the acetylene torch Wallace was using on the drum ignited residual oil left in the container.

Wallace was engulfed in fire and was hurled 20 to 25 yards from the explosion site, landing in a nearby pile of pipes. When officers from the Muskingum County Sheriff's Office arrived at the scene, they found Wallace still on fire.

Det. Fred Curry and Deputy Ruth King smothered Wallace with blankets from their cruisers and waited for help to arrive.

The ruptured oil drum, which Wallace was working on before the accident, also caught fire and was thrown onto Wallace's service truck -- igniting many of the secondary tanks in the truckbed.


Security guard shot to death in Savannah

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- A security guard working an area where houses were under construction was shot to death early Thursday, police said.

The guard, identified as Jerome Edwards, 54, was shot about 3:20 a-m, Savannah-Chatham County Police said. His body was found lying between two houses.

Police say the employee of Four State Security had been shot at least once.


Local worker killed as lawn mower flips

OCALA, FL - A 40-year-old man mowing a community's retention pond area died Tuesday morning when the mower he was operating, slid down a steep embarkment, flipped, and fell on him, police said.

Around 10:18 a.m., Ocala police received a 911 call from Jim and Rosamond Brooks, who reported finding an unidentified, unresponsive man lying in the grass in the Brookstone subdivision off South County Road 475. Jason Mewbern's legs were protruding from beneath the red, Zero Radius riding lawn mower.

Authorities theorized Mewbern was mowing the retention pond by himself and went up a steep hill. Once he reached the top of the hill, Mewbern attempted to turn around, but the lawn mower rolled down the side of the hill and overturned, landing on him.

Tim Miller, owner of APM Landscape and Lawn Care, said Mewbern - who had just joined the two-member crew in July - was "a good man."


Park worker dies near Vernal Falls

San Francisco, CA -- Daniel P. Madrid, a National Park Service special agent, collapsed and died Saturday at the Vernal Falls bridge near Yosemite Valley while on his way to investigate a fatal accident involving a visitor.

Madrid, who was 51, was on temporary duty in Yosemite from his regular post at the Ozark Scenic Riverways in Missouri. He was filling in for Yosemite personnel who had been reassigned temporarily to emergency duty on the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Madrid was on his way to recover the body of Yosemite visitor Chintan Chokshi, who was killed when he was swept over Vernal Falls in late July. The body had not been recovered due to high water flows in the Merced River.


BGE worker killed, 2nd hurt in crash on La. repair trip

Lafayette, LA -- A Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. worker died and another was injured yesterday in an accident on a Louisiana interstate as they rode in a convoy of utility trucks to assist in repairs in the wake of Hurricane Rita.

Killed in the accident on Interstate 55, a few miles south of the Mississippi border in Tangipahoa Parish, was 38-year-old Wilson "Skip" Strong Jr. of Bel Air, Louisiana State Police said.

An overhead crew leader for BGE, he had been sent Saturday to the region already devastated by Hurricane Katrina and being inundated by a second hurricane, Rita, company officials said.

Police said Strong was a passenger in a southbound truck driven by co-worker Robert W. Graf, a 32-year-old overhead lineman from White Marsh who was slightly injured.



B'KLYN SALON OWNER SLAIN.

Brooklyn, NY -- A JILTED LOVER WHO STALKED his ex-girlfriend for two weeks erupted in a murderous rage yesterday - fatally shooting her and then himself at the hair salon she owned in Brooklyn, police said.

"I need to talk to you," Jorge Peguero, 54, told Vinicia (Dolores) Baez, 43, when he showed up at her Park Slope beauty parlor with a 9-mm. Glock hidden under his clothes.

"It'll only take a minute."

Peguero followed Baez to the shampoo room in the back of Dolores & Alex Hair Stylists on 11th St., near Fifth Ave., where he shot her once in the head and turned the gun on himself, cops said.


Worker electrocuted while trimming tree

Miami, FL -- A worker died Monday after being shocked by a power line while trimming trees.
Pedro Mendoza, 36, was trimming trees behind a Pinecrest home Monday morning when he was shocked by 7,500 volts of electricity from power lines, officials said.

Mendoza's machinery got caught in a power line and he was shocked. The housekeeper at the home called 911. Pinecrest police and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue arrived at 11 a.m. and found the worker hanging by his ladder upside-down above the house's roof.


UCF cop fatally shot by Orlando police outside Citrus Bowl

ORLANDO, Fla. A University of Central Florida police officer was fatally shot by an Orlando officer outside the Citrus Bowl before a football game on Saturday.

Witnesses told the Orlando Sentinel that an undercover officer broke up a gathering of students, who resisted his efforts. The officer then fired three shots into the air for help.

A spokeswoman for the Orlando Police Department confirms that an officer opened fire. The spokeswoman says a third person was involved in the incident. She refused to say if the person was injured and would not name that person.

Police say the shot officer, Mario Jenkins, was wearing street clothes, but would not comment on the circumstances of the incident.


Driver arrested after death of motorcycle officer

Riverside, CA -- A 47-year-old California Highway Patrol officer who lived in
Riverside was killed while on duty in the City of Industry Friday when his motorcycle was struck from behind by a car.

Officer David Marin Romero, a 23-year veteran of the CHP stationed in Santa Fe Springs, was sitting at a red light just before 10 a.m. at the intersection of Turnbull Canyon Road and
Valley Boulevard when he was hit by a 1972 Monte Carlo, said Detective Sgt. Bill Marsh of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau.


Meat Market Owner Dies After Being Shot

MIAMI -- Police say the long-time owner of a Coconut Grove meat market has died after being shot during an armed robbery.

Angel Arias, 75, was shot several times by three or four men who robbed the Coconut Grove Meat Market at 3461 Grand Ave. Sunday afternoon.

An employee of the meat market was also wounded in the leg during the robbery.


Highway worker dies

Sioux Falls, SD -- A highway worker was killed Thursday afternoon in Spirit Lake, Iowa, when a construction truck hit her as she directed traffic.

Joyce Wachter, 49, of Akron, Iowa, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Spirit Lake police.

The truck was owned by Rohlin Construction, which is working on a resurfacing project on Highways 9 and 71 in Spirit Lake.


'NINJA' THUG KILLS BAKERY MAN

Queens NY -- A Queens bakery worker was shot dead yesterday by a ski-masked man dressed entirely in black and intent on holding up the place, cops said.

The ninja-like gunman entered the Hostess-Wonder Bread Outlet on Atlantic Avenue in Woodhaven at about 6 p.m. and announced a robbery.

When George Kuruvilla, 53, tried to run out the back, the thief shot him in the head, then fled west on Atlantic Avenue, cops said.


Dump truck driver killed in accident

FONTANA, CA -- A 39-year-old dump truck driver was killed Friday morning after he lost control of his vehicle.

Fontana Police responded to a crash around 7:18 a.m. at Foxborough Drive just north of Reservoir Road, according to a San Bernardino County Coroner news release.

Police found Leroy Parker, 39, of Pasadena, dead after being ejected from the 1997 Western Star Dump truck he was driving.

Parker was traveling south on Foxborough on his way to drop off a load of dirt when he lost control of the dump truck on a curve, the statement said.


Trooper struck, killed during traffic stop

Dunn, TX -- Kevin Floyd would have turned 46 on Sunday, but the soft-spoken state trooper didn't get the chance.

Floyd was killed in the line of duty Thursday after a Ford pickup with a trailer in tow struck him along U.S. 60 near the Texas County town of Dunn. His death brings the number of Missouri highway patrolmen killed this year to four -- an all-time high that's straining morale.

"We're grieving. We're angry. We're confused," said Troop D spokesman Sgt. Dan Bracker. "We don't understand why this had to happen."

