BOSTON \u2013 Mourners crowded in front of the Statehouse steps Thursday to push for workplace safety reforms and remember the 63 workers killed on the job in Massachusetts last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday is a solemn reminder that we have to push even harder,\u201d said Rich Rogers, executive secretary-treasurer of the Greater Boston Labor Council.<\/p>\n
After volunteers took turns reciting the names of workers who died on the job, mourners gently placed red carnations in front of a temporary memorial wall while a solitary bagpiper played \u201cAmazing Grace.\u201d<\/p>\n
The names and pictures on the wall belonged to departed workers who plied their trades in dozens of occupations across many industries.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat they had in common was more important, that their deaths were not freak accidents, that they were not because of human error, that they were not their fault, that they were caused by job hazards that are predictable, that are known and that there are proven strategies for preventing, and that employers and contractors did not do that,\u201d said Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, executive director of the Massachusetts Council of Occupational Safety and Health, the nonprofit organization that organized Thursday\u2019s ceremony.<\/p>\n
Against the backdrop of the Statehouse, Don Dumont described the pain his family has endured since his son Nick died in a Taunton construction accident last September.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m devastated that he\u2019s no longer here,\u201d the father said. \u201cI won\u2019t be able to see him get married, have kids or just be with us. We\u2019ll never feel that again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nick Dumont, a Pawtucket, R.I., resident and an Iraq War veteran, had turned 24 shortly before his death.<\/p>\n
While initial reports indicated human error contributed to the accident, Dumont and his attorney said subsequent investigations have revealed that wasn\u2019t the case. Nick Dumont, they said, exercised all appropriate safety precautions while working at the Taunton construction site when a crane violated safety protocols and swung into the steel beam he was harnessed to.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot take the word of big business for how these incidents occur,\u201d attorney Doug Sheff told the crowd. \u201cWe have to question, we have to investigate and we have to litigate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nick Dumont’s death came just two weeks after another construction worker had died in Taunton.<\/p>\n
Kevin Miranda, a 48-year-old employee for the Taunton-based Skyline Contracting and Roofing, died when an aerial lift tipped over as his company performed an inspection of a smokestack on the property of St. Mary\u2019s School in August, 2015.<\/p>\n
Fatal injuries in construction accounted for 18 Massachusetts deaths in 2015, more than any other industry, according to a report MassCOSH released Thursday.<\/p>\n
Transportation-related accidents were the most common cause of death, contributing to fatal injuries in 23 worker deaths across all industries. Falls, slips and trips caused 18 fatal injuries, and violence was the cause of six workplace deaths.<\/p>\n
David White discussed the loss of his son, Ricardo Oliveira of Woonsocket, R.I., who fell to his death at a Sutton construction site in January.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe leaves behind a grieving mom, a dad, brothers, a sister,\u201d White said. \u201cNot only was he a good boy, he was an all around good guy. If you needed help, he was the first person people turned to for help.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to MassCOSH, eight Massachusetts firefighters died last year, including those who were killed by cancers and other illnesses related to work conditions.<\/p>\n
Workers Memorial Day organizers called for more funding for the state Department of Labor Standards, an extension of federal occupational safety protections to all public employees in Massachusetts, wage theft prevention reforms and increased access to workers\u2019 compensation benefits.<\/p>\n
Rogers said it\u2019s important to shed light on unsafe working conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy fondest hope is one of these years, I\u2019ll come back here and I won\u2019t have any names to read,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n