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#74: Worker Memorial Day 2021
61 Plays3 years ago
In this special episode of the podcast, we recognize Worker Memorial Day and remember those that have lost their lives while at work. Listen to a keynote speech given by our series host Jill James, about a tragic workplace fatality and the fallout from it.
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Transcript
Introduction and Purpose of the Podcast
00:00:10
Speaker
This is the Accidental Safety Pro, brought to you by HSI. This episode was recorded in commemoration of Worker Memorial Day, 2021. My name is Jill James, HSI's Chief Safety Officer and host of this podcast. April 28th was established as Worker Memorial Day in 1970 by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, otherwise known as the AFL-CIO.
00:00:38
Speaker
This is a day set aside to remember lives lost on the job and a day to honor the families and coworkers who mourn their losses. It is also a day of challenge for each of us to do our part to prevent workplace deaths.
Jill's Experience as an OSHA Investigator
00:00:52
Speaker
This year, Worker Memorial Day has a particular sting as we continue counting the workplace death toll due to the pandemic.
00:01:01
Speaker
Frequent listeners of this podcast know I was an OSHA investigator early in my career. And during those years, I investigated 18 workplace deaths and 12 serious injuries. Each of those deaths and injuries has a story and each are indelibly written in my mind and on my heart. What I learned, what I witnessed has been informing and inspiring my work for 27 years.
Nick's Story and the Impact of His Death
00:01:30
Speaker
One of those stories I've been sharing as a keynote address for the past number of years, and I've decided to share it with you here today. So now I invite you to settle in with me as I share Nick's story. 24 years ago, I got a phone call. The voice on the other end was asking me, do you want us to hold the scene until you get here?
00:01:59
Speaker
Did you take photographs? I asked. The deputy who was calling said that he had taken photographs and measurements too. So I asked him if he would please release the body to the family. I didn't want him lying out there. I was still an hour and a half away. Now, before I got that call, a mechanic named Donny was on his two-way radio listening to Todd, his coworker, repeat,
00:02:27
Speaker
He's dead. He's dead. Nick is dead. Moments later, Donnie called 911. Across town, Patty was working as an administrative assistant for the largest employer in the community. She was asked to report to the executive conference room and she didn't know why. She thought, what did I do wrong? Or maybe I did something right.
00:02:53
Speaker
When she walked into the conference room, she saw a bunch of people from her personnel department, the local priest, a deputy sheriff, and a familiar face from her husband's work. What's going on? She asked. Everyone was silent. For a minute, time was still. The deputy broke the silence by asking Patty to identify herself, and she did. The deputy said that her husband,
00:03:22
Speaker
had been killed at work. He was ran over by a bulldozer. Nick was dead at the age of 30. One of Patty's many thoughts was about the night before Nick's mom came over and made her son's favorite meal, ham and scalp potatoes. Nick was the kind of guy that everyone loved. He was always happy.
00:03:48
Speaker
so happy that some days Patty could hardly stand it, if you know the type. And in her words, he was rarely an ass. There was an uncommon kindness to him. Nick was that guy who sends flowers to his wife at work, to the envy of other women. He was a skinny guy with a 28-inch waist. He was the sort of guy who gets up at 4.30 in the morning to hunt with his best friend.
00:04:16
Speaker
Patty couldn't stand him the first time they met weathering a multi-hour car trip in a Minnesota storm with Patty's brother and Nick's sister. But over time, Patty's opinion changed. They fell in love and married in 1990, making their home in a small prairie town in southwestern Minnesota. Nick started working for a small excavation company. And when it came to community involvement, the company was involved.
00:04:46
Speaker
Small towns in Minnesota are infamous for their town festivals and the locals that make them fun. Soon after starting his job, Nick, on behalf of the company, dressed in drag to compete in the Miss Prairie Pie competition, singing What's Up?
Investigation and Challenges Post-Accident
00:05:03
Speaker
by the Four Non-Blondes. He took second place.