Just five weeks ago, Cpl. Jay Sampietro of Rogersville died in a similar manner after a sport-utility vehicle struck him on Interstate 44 near Strafford. Sampietro, 36, was directing traffic around a team of patrol investigators reconstructing an earlier crash.


Largo man dies while repairing air conditioner

TAMPA, FL - A Largo man died from electrical shock Sunday afternoon while repairing an air conditioning system at a Tampa motel, police said.

Jason L. Sveda, 26, and Steven Koehnlein of Areas Air Service of Tampa were working at the Orange Motel at 7800 N Nebraska Ave., when Sveda climbed into the attic. Koehnlein, who stayed below, called out to Sveda shortly before 1 p.m. and got no response. He climbed into the attic and found Sveda lying between the rafters, police said. Koehnlein touched Sveda's foot and got a shock.


Authorities identify man killed at construction site

Simi Valley, CA -- Authorities have identified a man who was killed Thursday while working at a mall construction site in Simi Valley.

Stephen Reitter, 46, of Long Beach, died after a 10-ton sewer pump truck he had been using rolled and drove over him about 12:45 p.m., police said.

Reitter had been cleaning an underground drainage system in the 1600 block of Town Center Way, where the Simi Valley Town Center mall is under construction.


Verla shooting victim, O'Brien, dies

Middletown, NY - New Windsor – Joanne O'Brien, one of three victims in the shootings Monday at Verla International, died this morning from her injuries. A spokeswoman for St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital said today that O'Brien, 48, passed away during the night. O'Brien worked for Verla, a cosmetics plant in New Windsor, for more than 20 years, working her way up from assembly line employee to vice president of production. She and the company's two co-owners, Mario Maffei, 57, and Robert Roth, 65, were shot in the head Monday by Victor Piazza, 55, a former employee who was fired last year after child pornography was found on his work computer. Piazza then fatally shothimself, according to police. Maffei and Roth, who were not as seriously injured as O'Brien, are expected to make full recoveries.


Victim identified in fatal construction site accident

North Naples, FL - Aman who died Thursday evening after a tire exploded at a North Naples construction site was identified this morning as Louis F. Prophet, 42. The Collier County Sheriff's Office said Prophet died when a rear tire exploded at about 5 p.m. after he crawled beneath a large truck to work on it at the site off Airport-Pulling Road, near Coach House Lane. Officials were transporting Prophet to Naples Community Hospital when it was determined that he had died as a result of his injuries. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration was notified of the incident.


Man dies after falling from fire station's roof

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA -- A man died after falling from the roof of the Cedar Rapids Fire Department substation on Mount Vernon Road SE Friday morning, city officials said. According to Doug Wagner, assistant to Mayor Paul Pate, the man was an employee of Cedar Service Company, which was performing repairs to the roof of the station, located at 2416 Mount Vernon Road SE. He fell at about 10 a.m. and was taken to Mercy Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. No other information, including the man’s name, was released pending notification of relatives and an investigation into the incident.


Bar owner shot, killed during robbery

Houston, TX -- A west Houston bar owner was fatally shot during an apparent robbery at his business, police said An employee found Jose Guadalupe Navarro, 61, on the floor when she arrived for work about midnight Tuesday at the bar in the 1100 block of Silber. The man was dead from an apparent gunshot wound to the head, police said. Navarro opened the bar for business about 10:40 p.m. Evidence found at the scene indicates he may have been shot during a hold-up.


White Hall Mayor Demanding Answers After Police Officer Dies In Car Wreck

White Hall, AL- White Hall Mayor John Jackson expressed sadness at losing a police officer and a friend but quickly showed he is angry over what he considers a 'deplorable' response by Emergystat Friday night. "It took almost an hour and a half to get an ambulance to the scene and that's ridiculous," says Jackson. What Jackson is referring to is the time it took for Emergystat Ambulance to show up Friday night on County Road 9, one mile off Highway 80 in Lowndes County. This is where 57-year old veteran police officer John Shaner, Sr., collided with another car. Shaner was not chasing anyone but was on his way with blue lights on to assist other officers on a call on Highway 80.


Bodyguard killed outside escort service

SALT LAKE CITY, UT -- A bodyguard working for an escort service was fatally shot while sitting in a chair outside the business south of downtown. Edwin Tamoua, 35, of South Salt Lake, was shot several times around 1:30 a.m. Saturday and died at a hospital, said Salt Lake City police spokesman Dwayne Baird. Tamoua worked for the company for three years, providing late-night protection for the escorts and was on duty when he was shot, Baird said. "These girls come back with a lot of money, and his job is to make sure nobody accosts them as they are coming in," Baird said. Baird said robbery was not being considered a motive. "Somebody just came up and shot him multiple times," Baird said.

Bird Flu and Poultry Workers

Back in the mid 1980's AFSCME and other unions that represented health care workers petitioned OSHA for a bloodborne pathogens standard. In the AFSCME petition for the bloodborne pathogens standard, there was also a request that OSHA add communicable diseases to the Hazard Communication Standard. At that time (and still today), the HCS only required that workers be trained about the hazards of toxic chemicals, not workplace-acquired infectious disease that may make them sick or kill them.

Sounds like we still need it:

North Carolina poultry workers say they've been left in the dark as the world faces the looming threat of a potentially
deadly bird flu hopscotching around the globe.

Mariano Castro, 37, a quality control worker at a huge Case Farms poultry processing plant in Morganton, wondered why the company hadn't held meetings to tell its workers about the potential risks.

"It's kind of terrifying," said Leonel Escobar, 29, who makes $7.75 an hour to slice up to 25 chicken legs a minute. "I want to know what the company would do if the flu did come here."

A deadly strain of avian flu has killed at least 60 people in Asia, most of them poultry workers. Authorities in Turkey and Romania confirmed their first cases of the disease over the weekend and the European countries began slaughtering thousands of domestic fowl on Sunday to stop the spread.

So far, the bird flu is only transmitted to humans directly from infected birds, but experts fear that if it evolves to human-to-human transmission, it could quickly become a pandemic that could kill millions.

The avian flu, which started in Asia, has recently been reported among birds in Romania.

Poultry employers say there's nothing to worry about, yet:

Flocks are kept in enclosed barns, away from wild birds. Workers clean boots in bleach water. Farm traffic is restricted.

Maryland-based Case Farms is aware of concerns of the avian flu, but compliance director Ken Wilson said it would be premature to spread fear by alerting workers. Workers would be notified "when it was appropriate," he said.

Officials with Arkansas meat-processing giant Tyson Foods Inc., which runs a processing plant in Wilkesboro, did not return calls.

North Carolina medical epidemiologist Kristina Simeonsson said the risk that humans will contract the deadly avian flu strain is "very low." She suggested state-funded vaccinations for all 25,000 North Carolina poultry workers and training them to properly use their gear.

State funded vaccinations? That would be interesting, considering there's no vaccine, and there won't be an effective vaccine until the pandemic is well under way. By that time, of course, transmission from poultry will the least of their worries.

Union leaders are a bit more skeptical of employers' good intentions:

The lack of a campaign to inform poultry workers indicate they are seen as "expendable workforce" because they're poor, largely Hispanic and undocumented, said Baldemar Velasquez, president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee.

More here.

Brazilian Immigrants In Massachusetts: Same Tragic Stories

Boston has a large number of Brazilian immigrants. And many of them are getting hurt or killed on the job:

Language barriers, poor training, a willingness to work for low wages -- or even to be paid off the books -- and a fear of reporting an employer who exploits you or cheats you.

Pick any one or all of the above, and you have a workplace ready-made for tragedy.

On Monday, Valdecir Rodrigues, a 38-year-old Brazilian living and working in the U.S. illegally, was crushed and killed under a ton of granite slabs at Atlantic Stone Industries in Marlborough. Just over a year ago the company was cited by OSHA for six safety violations. Two months before that, OSHA fined ASI's predecessor at the same location, American Granite Manufacturers, $11,550 for several health violations -- a fine reduced to $6,200 after negotiations between OSHA and AGM.

