Research, updates, and worker safety resources

Federal officials are investigating the violent death of a man caught in machinery Thursday while working the night shift at a seafood-processing plant in New Bedford. Victor Gerena, 35, was cleaning a shellfish-shucking machine at Sea Watch International around 1:30 a.m.

This past January, as most of New Bedford slept, Vctor Gerena was working the night shift for Sea Watch International Seafood, one of the largest clam processing plants in Massachusetts and the nation.

Click here for media coverage. On October 22, 2013, authorities found the body of 24-year-old Colleen Ritzer behind the school she worked for as a teacher in Danvers, MA. A victim of workplace homicide, Ritzer became the 40th worker to be killed on the job in 2013.

A victim of workplace homicide, Ritzer became the 40th worker to be killed on the job in 2013. By the end of the year, eight more workers would lose their lives, bringing the total killed to 48.

Directly on the heels of a worker death in central Massachusetts , yet another life was tragically lost on the job just hours later in Nantucket from a fall.

The recent worker death of 46-year-old Nancy Woods of Rutland, is sad and tragic; however it was not a freak accident said the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (MassCOSH) in a statement released today.

An Advisory Committee created by Governor Deval Patrick to study state work-place risks and dangers released a landmark report (click to view) with key recommendations to reduce injury, illness and deaths for the Commonwealths Executive Branch employees.

An Advisory Committee created by Governor Deval Patrick to study state work-place risks and dangers released a landmark report (click to view) with key recommendations to reduce injury, illness and deaths for the Commonwealths Executive Branch employees.

With state data showing Massachusetts teens average over 700 work-related emergency room visits each year, Boston teens and state officials working to change these statistics announced the winners of the statewide 4th annual Safe Jobs for Youth poster contest today at the Massachusetts State House.

Before a standing room only crowd, the Boston Zero Waste Task Force, a multi-stakeholder group made up of labor and business leaders, community and neighborhood groups, Zero Waste and recycling experts, and environmental and social justice advocates, held a briefing at City Hall today to release a set of recommendat...

By Megan Woolhouse | Globe Staff March 06, 2014 A temporary staffing agency sued by its workers for not paying overtime failed to register to do business in Massachusetts and meet requirements of a year-old law regulating these companies, according to the state Labor Department.

On January 30th, in MassCOSHs new East Boston worker center office, temporary workers and community and labor supporters commemorated the anniversary of the Temp Worker Right to Know Laws passage with chants and testimonies.

By Megan Woolhouse BILLERICA About a year ago, a worker sued a Billerica packaging company and the temporary employment agency that placed her there, claiming she was owed thousands of dollars in unpaid overtime.

Its easy to recognize a former restaurant dishwasher. Long, deep scars often line their forearms the result of nights when, as the lowest on the chain of kitchen workers, they must plunge their hands into boiling hot water to unclog industrial-size dish-washing machines.

A Newbury Street address. Proclamations of praise from the city and state. An extravagant launch party at a Back Bay venue where a group of teen writers signed magazine copies like rock stars. An over-the-top press release hailing the event's success as something unforgettable.