00:05:08
Speaker
Patty and Nick have a daughter, Amanda, a blonde cutie who was five years old the day her dad died, turning six two days later. Amanda told her mom that she had seen her dad drive past her daycare the day he died. He waved to his daughter and she waved back. The night before that tragic day in May of 97,
00:05:34
Speaker
Nick's coworker Jay, a handsome young man, all of 21 years old, stopped by Patty and Nick's place. Jay had never been to their house before, though he just lived down the street. Jay swung by to ask Nick for a ride to work the next day. Nick teased Jay, almost like his son, instructing him to be on time and waiting on the sidewalk the next morning. And that next morning, on his way out of their house,
00:06:04
Speaker
Nick told Patty he loved her one last time and went off to pick up Jay. Back then, I was working as a safety investigator with the state of Minnesota. I was 26 years old. I had only been on the job for a year and a half. Nick's death was the ninth accident I had investigated and the fifth fatality case.
00:06:30
Speaker
My job was to determine if Nixon's employer had violated any federal or state OSHA laws. So I gathered evidence from the scene, reviewed employer safety materials, and interviewed employees to help piece together what happened and to affirm or deny safety training against the company records. I also had to gather information on the victim's next of kin so the government could send them a letter of condolence.
00:06:58
Speaker
That was my job. That was my job for each of the fatality or serious injury cases I investigated in the nearly 12 years I was a safety inspector. On that day, my work took me to a windy prairie in southwestern Minnesota. The job site was located at one of those little banks, a single-story square structure.
00:07:23
Speaker
Nick, Todd, Jay and Quinn were working to build a drive-through lane at the back of the bank. Their job as excavators was to work the earth in preparation for paving. They were using a payloader, bulldozer and a skid steer loader to flatten, widen and level the ground. Nick's job was to ensure the ground was level and that the correct thickness of ground was cut with each pass of the bulldozer
00:07:53
Speaker
using something called a grade rod and laser for precision, which meant he had to take a measurement each time Jay went over the ground with the bulldozer. Todd was operating the skid steer loader nearby while Quinn was on the payloader at the other end of the project, piling up the spoiled or unused earth. It was during one of those passes of the bulldozer that Jay inadvertently backed over Nick.
00:08:26
Speaker
Back then, a woman named Chris was leading the safety efforts for Nick's company, a job she gave herself along with the bookkeeping and customer service responsibilities. Chris was trying to find a niche for herself in the company that she and her husband would eventually buy from her in-laws. Three years before Nick's death, Chris wrote the company's first ever safety program as a result of a new law. Then she organized and led the company's first safety training day.
00:08:56
Speaker
Looking back, the training day was kind of a flop. She had invited their insurance carrier to do some training and the guy was sort of meh. She also invited a highway patrol officer to do training and he did a little better getting the employees involved and mocking up what happens when you break driving laws, putting employees in costumes and acting out situations. She was trying. It was Chris who reported Nick's death to the main OSHA office.
00:09:27
Speaker
When I arrived on the job site, I began going through my protocol. The backup alarm on the bulldozer was working. The windows of the bulldozer were clean, unbroken. There were no recalls on the dozer or special warnings about tricky blind spots from the manufacturer. There were no missing safety devices.
00:09:53
Speaker
Jay, Todd, Nick, and Quinn had all been through safety training. There were no allegations of horseplay, malicious intent, or intoxication regarding any of them. 18 years later, Nick's wife Patty would tell me they were just normal people doing their work. And she was right.
00:10:18
Speaker
All men earning a paycheck, doing good and noble work, just like you and just like me. On that day, Patti's brother Bobby picked her up at work. The two of them collapsing onto one another in their grief. She and Bobby really didn't know what to do or how to act. She recalls driving around town with Bobby, the two of them chain smoking cigarettes.
00:10:45
Speaker
Patty wanted to tell her mother, but her mom wasn't home and they were trying to contact her. She was also trying to figure out how she was going to tell her five-year-old who was still at daycare. Bobby and Patty drove past the bank site. There was yellow tape wrapped around the dozer. Patty remembers watching other cars driving down the street, people going on about their lives and thinking her life had stopped.