According to Carlos Eduardo Siquiera, a professor at UMass-Lowell's Department of Work Environment, who studies workplace hazards affecting Brazilian and other immigrants in the state.

"All of those deaths were preventable ones."

Although he didn't have first-hand knowledge of the circumstances surrounding Rodrigues' death at the Marlborough granite-cutting company, Siquiera theorized a lack of training, supervision and knowledge may have played a role.

Those possibilities echo a recurring theme. In addition, an illegal immigrant is less likely to complain about things on the job, for fear of being fired or turned in to immigration authorities.

Siqueira clearly knows what he's talking about. According to Rodrigues's co-workers: Former employees of the company where an illegal immigrant from Brazil was crushed to death by granite slabs said owners provided scant training and safety gear and such an accident was inevitable.

"The work conditions were deplorable," said a former company administrator, who asked that his name not be used. "The workers were not trained or certified. They didn't know that what they were doing was so dangerous, and nothing was provided by the company for their protection."

***

Another employee, Marcio Oliveira, 34, worked at the company for six years before being laid off earlier this year. In an interview, translated from Portuguese by his wife, he said he does not know about existing conditions, but saw little training and supervision during his time there.

In some cases, he said, new employees were trained by workers who had been on the job for just a week.

"Half of the time they don't know what they are doing and they have to watch out for themselves," said Oliveira, a father of three from Minas Gerais, Brazil. "(There was) nobody there to say, 'Be careful, you are doing it the wrong way,' or 'Be careful, you need to wear the mask.' No one ever said this is how you properly do something."

The owner of the company is rather out of touch, to put it nicely:

"It's absolutely not true," said Hundley. "Our workers wear the appropriate safety gear. I don't know what happened prior to when we took over the company. All workers are trained, certified. We have a safety consultant, and there is a disciplinary process if workers don't wear their safety gear."

How wearing safety gear is supposed to prevent from being crushed under a ton of granite slabs, I have no idea.

And speaking of not making sense:

Hundley also said that as far as he knows, Rodrigues was in this country legally. His company has offered to pay for the funeral and his family's travel expenses, he said.

What happened to Rodrigues, said Hundley, was a "terrible accident." He said he did want to comment on a federal safety probe and insisted the company is not responsible for the man's death.

Nope, just an accident, not responsible, and, of course Hundley was shocked, SHOCKED that Rodrigues was illegal.

Or not.

Atlantic Stone took advantage of its workers' immigration status. A large number of them were Brazilian illegal immigrants, he said. Rodrigues himself was an illegal immigrant, according to his family.

The company "knew all too well they were all illegals," the source said.

Applicants showed the company fake Social Security cards, he said, "and they'd turn a blind eye. Illegal immigrants provide cheap labor, and the company owners are only interested in making a profit."

Oliveira, who is a legal resident, estimated 90 percent of his co-workers were illegal immigrants. The news of available jobs at the company came from family members and friends, he said.

The employees were paid about $8 an hour, he said.

While workers knew the conditions were bad, they did not complain because they needed the job, Oliveira said.

Most had to pay the debt for moving to the United States from Brazil.

"(The company) knew they are illegal...knew they needed to pay back for what they paid to get out here," Oliveira said.

Unlike most reporters who dispense with these "another immigrant worker gets killed" stories with a couple of paragraphs, Liz Mineo of the MetroWest Daily News has latched on to this story and the plight of immigrants in the Boston area. Other MetroWest articles include:

• Risking all for family: Brazilian illegal immigrant was killed on the job at Marlborough company
• Co-worker was lucky to survive
• Wiley: Love not enough to keep him safe
• OSHA: Marlborough company did not properly train workersGreater peril for foreign workers
• Predecessor at location also cited by OSHA
  
• OSHA found safety violations at firm last year: Atlantic Stone Industries says it paid $5,250 fine after accident

Related Confined Space Stories

• Oh Great. Now We're Killing Martians In The Workplace, June 22, 2005
• Immigrants & Teens: Frontline Soldiers in the War Against Retail Crime?, July 28, 2004

God to Bill Moyers. Moyers to Journalists: Who Will Tell The People To Save The Earth?

I was lucky enought to be invited to do a panel and the annual Society of Environmental Journalists Conference in Austin, Texas, last weekend. The highlight of the day I was there was a luncheon speech by one of my heros, Bill Moyers. Part of the speech was the usual (and justified) criticism of the Bush Administration (and it's business cronies) for its destructive environmental policies

Wistfully remembering how Roosevelts of both parties challenged the power of corporations, Moyers notes that the bad times have returned:

But 100 years later mighty corporations are once again the undisputed overlords of government. Follow the money and you are inside the inner sanctum of the Business Roundtable, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the American Petroleum Institute. Here is the super board of directors for Bush, Incorporated. They own the administration lock, stock and barrel, and their grip on our government’s environmental policies is leading to calamitous consequences.

Once the leader in cutting-edge environmental policies and technologies and awareness, America is now eclipsed. As the scientific evidence grows, pointing to a crisis, our country has become an impediment to action, not a leader. Earlier this year the White House even conducted an extraordinary secret campaign to scupper the British government’s attempt to tackle global warming—and then to undermine the U.N.’s effort to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions. George W. Bush is the Herbert Hoover of the environment. His failure to lead on global warming means that even if we were dramatically to decrease greenhouse gases overnight we have already condemned ourselves and generations to come to a warming planet.

But Moyers didn't just curse the darkness. Using the story of Noah, he also attempted to light a candle to show us a way that environmental journalists might be able to reach the religious folk that the Republicans have gotten so good at catering to and taking advantage of:

Both scientists and Noah possess knowledge of a potentially impending global catastrophe. They try to spread the word, to warn the world, but are laughed at, ridiculed. You can almost hear some philistine telling old Noah he is nothing but a “gloom and doom” environmentalist,” spreading his tale of abrupt climate change, of a great flood that will drown the world, of the impending extinction of humanity and animals, if no one acts.

But no one does act, and Noah continues hearing the word of God: “You are to bring into the Ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you.” Noah does as God commands. He agrees to save not only his own family but to take on the daunting task of rescuing all the biodiversity of the earth. He builds the Ark and is ridiculed as mad. He gathers two of every species, the climate does change, the deluge comes as predicted. Everyone not safely aboard drowns. But Noah and the complete complement of Earth’s animals live on. You’ve seen depictions of them disembarking the Ark beneath a rainbow, two by two, the giraffes and hippos, horses and zebras. Noah, then, can be seen as the first great preservationist, preventing the first great extinction. He did exactly what wildlife biologists and climatologists are trying to do today: to act on their moral convictions to conserve diversity, to protect God’s creation in the face of a flood of consumerism and indifference by a materialistic world.

And he issued (or re-issued) a challenge to journalists:

We are journalists first, and trying to reach one important audience doesn’t mean we abandon other audiences or our challenge to get as close as possible to the verifiable truth. Let’s go back for a moment to America’s first Gilded Age just over a hundred years ago. That was a time like now. Gross materialism and blatant political corruption engulfed the country. Big business bought the government right out from under the people. Outraged at the abuse of power the publisher of McClure’s magazine cried out to his fellow journalists: “Capitalists…politicians...all breaking the law, or letting it be broken? There is no one left [to uphold it]: none but all of us.”

Then something remarkable happened. The Gilded Age became the golden age of muckraking journalism.

