There oughta be a law
 The death of 51-year-old John Anderson in a trench collapse at a Northland job site struck close to home with me. I don't know anything about Mr. Anderson but given his age, I imagine he was somebody's husband. Somebody's father. Somebody's something. Now he's gone. Why? A shortcut. The absence of some inexpensive safety devices.I guess I'm more worked up about this than most because of my own background. My father was a sheetmetal worker. Local 2. I wear his 50-year pin on my lapel just to remind myself where I came from. My dad told me plenty of jobsite horror stories over the years. Many stories that ended with me almost becoming an orphan. The one that still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up is the time his company was doing some commercial work on the top of a building. In order to get to the project, they had to squeeze by the building's main electrical feed. Of course the building supervisor assured them the power was off. "Then why can I hear it humming?" my dad asked. "That's not the power, that's something else" the building supervisor replied in a condescending manner. The attitude back then was what would a dumb old tin bender know about electricity? An argument ensued with my dad refusing to go in or allow anyone from his crew to go in. Finally, dad retrieved a logging chain from his truck and tossed it over the electrical wires. I'm told the arcing and lightning bolts was quite a display. Dad won that argument, saved his and his crew's lives, but got in trouble for "damaging" the electrical feed. Maybe I'm overreacting, but if OSHA can't be everywhere (and realistically they can't) and we can't trust some companies to look out for their workers' welfare, maybe the City should step in. Maybe before a contractor can be licensed in Kansas City they should have to prove they own the necessary safety equipment for trench work. Maybe we make the fine so obscene that no company in its right mind would attempt to skirt it. Maybe a "one strike and you're out" clause that says if we catch you playing Russian roulette with your workers' lives, you're out. No more work in Kansas City for you. I despise big government. I really despise adding law upon law in a knee-jerk reaction. But I'm not talking about "noxious weeds" or "peeling paint." I'm talking about someone's life. Isn't that worth a law? |
posted by Mark at 8:22 AM
Comments on "There oughta be a law"
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Keith Sader said ... (1:20 PM) :
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Michelled said ... (4:48 PM) :
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Craig said ... (12:53 AM) :
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Stacey K said ... (7:57 AM) :
post a commentMark, Mark
Workplace safety is so 40 years ago.
IMO, a law won't help when companies value money more than they value people and that, IMO, is what happened in this lamentable case.
The attitude seemed to be 'get this done' don't you know we don't have time to waste on your safety if we loose money!!!!
This is a sad situation...I'm sure the laws are already in place although maybe the penalties aren't severe enough - that would be something to address. But duplicating OSHA's efforts doesn't seem efficient and won't save lives in itself. These folks were already breaking the law, why add more? Just because they have the safety equipment doesn't mean they'll use it.
Plus, if you look at how many people loose their lives each year, it would be more effective to address the issues that kill the most people. How many young black men were killed last year in comparison to constuction workers?
You're dad sounds like a good man. Wish everyone had a boss like that pulling for them.
My old girlfriend who had perfect pitch told me that all electrical devices hum in b-flat.
hmmmmmmmmmmmm. Got it?
I don't know if a law would change the way some companies do business, as sad as that is to say. I do think the idea of forcing a company to prove they have safety equipment as part of any license procedure is a good idea. Not just for trenches but for other dangerous jobs as well.