00:11:16
Speaker
The grief pile continued when Patty and Bobby arrived at their mother's house, where other family members had gathered. The neighborhood was mourning. Soon, Amanda was there. Someone had picked her up. As Patty watched her daughter walk toward her, a local pastor who had joined the family whispered, your only priority is Amanda. Those words focused her.
00:11:45
Speaker
Today, Amanda is turning 30, and she's mother to Nick's granddaughter, Lily. Patty, Amanda, and Lily are living in the southwestern part of the United States. My investigation yielded no citations against Nick's company. There were no violations of any safety laws. I couldn't find anything.
00:12:13
Speaker
Chris, the young lady helping to run the family business, filed a workers' compensation claim for Jay, who was driving the bulldozer that day. Jay was suffering emotional distress, and Chris wanted to help him.
00:12:27
Speaker
But this was long before there was widespread discussion of emotional impairments like PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, or related disorders. The claim was denied and found non-compensable, citing a Supreme Court ruling at that time. In fact, it wasn't until 2013 when the state of Minnesota signed a new workers' compensation law allowing PTSD to be a compensable workers' compensation claim.
Creating Change: Drafting a New Safety Law
00:12:56
Speaker
Jay never returned to his job. In fact, Todd and Quinn found other work as well. All three of them still live near one another and occasionally talk with Chris and with Donnie, the coworker who called 911 that day.
00:13:15
Speaker
After the accident, employers in the area started calling Chris. They knew what had happened. They also knew Chris had been developing safety training and safety programs, and they asked if she would share what she had. Meanwhile, Nick's death wore on me. It wore on me because his wasn't the only death of that sort I had investigated.
00:13:38
Speaker
I had coworkers investigating similar deaths where people were run over by earth moving equipment and were dying and the people driving the equipment were suffering. Or at least I figured they must be suffering. See, that's the thing about being an OSHA inspector. You weren't allowed to talk with families of the victims in order to stay neutral. And after your inspection was done and your case was closed, there wasn't further contact.
00:14:08
Speaker
because you moved on to another case. But that didn't stop me from wondering how everyone was doing. With next death on my mind, I decided to call my coworker and fellow inspector, Norm. Before joining OSHA, Norm had spent the better part of his career working as a heavy equipment operator, just like Jay. I told Norm I was growing weary of these cases and wanted to do something to prevent them.
00:14:38
Speaker
I asked Norm to partner with me to use his knowledge of the trade and equipment to try to come up with a prevention strategy. Over a series of meetings and discussions, Norm and I drafted a new safety law. It was adopted by the Minnesota legislature in 1999, two years, one month, and seven days after Nick's death. It's called the Operation of Mobile Earth Moving Equipment.
00:15:09
Speaker
There are several pieces to it. The primary intent, however, is building relationship between equipment operators and the people working on the ground, so everyone knows where everyone is at all times. The part of the law Norm and I get to see as we go about living our lives is a requirement for all people working on the ground around earth moving equipment to wear what is called a class two high visibility garment.
00:15:37
Speaker
Class two means that there's a lot of color all the way around the person wearing it so they can be seen, even if standing sideways. There were no requirements for this prior to 1999, unless you were actually working in traffic on a road. And in 2000, Tom, a fellow safety professional who works for an electrical contractor in Minneapolis, amended the law, adding a provision for the high visibility garments to be fire rated
00:16:06
Speaker
when working under certain conditions. Tom's motivation came from an employee who experienced an electrical arc flash and was burned when his non-fire rated vest caught fire. What happens next is sort of wild. It was 2002, five and a half years since Nick's death. And I was still doing my OSHA gig back in that same prairie town. This time I was on a routine construction inspection.
00:16:35
Speaker
No one was dead. I was getting my gear out of my government issued car on the job site when this man, a drywall contractor from the construction site, comes walking up to me. Are you that OSHA lady? He asked. And at this point I'm checking my six because being the OSHA lady does not mean you're a celebrity and that this guy is looking for an autograph.
00:16:58
Speaker
Um, yes I am. And the man came closer. It was you. You who investigated my brother-in-law's death back at the bank. He was ran over. Do you remember? Of course I remember, I tell him. I just thought of him when I pulled into town. He goes on saying his sister was married to Nick and that she's a widow and a single mom and that Nick is lying there in the cemetery.