***

The Gilded Age has returned with a vengeance. Washington again is a spectacle of corruption. The promise of America has been subverted to crony capitalism, sleazy lobbyists, and an arrogance of power matched only by an arrogance of the present that acts as if there is no tomorrow. But there is a tomorrow. I see the future every time I work at my desk. There, beside my computer, are photographs of Henry, Thomas, Nancy, Jassie and Sara Jane—my grandchildren, ages 13 down. They have no vote and they have no voice. They have no party. They have no lobbyists in Washington. They have only you and me—our pens and our keyboards and our microphones—to seek and to speak and to publish what we can of how power works, how the world wags and who wags it. The powers-that-be would have us merely cover the news; our challenge is to uncover the news that they would keep hidden.

Go forth...

WR Grace Messes With Texas...And Ohio

From Libby, Montana to Hamilton, New Jersey, and now to Dallas:

They called it the giant cigar.

Diane Smith and Linda Bates recall that the towering smokestack of W.R. Grace's Texas Vermiculite plant behind Thomas A. Edison Middle School spewed what they thought was ash, so the kids saw it as a stogie.

"It was like glitter," Ms. Smith said of the particles the kids licked off the ice cream they bought at the Good Luck hamburger stand where Ms. Bates' mother worked.

But a new report from a federal agency says the W.R. Grace facility produced something more ominous than glitter.

Asbestos

And Ohio wasn't spared either.

You can get the entire list of W.R. Grace's tragic legacy at the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry website.

Chem Board Finds Company Programs Inadequate In Dust Explosion

The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board has found the Hayes Lemmerz International neither identified nor adequately addressed the hazards of combustible aluminium dust that exploded, killing one worker, Shawn Boone, on Oct. 29, 2003. The Board found that Hays, which manufactures cast alloy aluminum wheels, had a history of small dust fires inside the factory, but had failed to see those fires as warnings of a larger problem. The dust originated in a scrap system at the plant and ignited in the factory’s dust collection system.

According to CSB Chaiman Carolyn Merritt:

This accident followed a classic syndrome we call 'normalization of deviation,' in which organizations come to accept as ?normal? fires, leaks or so-called small explosions. The company failed to investigate the smaller fires as abnormal situations needing correction or as warnings of potentially larger more destructive events. The CSB almost always finds that this behavior precedes a tragedy."

The report refers to the National Fire Protection Association's NFPA 484 code as an important prevention document for companies to use to reduce the risk of such an explosion. "In this circumstance, NFPA 484 provisions were not being followed and the risk of such an explosion at this facility was extremely high," Chairman Merritt said.

Aside from grain dust, there is no OSHA standard that addresses combustible dust hazards.

The Hays Lemmerz explosion was the third combustible dust explosion investigated by the Board. The Board has also issued investigation reports of a 2003 dust explosion in North Carolina that killed six employees, and another dust expolsion in Kentucky less than a month later that killed seven. The Board is currently working on a comprehensive study on the prevention of combustible dust explosions in the United States.

But Boone's sister, Tammy Miser, has found some good coming out of the tragedy:

"I had a mini-breakdown today,” she said in a telephone interview from her Lexington, Ky., home. “I don’t think anything in the report is surprising to me.”

Miser has been busy since Boone’s death, founding an organization, United Support and Memorial for Workplace Fatalities, to raise awareness about workplace fatalities and support people who have lost loved ones.

The group is joining forces with organizations, including the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, to begin a “Stop Corporate Killing Campaign.”

Miser said the report makes their understandings and perceptions of the explosion more "permanent," and gives them a leg to stand on as they try to push for stiffer regulations with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

"Now we’re finally starting to get different people together on these issues,” she said. "I was beginning to wonder if it was doing any good … something good is coming out of it."

(Disclosure: Tammy also compiles the "Weekly Toll" for Confined Space)

The Board issued formal recommendations to Hays Lemmerz,

urging among other things that it develop and implement a means of handling and processing aluminum chips that minimizes the risk of dust explosions, and implement regular training on such hazards. The CSB recommended the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration develop and distribute an educational bulletin on metal dust explosion prevention, and urged the Indiana Department of Fire and Building Services provide training for fire inspectors on recognition and prevention of combustible metal dust hazards.

Putting The Tears Back

“Statistics are human beings with the tears wiped away.”
Dr. Irving Selikoff (1915-1992)

You know, I write this blog every night, and every two weeks Tammy or I put together the Weekly Toll about people killed in the workplace over the past two weeks. And as much as I stress the fact that we're talking about losing fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and children -- not just names, not just statistics, not just three paragraph news articles, it's easy to just write and not feel.

Until occasionally, you get a letter from someone. I got a note tonight from Misty Plante, the wife of Sol Plante, who was killed in a traffic accident last February and listed in the Weekly Toll. She was writing to tell me that Sol's age was wrong; he was 31, not 21.

But what hit me was at the bottom of her e-mail, the Tribute that the family had made for Sol: www.INLOVINGMEMORYOF.NET/SolPlante. Read it and you can't help but cry, and them multiply that by 5700...


Tammy Miser has compiled a whole webpage of tributes and I defy you to get through more than one or two before you have to quit.

These are what our politicians should be reading when deciding on how big OSHA's budget should be, or before they pass legislation to weaken the agency, and these are what Ed Foulke should be reading before his confirmation hearing.

"Hurricanes, droughts and infectious disease, oh my!"

"The majority of scientists acknowledge today that there is global warming, first of all."

He added, "What we are saying is that despite the uncertainty, the potential effects of climate change are such" that companies should err on the side of safety.

Who said that? Some crazy tree hugging, sky-is-falling, Greenpeace-contributing bearded environmentalist? Not close. That was Ivo Menzinger, head of sustainability and emerging risks for Swiss Re, a giant Zurich-based provider of backup insurance to insurers.

In fact, the insurance industry is becoming increasingly concerned about global warming:

Some of the industry's largest companies have sided with environmental groups in recent years to argue that global warming exists and that man-made causes are adding to the severity and cost of natural catastrophes.

Although no insurer has cited global warming's increased risks as a reason for raising rates, some are funding their own research on the topic and, in the political realm, are supporting measures to reduce emissions.

American International Group Inc., the largest U.S. insurer, says it recognizes the possibility that climate change might be increasing insurance losses, though it is awaiting more scientific proof of a link. The New York-based company is considering a policy of targeting investments toward companies involved in mitigating greenhouse gases.

"We take the possibility seriously and efforts to address it seriously," said Chris Winans, an AIG spokesman.

The industry's interest goes beyond property damage caused by hurricanes. Swiss Reinsurance Co., a giant Zurich-based provider of backup insurance to insurers, says climate change could increase the severity and spread of contagious diseases by extending the ranges of disease-carrying insects such as mosquitoes, altering markets for life and health insurance, while new rules on industrial emissions could generate shareholder suits, changing the market for directors' and officers' liability coverage.

The entire insurance industry is not quite on board yet, especially in the United States.

Europe, however, is a different story:

In general, European insurers are more apt to back the notion that the climate is changing at all and that governments should do something about it. Unlike its U.S. counterpart, the Association of British Insurers actively promotes public awareness about global warming and in June published a study concluding that climate change could cause annual losses from major storms to increase by two-thirds, to $27 billion, by the year 2080.

The study also said that under "high-emissions scenarios," in which carbon-dioxide levels double during the century, insurers would need to increase their capital by 90 percent to cover U.S. hurricanes and 80 percent for Japanese typhoons. The higher losses and capital costs could result in premium increases of 60 percent in those regions, the study said.

Swiss Re even employees 20 scientists to study the question and has been politically active in an effort to push the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement to limit so-called greenhouse gas emissions.

