Two Mass. Workers Killed in Three Days

The death of 64-year-old Manuel Viera, a ABC Disposal Inc. employee struck by a flatbed truck on Tuesday November 18, was a tragedy but not the first occupational incident for the New Bedford employer, according to the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (MassCOSH). A chemical release at the company in 2009 resulted in the hospitalization of 117 workers, including plant employees, firefighters, and other responders. Two days after Viera’s death, 33-year-old Robert Crossetti, of Westfield, was killed working at Cargill Salt, a Westfield road salt manufacturing facility.

ABC workers, most of whom are immigrants and employed through a temporary agency, had raised safety concerns prior to Viera’s death, according to Adrian Ventura, Executive Director of Centro Communitario de Trabajadores (CCT), a nonprofit serving low-wage workers in New Bedford.

“I feel very sad, angered, and concerned by this death,” said Ventura. “We have received visits, calls and complaints from workers of bad conditions just a month ago. The owners don’t seem to care about the health and safety of the workers.”

Workers employed in recycling plants are exposed to a wide range of hazards: contact with hazardous liquids, inhalation of chemicals, exposure to dead animals, animal waste, and exposure blood borne pathogens, broken glass, and other sharp objects. Workers involved with the transport of recycled goods are exposed to a host of other hazards including contact with waste, truck accidents, and other heavy machinery accidents.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 33 refuse and recyclable material collectors in the US lost their lives on the job in 2013. BLS lists refuse and recyclable material collectors as occupations that have among the highest fatality rates.

Recycling has grown dramatically over the past two decades, with over 5,000 Massachusetts workers employed in the recycling industry, according to the Northeast Recycling Council. However, according to MassCOSH, most recycling jobs are among the most dangerous, pay minimum wage and further put workers in risk by employing them through temporary agencies.

“This has been a tragic week,” said MassCOSH Executive Director Marcy Goldstein-Gelb. “These workers, who sort our waste or help make our roads safe, provide essential services. Municipalities that contract for these services need to ensure that their contractors institute injury and illness prevention programs and avoid making workers more vulnerable by hiring them through temporary agencies.”

MassCOSH urges cities and towns to carefully monitor the type of safety training that is provided to ensure that it meets or exceeds OSHA requirements, in particular providing chemical and safety training in the language spoken by the employees. Cities and towns should also eliminate waivers that exempt recycling facilities from living wage ordinances and prohibit the use of temporary agencies.