00:17:27
Speaker
And then he gets closer to me. This is Bobby, Patty's brother, the one who drove Patty around town after they got the news of Nick's death. Bobby pokes his finger at me. What did you ever do to make sure that would never happen to anyone else?
Long-Term Effects and Safety Improvements
00:17:45
Speaker
Well, it just so happened I carried copies of the law that Norm and I wrote with me to share with contractors. And whenever I did education about it around the state,
00:17:56
Speaker
So I gave Bobby a copy of the law and I told him about it. I believe Bobby's response was no shit, which I believe roughly translated means the government did something. Now in preparation for today, I reached out to Nick's former employer, Patty, his wife, and others close to this story because I wanted to know more and I wanted to share more with you.
00:18:26
Speaker
A few years ago, I made my way back to that little prairie town with a photographer to capture images I share when I tell this story in person to an audience. I started at Chris's office. She's now the CEO and CFO of the company where Nick worked. And Chris introduced me to Heather. Heather is the person now leading the safety charge for their company, a role Chris passed to her in 2006.
00:18:57
Speaker
I asked Heather if she'd take us out to one of their job sites to take pictures of actual people working and she agreed. In fact, she said they had a tiny crew working a project very similar to the work Nick, Jay, Todd, and Quinn were doing 19 years ago. We drove past the bank site, which is now a gas station on our way.
00:19:21
Speaker
When we got to the job site, my goal was not to break any of Heather's safety rules under the watchful eyes of her coworkers. Heather instructed Marty, the photographer, and I to stay in the grass around the perimeter of the site, far away from the activity.
00:19:38
Speaker
Then I watched Heather do what I used to do as an inspector before I approached the job site. She took off her jewelry, put on her work boots, donned her hard hat, put on her high visibility vest and safety glasses. It was surreal for me, watching the next generation of woman in my role do what I had done hundreds of times. And Heather stepped foot onto the work site. It really did look a lot like the site the day Nick died.
00:20:08
Speaker
They were working to build a small driveway and a parking lot. There wasn't a bulldozer this time. It was a road grader. And driving the road grader was Chris's son, David, the next heir to the company who was five or six years old back on that day in 1997.
00:20:26
Speaker
It wasn't Nick with the grade rod taking measurements, but another employee, Levi this time. And I have to admit, I was a little nervous. I think I was part safety professional and part mom in those moments, wanting to lurch forward and say, be careful, not so close, watch where you are. And then something amazing happened.
00:20:52
Speaker
See, earlier in the day, Chris was telling me about the progress they made in safety. And she mentioned how they started using more personal protective equipment like the high visibility vest after that one law was written. That one law, I asked, do you mean this one? And I took out a copy and I laid it in front of her. Yes, that one, she said. Chris and Heather never knew why that law had been written.
00:21:22
Speaker
They didn't know how it came to be until I showed back up in their offices 19 years later. I never knew that, but I guess how would have they known? So Chris and I went over the law, a law that we both knew. I had been enforcing it, and Chris's company had been complying with it. But on that day, we looked at it together with fresh eyes.
00:21:50
Speaker
Safety laws nearly all start the same way, with what is called the scope. The scope explains what sort of work and what sort of workers the law applies to. With the law in hand, I read the scope with Chris, and it reads,
00:22:07
Speaker
This part identifies minimum safety requirements for the safe operation of mobile earth moving equipment used for earth moving building or road construction or demolition, including but not limited to bulldozers. Bulldozer is listed first. It was done on purpose and done for Jay, I told Chris. And we went on. I placed my finger over loaders and I said, this is for Quinn.
00:22:36
Speaker
I placed my finger over skid steer loaders and said, that is for Todd. Then we moved on to the part of the law listing the types of employees who had to be trained.
Company Culture and Forgiveness
00:22:48
Speaker
It reads, this part pertains to operators of the equipment and exposed employees, including, but not limited to, grade checkers, grade persons, rod persons, stake hop, stake jumpers, and blue toppers working in the area. The first job title listed is grade persons. I laid my finger on the word grade checker and said, that is for Nick.