Experts Call On Congress To Protect Hurricane Recovery Workers

One hundred of the nation’s foremost labor, religious, environmental, community, public health and public interest organizations and more than 100 academic, medical, religious and public health leaders have called on Congress to act immediately to protect the health and safety of workers and residents engaged in the cleanup of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

The letter, sent by the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, comes in response to reports by worker advocates that health and safety protections are being ignored for cleanup workers:

"We're seeing who gets hurt when you ignore safety and health protections," said Juan Alvarez, Director, Latin American Organization for Immigrant Rights in Houston. "Contractors are hiring immigrant workers right here in Houston and taking them to New Orleans to do cleanup. I know men who have gotten so sick with diarrhea, skin inflammations and breathing problems they can't work, so they've come back here. The contractors just hire more. Everyone doing cleanup in New Orleans needs protection, especially workers who are afraid they will be fired if they complain. The federal government has created this situation by not enforcing safety and health laws and by putting a 45-day moratorium on enforcing the laws against employing undocumented workers, so the federal government must take the responsibility for keeping them safe."

The letter outlines concrete steps the federal government should take to protect workers from the millions of gallons of petroleum, toxic substances from Superfund sites, bacteria, lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, arsenic and pesticides that contaminated the floodwaters. These include:

• adoption of "appropriate precautionary measures to be implemented until the work environment is demonstrated to be safe;"
  
• initiation of a comprehensive environmental sampling plan;
  
• worker training about occupational and environmental health and safety hazards;
  medical surveillance of clean up workers; and
  
• appropriate decontamination.
  
• In addition, the letter calls for special protection for immigrant and temporary workers who are least likely to be provided with proper training and respiratory protection.

OSHA Files Criiminal Charges In Trench Death: Now That's More Like It

Like the victim of a split personality disorder, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration transitions from yesterday's (well coiffed) industry lapdog, into today's tough enforcer:

An excavating company and one of its officers were charged with a federal crime for allegedly violating safety rules that resulted in a fatal trench cave-in.

The U.S. Attorney in Pittsburgh charged Glen Wagner and Wagner Excavation Services, of North Fayette Township, with willful violation of Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations.

William Partin, 39, of North Fayette, was killed and another man was injured in June 2004 while they were working in a 10-foot-deep trench on a stormwater drainage project in North Franklin, about 25 miles southwest of Pittsburgh.

A message left for Wagner and company officials was not immediately returned Thursday. The charges were filed Tuesday and made public Wednesday.

OSHA fined Wagner Excavation and Wagner Development Co. $382,875 — the largest trench-related workplace fine ever in Pennsylvania — for "egregiously willful" safety violations at the work site.

OSHA found the companies weren't using a trench box, which reinforces trench walls, at the time of Partin's death. The companies had even rented a trench box, but it was lying unused nearby when Partin was killed.

I wrote about this fatality after it happened in June 2004. The article reported that a trench box was sitting, unused, at the sight and that the township's quality-control inspector had made repeated suggestions to workers and company officials to use the trench box

Company Injury and Illness Rates Available

I wrote last August about a lawsuit won by the NY Times winning the paper the right to obtain injury and illness rates for the 80,000 companies in selected high-hazard industries across the country that OSHA tracks in order to determine its inspection targeting strategy.

Employers had argued that this information somehow contained trade secrets and OSHA had argued that they would have to spend valuable resources asking each and every company for permission to release the data. The judge wasn't buying it, noting that employers are already required to post the information for all to see.

The Memory Hole, a website dedicated to "rescuing knowledge and freeing information" has now made all of this data (all 80,000 businesses, by name, from 1996 to 2002) available on its website, converted into Excel spreadsheet files.

Maye your employer is on it. Check it out. I'm sure you'll find a use for it.

Bush Appoints "Darth Vadar" as Head of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

True to form, President Bush has nominated (and the Senate has approved) as Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Dale Hall, a 27-year veteran of the Service. Hall, according to the Daily Grist, is

notable mainly for his unwillingness to strongly support protections for endangered and threatened species in the Southwestern U.S., including Mexican gray wolves. He also has a reputation for trying to get staff to "change the science" in ways that might weaken the case for species protections, says a longtime colleague.

Although some groups such as the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and the Southwest Tribal Fisheries Association support Hall, environmentalists are generally aghast. According to Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity, "Hall was picked because he has proven himself to be the Darth Vader of endangered species." More here.

OSHA: Reality or Spoof, Who Can Tell Anymore?

Checking OSHA's Website is becoming almost as fun as checking out The Onion.

Not even a week after showing itself off as a muscular, tough regulatory agency handing down $20 million penalties to those who would ignore the law and kill workers, OSHA has returned to its more comfortable personna as the Bush administration agency most dedicated to making itself irrelevant to the mission Congress gave it.

Instead of actually issuing enforceable standard to protect workers, OSHA instead forms Alliances with just about every organization in the phone book. Alliances, as you know, are "cooperative programs...that enable organizations committed to safety and health to work with OSHA to prevent injuries, illnesses and fatalities in the workplace" blah, blah, blah. On the whole the program has been pretty worthless, but now they're really scraping the bottom of the barrel. Check out this press release:

OSHA Signs Alliance with the International Society of Canine Cosmetologists

Hello? Canine Cosmetologists?

OK, so maybe I'm being mean and uncaring. I'm sure that canine cosmologists have serious workplace safety problems -- primarily ergonomic problems, according to the press release. But I can't help but think that dog bites (I'm sorry, I meant "canine mastication") must be a problem as well, not to mention flea bites and the pesticides that go with them. And then there's the noise problem. (I mean, have you ever spent much time in a kennel or dog grooming establishment -- I'm sorry, a "Canine Coiffeur Salon?") And then there's scissor cuts, exposure to canine fecal matter (dog doo) and there's that disgusting stuff that comes out of their anal glands.

Finally, as all canine cosmetologists know (but are reluctant to admit), overbrushing raises the risk of spontaneous canine combustion, which -- if you survive -- can then lead to assaults by pet owners. Imagine how upset you'd be if you dropped little Fifi off at your friendly neighborhood canine cosmetologist in the morning and were handed the Krispy Kritter in the evening.

But enough pussyfootin' around.

What the hell is the matter with this agency? How can they possibly be fooling around with these idiotic Alliances with these ridiculous associations when over 5,700 workers died last year in American workplaces and OSHA's budget doesn't come anywhere near to being able to employ enough inspectors to pose a credible deterrent to employers who would rather cut corners that provide a safe workplace?

And, while we're ranting, let's take a closer look at the International Society of Canine Cosmetologists. As far as I can tell, it's basically a one-woman, for-profit, institution designed promote the name, career and bank account of a woman named Pam Lauritzen, the owner and founder of Pam Lauritzen & Company which

is the parent company of a group founded by Pam Lauritzen to promote pride, participation and greater professionalism within the pet styling industry. Included in this group is the International Society of Canine Cosmetologists (ISCC), PetStylist Magazine, U.S. Pet Pro Classic in Dallas, Gateway to the West in St. Louis and most recently, PetStylist.com.

Pam is a leader and pioneer within the Pet Styling industry for over 30 years.

Pam was selected to be the first Chairman of the Board for the International Pet Groomers, Inc. and is currently the founder and Executive Director of the International Society of Canine Cosmetologists (ISCC).

Pam is the creator and manager of the U.S. Pet Pro Classic, a major pet styling show and the largest such show in the American Southwest. She continues to conduct a variety of Advanced Continuing Education seminars and is the author of Super Coats, Shear Control, Shear Illusions, Handling Problem Dogs and How Much are You Worth.

Now I nothing against Pam Lauritzen. I'm a Scotty owner myself. No one appreciates quality canine cosmetology more than I. And if she wants to make herself into the Donald Trump of pet styling, more power to her. Good old fashioned American entrepreneurship and all that.

But what business does OSHA have wasting its scarce resources (and our tax dollars) forming an Alliance with this woman that whose main result will be to attract more business to her vast empire of pet styling magazines and conferences? Is this really the best way OSHA can think of to save the lives of American workers? Do we really think that a single Congressman or Senator who voted to pass the Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1970 suspected in their wildest dreams that this agency could sink so low?

If I was involved in this travesty, I'd be too embarrassed to show my face, much less put out a press release. Obviously, they have no shame.

Related Articles

• At OSHA: Truth Stranger Than Fiction, August 24, 2005
• GAO Evaluates OSHA’s Voluntary Programs, April 27, 2004
• OSHA Alliances: Meaningless Media or Bureaucratic Incest?, March 31, 2004
  
  
  

OSHA's Ed Foulke: Promises to Be 'Fair and Balanced'

Ed Foulke's hometown paper (hometown before he moved to the reddest of red states, South Carolina), the Morning Call has an article about his nomination as Assistant Secretary of Labor in charge of OSHA.

And almost unheard of in present-day journalism, the Morning Call's intrepid reporter actually stepped outside the bounds of OSHA's official press release to interview a real expert on the subject:

Jordan Barab, a former OSHA official, a labor spokesman and author of Confined Space, a Web log, said the nomination is good for business owners but bad for workers. He said Foulke has spent most of his career trying to undermine the goals of OSHA.

"His practice revolves around defending companies against OSHA and how they can fight citations," Barab said. "And his firm is well-known as a union-busting firm."

Foulke countered that he took a fair and balanced approach as chairman of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission and will do the same as head of OSHA. "We didn't decide all in favor of OSHA or all in favor of employers," he said. "I believe I left the review commission a better agency and its decisions were more respected." (emphasis added)

"Fair and balanced." Now, where have I heard that before?

Oh yeah.

Reader Comment: The Real Story At BP

It’s rare that I get criticized for coming down too soft on a company that killed 15 workers….and even rarer that the criticism is justified.

This was a comment left by “Savage” on my post More Safety Dilemmas For Refineries As Profits Rise As I occasionally do with particularly good comments (especially those who say nice things about me, even if they're critical), I’m promoting this to the front page:

I suppose it's bad form to quibble with one of your heroes, but quibble I must. First, allow a small indulgence to the quibbler to establish a few relevant facts:

1. I work for an oil company in east coast refinery.

2. I hold an elected position in my Local.

3. I truly consider Jordan to be a hero and believe that he has done the work of angels his entire career and continuing with his efforts on this site.

On to the quibbles:

But after last week's record fine against BP Amoco for an explosion that killed 15 workers, the cost of these incidents can't even escape the Journal's notice:

Last week, BP PLC agreed to pay workplace-safety regulators $21.4 million in fines for safety violations tied to a deadly March 23 explosion at an octane-boosting processing unit at its Texas City, Texas, plant.

Savage Says: Refineries are running max plus throughputs right now. $21.4 million may be a record fine, and sure, it sounds like a lot of money to us.... but -- you just knew there was a but here, didn't you? -- refineries are making that much a WEEK right now. Kill fifteen workers and balance the books in a week? Not much of a disincentive there.

BP Texas City, however, seems to have learned its lesson:

Officials with BP said Tuesday that the refinery would take advantage of a total refinery shutdown prompted by the Hurricane Rita evacuation to make some needed repairs and retooling of units within the facility. In all, BP’s Texas City refinery has 29 units, five of which were already down following a series of incidents including the March 23 blasts that killed 15 people and injured more than 170.

Learned its lesson? Methinks not. Read it again...

Officials with BP said Tuesday that the refinery would take advantage of a total refinery shutdown prompted by the Hurricane Rita evacuation...

Think BP (or any other oil company) would choose to shut down a refinery while margins are this high without the Rita evacuation? No fucking way. The day one of these corporate monsters does that, I'll give 'em credit. Not one minute before. They were FORCED to shut down because of Rita -- let's not give them good PR until they EARN it.

As to the question in title of your post -- Choices, Choices For Petroleum Refiners: More Profit Or More Safety?

The answer is MORE PROFIT. Every. Single. Time.

One last thing:

A friend and co-worker of mine was horribly burnt in an explosion about five years ago. He will never work again. His unit's planned maintenance turn-around was postponed several times in the months prior to the incident. Why? Margins were too high to shut it down. This mentality will NEVER change.

OK, Savage. Good points.

But I have one quibble with you too. You state that the OSHA fine was $21 million, but that "refineries are making that much a WEEK right now."

Not quite. According to the Wall St. Journal (subscription only) BP’s 2nd quarter 2005 net income was $5.59 billion. Doing the math, that comes to about $2.2 million per hour, which means it would take BP only about ten hours to pay off the largest fine in OSHA’s history.

As you say, not much of a disincentive there.

Pandemic Flu Awareness Week

Earlier this year, the Trust For America's Health (TFAJ) issued A Killer Flu? ‘Inevitable' Epidemic Could Kill Millions -- a report that found that

over half a million Americans could die and over 2.3 million could be hospitalized if a moderately severe strain of a pandemic flu virus hits the U.S. Additionally, based on the model estimates, 66.9 million Americans are at risk of contracting the disease.

This week is Pandemic Flu Awareness Week, a joint effort between the Flu Wiki and the blogosphere to better inform the public about a potential flu pandemic and enlist its help.

As Revere over at Effect Measure says:

The purpose of Pandemic Flu Awareness Week, and the Flu Wiki, is to encourage sharing and generation of our collective knowledge and experience.
Many of the consequences of a pandemic, should it occur, will not be medical but social and economic. By working together and anticipating problems we can manage the worst consequences and get through it better and more quickly. Like hurricanes, when a pandemic occurs can not be accurately predicted. Nonetheless, that which can be done in advance should be done, because eventually something will happen. Planning can only help, even if at the local level it can't prevent.

One of our major concerns here at Confined Space, of course, is the health and safety of health care workers duing a flu pandemic. As you may remember, nurses were some of the primary victims of the SARS epidemic of 2003. Luckily, SARS never hit the United States hard, but several health care workers died in Canada and hospitals were accused of having inadequate equipment, training and infection control standards.

I encourage you to check out the The Flu Wiki which was set up last June in an effort to pool and share our collective knowledge in order to advance preparation for and the ability to cope with and avian flu pandemic, should it occur. (A "wiki," you may recall, is a form of collaborative software that allows anyone to edit any page on the site using a standard web browser like Explorer, Firefox or Safari.)

One section of special interest concerns Health Care Worker Safety During a Pandemic. This section includes a number of methods health care workers may use to protect themselves during an influenza pandemic as well as publications addressing health care worker safety.

And just to give you an idea of what a avian flu pandemic in your hometown might look like, check out CanadaSue's fictional (but perhaps all-too-real) scenario.

In fact, check out the entire site. For those of you who are health care workers, check out the advice and referenced publications. Make sure your institution is making preparations. Get the conversation going in your community and among your readers. And, if you have any knowledge, experience or opinions to add to the debate, participate in "growing" the Flu Wiki.

And while we're on the topic of the avian flu pandemic, you may have noticed that President Bush today raised the possibility of using the military to enforce a quarantine of entire areas of the United States should the avian flu strike.

Revere doesn't think that makes a whole lot of sense:

Outside of the fact this kind of thinking is pretty scary stuff, most public health experts know it won't work. Movement is too free and easily accomplished and the American people cannot be forced to do something they think will hurt them or their families. They'll find a way around it with ease. Remember that a quarantine would have to be essentially complete and airtight, because this is a self-reproducing organism. Only one or a few people getting through or for that matter entering the US from elsewhere where the disease is active would negate such a Draconian measure. Bush's public health experts certainly have told him this, so one can assume its object is not to stop disease spread but to control the population.

Indeed, given our total lack of preparation and the lack of leadership of the Administration, the biggest effect of a pandemic might be a breakdown in social order. So Bush is preparing the ground ahead of time.

Lovely.

Indeed.

More Safety Dilemmas For Refineries As Profits Rise

Are we seeing a conflict developing between more profits and worker/environmental safety? Not exactly anything new, but it's being brought into stark relief in America's refineries.