00:23:13
Speaker
So back to that work site. I watched as Heather got in David's sight line as he was operating the road grader. They made eye contact and the two of them confirmed sight of one another through hand signals. Just like it's written in the law, Norm and I wrote. After signaling David to stop, I heard the road grader drop into neutral and the brake set, just like it's written in the law.
00:23:40
Speaker
And then Heather safely approached the road grader, just like it's written in the law. The work continued in perfect orchestration safely as they communicated without language. And I watched from my place in the grass like I was looking through a magic window. It worked. Wow, it worked. That law worked.
00:24:08
Speaker
In the 27 years I've been working in safety, I've been witness to a lot of tragedy, sometimes a death, sometimes a life-changing injury. And what I've observed is that companies who employ the victims fall into one of two categories. Those who blame the victim, where humanity is non-existent, concern is about liability and less about human beings. Or those who rise to the occasion.
00:24:36
Speaker
engage in smart business practices, and do all they can to ensure the same never happens on their watch again. Nick's company, and Chris in particular, dared to rise to the occasion. One of my favorite social scientists is Brené Brown. She calls herself a researcher storyteller. And in her book titled Rising Strong, she writes, the truth is that falling hurts.
00:25:06
Speaker
The dare is to keep being brave and feel your way back up. Truth and dare. The truth is that falling hurts. The dare is to keep being brave and feel your way back up. Let's think about Chris, Nick's employer. The truth is Chris could have chosen status quo safety.
00:25:33
Speaker
but she dared to be better. Under her leadership, Nick's company became the first in the state to partner with OSHA and associated builders and contractors to reduce injuries, illnesses, and deaths in the construction industry. They're still active in it today. In fact, Heather has served as both their chair and co-chair.
00:25:55
Speaker
The truth is, Chris's excavation company's injury rate is so low and their safety program so good, she dared to market it as a competitive advantage against their competition.
00:26:07
Speaker
The truth is the construction industry is hurting to attract qualified workers. So Chris dared to use her board seat with the associated building contractors to apply for and win a grant to create a core construction online training program to attract people to the trades and to teach them how to read blueprints, math for construction, communication skills, green building, and of course, safety.
00:26:33
Speaker
The truth is, Chris's company could have forgotten about their employees, but they dared not to. They created a commemorative garden in front of their building to thank Brad for his service to our country, to remember Doug, who lost his life to cancer, Bob, who lost his life to suicide, and Nick, who lost his life at work. And Patty, Nick's widow. The truth is, Patty said she could have chosen to hate.
Personal Reflections and Community Engagement
00:27:04
Speaker
Rather, she dared to forgive, love, and thrive. The truth is, as a 26 year old, I had no idea where this story would take me, nor how many people would dare to step up and step out, making changes across an entire state. But we did it anyway. What is your truth? What have you dared to do?
00:27:30
Speaker
Maybe it was something with safety. Maybe it was something else in your work life, community life, or personal life. And where have we fallen and haven't been brave enough to feel our way back up? Ask yourself, what truth are you facing down today? Now, now is the time to dare yourself to take that first step. You,
00:28:00
Speaker
and others will be stronger for it. I promise. Thank you for listening today. And thank you, Patty, as always, for allowing me to be the keeper of this part of your family story. I know some of you listening carry your own workplace death story. If you need a safe space to talk, I'm here to listen. Reach out as you're able. You can reach me at jjames at hsi.com.
00:28:31
Speaker
We've included a link to the live reference in the show notes. Thank you all for spending your time listening today. And more importantly, thank you for your contribution toward the common good. Making sure your workers, including your temporary workers, make it home safe every day. If you'd like to join the conversation about this episode or any of our previous episodes, follow our page and join the Accidental Safety Pro Community Group on Facebook.
00:28:59
Speaker
If you aren't subscribed in one of your past and future episodes, you can subscribe in iTunes, the Apple Podcast app, or any other podcast player you'd like. We'd love it if you could leave a rating and review on iTunes. It really helps us connect the show with more and more safety professionals like you and I. Special thanks to Romas, our podcast producer. And until next time, thanks for listening.