The Denver Post reports that refiners are making huge profits off the increase in oil prices:

As motorists paid record gasoline prices this summer, oil refiners were ringing up record profits - and that was before hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In a free market system, private enterprises are free to earn what they can (note the headline from the front page of Friday's Wall Street Journal: "How some doctors turn a $90 profit from a $17 test"), but the dramatic rise in energy prices deserves scrutiny.

If gas prices just reflected rising crude oil costs, refiners would enjoy higher revenues with consistent profit margins. Instead, U.S. refineries' gross margins (gasoline prices minus crude oil costs) tripled from $7 per barrel in September 2004 to $22 per barrel last month, reports Denver Post writer Steve Raabe.

On Sept. 1, during Katrina, refinery profits hit record levels of nearly $32 a barrel on gasoline sales, compared with more typical margins of $6 to $8 per barrel. The increase in refining margins that day was 434 percent over the same day a year earlier. Those numbers smack of avarice.

***

From September 2004 to last month, net income rose for ConocoPhillips 65 percent, 39 percent at Royal Dutch Shell, 38 percent for Exxon Mobil and 31 percent for BP Amoco.

But, you wonder, this is a workplace health and safety blog, why is he writing about obscene profits being made by refiners?

Good question. But close readers of Confined Space know the answer. Last week I noted a Wall St. Journal article that doing needed maintenance of their plants (which means temporarily reducing output) or taking advantage of skyrocketing profits -- and risking dangerous explosions -- by keeping the plants running beyond their needed maintenance schedules.

Safety culture vs. higher profits. Injuries, deaths and enviromental pollution vs. higher profits.

Choices, choices....

Interview With OSHA Chief Who Headed Up BP Explosion Investigation

Houston Chronicle reporter Lise Olsen interviewed OSHA's Region Administrator John Miles who was in charge of the BP Texas City investigation that resulted in a $21.4 million fine for the deaths of 15 workers in the March 23 explosion.

Much of the information Miles discussed regarding outdated equipment and malfunctioning gauges and alarms was similar to information previously revealed by the US Chemical Safety Board:

Miles said OSHA found plenty of evidence that BP managers also ignored glaring maintenance problems for years before the blast.

"We found that when they had a turnaround in 2003, they noticed that there were baffles rusted out and lying in the bottom of the blowdown unit. But instead of fixing it, employees mentioned it in their report, closed up the unit and said they would get to it in the next turnaround in 2005. But they didn't fix it then either."

In fact, on at least six separate occasions, BP managers considered getting rid of the vent stack entirely, and connecting the system to a safer flare, but the work was always delayed or dropped, he said.

Inspectors also found that employees operating the unit on the day of the accident were "flying blind" without updated training and procedures and were operating equipment with faulty gauges and alarms. "When the instruments are not working, you obviously don't know what is happening, and they overfilled the unit," Miles said.

Miles said that OSHA had not yet decided whether or not to file criminal charges, but there is a five-year statute of limitations.

Miles was also asked if the lack of OSHA enforcement previous to the disaster had made it possible for the accidetn to happen. The response was a bit frightening, though not surprising: A:

I think when (the Texas City refinery) was Amoco, there was a lot of enforcement
history. Under BP ownership, we had only been out there a couple of times before
two pipefitters were killed in September 2004.

You'd like to say we should have done more enforcement, but the OSHA Act is based on employers complying with safety and health requirements.

Nationwide, OSHA has only one team of inspectors who specialize in process safety management (the specialized safety rules that apply to facilities such are refineries). That six-member team is based at the Houston South office.

True, the OSHA Act, like every other law on the books, is based on people complying with the law. But society's laws are also based on the presumption that if people break that faith and don't comply with the law, there is a reasonable likelihood that they will be caught and punished. We shouldn't need (and can never afford) enough enforcers to monitor everyone's behavior all the time. On the other hand, unless we have enough enforcers to establish a credible deterrent for those who are tempted to break the law, then the law is pretty worthless.

And with so few OSHA inspectors, and even fewer who are experts in Process Safety Management, most employers probably figure -- correctly -- that their chance of being caught by OSHA for not complying with health and safety requirements is pretty slim -- unless they happen to kill someone.

Finally, one other answer that bothered me:

Q: You have said that BP had a cultural safety problem at the Texas City refinery. What are the causes of this, in your opinion?

A: They need to do a complete overhaul with supervisors and with units. They have a new plant manager and a new safety guy, and that's a good start if those people follow through on what they need to do.

Maintenance was deferred, and equipment was in poor condition. They have to put employee safety ahead of production, and they need to send the message they will not tolerate people who do not follow procedures.

As I discussed after the US Chemical Safety Board issued an urgent recommendation to BP to commission an independent panel that would review a range of safety management and culture issues stemming from the March 23 explosion, the report into the Columbia space shuttle accident, defined "organizational culture" as

the values, norms, beliefs, and practices that govern how an institution functions. At the most basic level, organizational culture defines the assumptions that employees make as they carry out their work. It is a powerful force that can persist through reorganizations and the reassignment of key personnel.

In making its recommendation, the CSB was focusing on effective corporate oversight of safety management systems, not just replacing bad manager with good managers. Good managers come and good managers go, but effective safety management systems -- and a good organizational culture -- will survive through managers good or bad.

Harriet Miers Headed Law Firm Engaged In Union Busting Avoidance

Working for a lawfirm that specializes in "union busting avoidance" seems to be a "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval" for Bush administration nominees. Like Ed Foulke, Bush's nominee for head of OSHA, Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers' former lawfirm, Locke Liddell & Sapp, of which she was co-managing partner, had an active union avoidance practice:

The threat of a union organizing effort or strike can be traumatic for any company- which is why you need an experienced partner on your side. Locke Liddell labor and employment law lawyers have handled hundreds of union arbitrations and labor contracts, and have extensive experience in union avoidance counseling....For union-free companies, we provide union-avoidance advice and strategies in emerging situations. Our experience extends to the most specialized areas, including the Railway Labor Act that governs many union actions. We have handled a major strike against a national transportation company, and use such experience to counsel any size business on its labor relations concerns.

Mier's former firm represents a large association of building owners fighting SEIU-represented janitors in Houston who are fighting for union recognition.

And, like any good corporate firm, Locke Liddel also had an OSHA practice:

A government safety inspection that’s not properly addressed can jeopardize your company’s future. Locke Liddell's labor and employment lawyers respond promptly to the myriad of issues involving employee health and safety. We defend OSHA claims of any type, including multiple death cases.

Isn't that comforting?

I'm not sure if she participated personally in the union avoidance activities of her firm, but it doesn't bode well for her sensitivity to worker or labor issues at a time that, as Jonathan Tasini points out, there are critical labor issues that the new court will soon have to address.

Grace's Deadly Asbestos Tentacles Continue To Reach Across The Country

Slowly, but surely the full story of breadth and depth of W.R. Grace's asbestos crimes are being told.

The Oakland Tribune has an article about worker exposure to asbestos-containing vermiculite at the Trenton (Hamilton), New Jersey W.R. Grace Site. I reported on this several times before (see below).

Federal EPA has indicted seven current and former executives of W.R. Grace in Montana for attempting to hide the fact that asbestos was present in vermiculite products in the company's Libby, Montana plant. But the problem didn't stay in Montana. The vermiculite was transported for processing to around 30 facilities across the country.

Tests conducted by Grace itself inside the plant in the late 1970s showed airborne asbestos averaging 45 times today's workplace standards — and three times higher than those inside a similar plant in the Southern California city of Santa Ana — with some concentrations 100 times higher. By 1983, federal scientists believed airborne asbestos in the plant was lowered to today's standards, and the plant stopped operating in 1993.

Many scientists believe the current occupational standard still imperils workers, particularly for the kind of asbestos found in Libby vermiculite. Some scientists argue that Libby asbestos poses 100 times the risk of ordinary asbestos for triggering mesothelioma, a rare and almost invariably lethal cancer of the lung lining. That risk more than doubles for smokers.

"If you're a former worker, the best thing you could do right now is to alert your physician that you were exposed," said James Durant, an environmental health scientist at the federal toxics agency who led the Newark study.

Asbestos concentrations were high enough at the Newark plant that families of workers could have been exposed to unhealthy amounts by doing the laundry.

The Tribune articles also note that:

The agency's recent reports on 18 of the largest W.R. Grace plants could prove politically difficult for federal lawmakers as Congress considers removing asbestos lawsuits from the courts and creating a massive trust fund for asbestos victims. If plant workers became ill, they would have to compete for compensation on less-certain terms than traditional asbestos workers.

Symptoms of asbestos-related disease can take 25 or more years to emerge, so workers could begin showing respiratory problems this decade or later.

There are also concerns about contamination of the plant's neighbors which are currently being investigated by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry:

The toxics agency is seeking former Grace workers and immediate neighbors from the 1960s through the early 1980s to warn them and learn more about the plants' operations. At one Grace site in Minneapolis, for example, children were allowed to play in piles of vermiculite, and residents were encouraged to take the glittering material home for use in their gardens or attics.

Federal officials don't know whether that happened at Newark. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found elevated levels of asbestos in soil around the Newark plant in 2002, before conducting a cleanup there.

Thousands of older Bay Area homes are believed to be insulated with asbestos-contaminated vermiculite that the plant shipped to hardware stores and insulation installers. Federal health and environmental officials warn homeowners who find vermiculite insulation in their attics to leave it undisturbed until cleanup by a professional asbestos-remediation firm.

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) website which has a map showing W.R. Grace "hotspots" across the country, and the agency is conducting site investigations "to determine appropriate actions, as needed, to protect public health in each location."

On September 22, ATSDR announced the completion of site investigations at eight additional W.R. Grace plants, and issued a Press Release repeating its warning that former workers at the closed processing plants are at increased risk for developing asbestos related health problems.

ATSDR recommends that former workers and for many of the sites, household members who lived with them, take specific steps to protect their health and improve quality of life:

• Learn more about asbestos exposure,
• See a doctor with experience in asbestos-related lung disease,
• Quit smoking,
• Get regular flu and pneumonia shots.

Residents could have been exposed to asbestos if they handled or played in waste rock, a by-product of vermiculite exfoliation. At some vermiculite plants, workers or people in the community may have brought waste rock from the plant to their homes. This waste rock was used in many ways, for example in gardens and as fill or driveway surfacing material.

When processing vermiculite, the plants might have released dust and asbestos fibers into the air. ATSDR cannot determine the extent of exposure to former residents who lived near the plant.

Related Articles

• Wanted: More Journalists To Pick Up On Asbestos Stories, July 4, 2005
• Lessons of Hamilton, New Jersey, June 29, 2005
• Grace Knew About Asbestos Contamination of NJ Plant, June 28, 2005
• Attorney for Grace To Head EPA Enforcement, June 27, 2005
• W.R. Grace: Did These Guys Ever Tell The Truth?, March 4, 2005
• Asbestos: Cruel, Deadly and Uncompensated, February 19, 2005
• Libby Montana and Tort Deform: What's Wrong With This Picture?: February 15, 2005
• They Were Killing Us, They Were Killing Our Wives and Children: February 12, 2005
• W.R. Grace Goes To Jail: "Why not all the others?": February 10, 2005
• W.R. Grace Execs Indicted For Asbestos Coverup, February 8, 2005

Workplace Fatalities That OSHA Ignores

Here's a clear workplace fatality that OSHA has no intention of investigating. Why? Because it's a police matter, because they fear they can't make a citation stick, because they'll be attacked by industry associations, etc., etc.... You choose.

What was the incident?

Clerk killed in robbery attempt

Back in the old days, workplace violence wasn't considered a real, legitimate workplace hazard that fell within OSHA's jurisdiction. In the mid-1990's, however, (after pressure from unions), OSHA finally concluded that workplace assaults, like other incidents, were preventable; there were risk factors that led to a higher likelihood of assualts, that could be predicted and could be prevented. In fact, OSHA even issued two workplace violence guidelines: one for health care workers and for late night retail) workers.

Let's play a game. How many risk factors can we find in this article (hints included):

Feroz Noor-Ali Lalani was counting the days until he would be eligible for U.S. citizenship next year.

Four years of anticipation made him giddy whenever he talked about it, said his co-worker, Aziz Akbarali. The two men grew up about 10 miles apart in Karachi, Pakistan, and ended up working at the same Pleasant Grove gas station "looking for a better future from a Third World country," Mr. Akbarali said.

But about 3:20 a.m. Friday, Mr. Lalani's dream ended. He was fatally shot during an attempted robbery.

Mr. Lalani was working the graveyard shift when three young men walked in and started milling about the Shell convenience store at 9512 C.F. Hawn Freeway. One man started to pay for an item, and as Mr. Lalani was making change, the robber lunged for the register's cash, a police report said.

Mr. Lalani was able to slam the drawer shut, but another man shot him, and the robbers fled without taking any items.

Immediately after the shooting, police say the three young men robbed a 7-Eleven store at Masters Drive and Bruton Road, where they punched the clerk in the head and stole cigarettes and cigars.

"His face is all broken," said Zahir Sattari, a co-worker of the clerk.

The clerk, whose name was not released, was hospitalized but was expected to recover, Dallas police Sgt. Ross Salverino said.

Convenience store clerks say they are frightened by how dangerous their jobs can be, but many people who are recent arrivals in the United States don't have many options about what kind of work they take.

Mr. Sattari said that every night he works at his gas station, nonchalant thugs steal items such as candy, cigarettes and cash.

He added he's sick of calling police as many as five times a day for thefts and robberies.

Mr. Akbarali said he would feel more comfortable only if he worked behind bulletproof glass or didn't work overnight.

His boss, Nadeem Ali, said he was so upset after his employee's death that he plans to close his convenience store at 11:30 each night. Motorists will have to pay at the pump.

Mr. Sattari said he has asked to be transferred to another 7-Eleven store because the neighborhood is too dangerous.

"I'm terrified of going to clean the station pumps," he said. "But I have kids to feed."

So what are the answers?

• Working with money.
• Working alone
• Working late nights
• Working in dangerous neighborhoods

And solutions? Several are mentioned.

• Working behind bullet-proof glass
• Closing at 11:30
• When being robbed, cooperate, don't resist.
  

So why shouldn't OSHA get involved in cases like this. Why aren't there laws?

Actually, there are laws in some places. The New Mexico state Environmental Improvement Board, which issues occupational safety and health standards, issued a regulation earlier this year that requires convenience stores open between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. either to have two workers on duty, or one clerk and a security guard, or to install bulletproof glass or other safety features to limit access to store employees. The regulations also requires safety cameras, panic alarms and adequate lighting, and making sure that clerks have a clear line of sight outside the stores. They also require either time-lock safes or some sort of money-drop and limit cash in the register to $50. Employees must also receive crime prevention and safety training by the employer or a "knowledgable representative" in a language that is understood by the employee.

The state of Washington enforces a "Late Night Retail Workers Crime Protection Act" which requires annual crime prevention training, drop-safes or limited access safes, and outside lighting.

Although federal OSHA had cited some nursing homes and other facilities for workplace violence hazards in the 1990's, the agency has not cited in this area in a number of years. The American Public Health Association recently called on federal OSHA to "promulgate an enforceable standard on occupational violence prevention."

Sounds like a good idea. I'm sure Feroz Noor-Ali Lalani would have appreciated it.