On August 22, 2007, I wrote about the death of Eleazar Torres-Gomez.
Eleazar Torres-Gomez was pronounced dead on the scene after apparently being dragged by a conveyor into an industrial dryer. Torres-Gomez was trapped in the dryer-which can reportedly reach temperatures of 300 degrees-for at least 20 minutes.
Did Eleazar Torres-Gomez Lose his Life for Company Profits?
Today, from the Wall Street Journal:
New details about the case — from internal company memos, Cintas surveillance videotapes and people close to the federal investigation — indicate that the dangerous practices that led to Mr. Torres-Gomez’s death occurred frequently in Tulsa and at other plants operated by Cintas, the biggest uniform supplier in North America.
There was a hearing of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee today on Cintas and safety. That, and more, after the fold.
Also in orange earlier today: http://www.dailykos.com/story/…
Last summer, OSHA levied its largest fine ever for a safety violation at a service company by fining Cintas $2.78M
“Federal safety officials have called for a $2.78 million penalty against the Cintas Corporation, the nation’s largest supplier of uniforms, for violations at its Tulsa plant, where a worker died when he was pulled into a large dryer.”
The penalty that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced Thursday evening is more than four times any previous safety penalty leveled against a service-sector company.
snip
OSHA found 46 violations at the plant, among them failing to protect employees from being pinned by the conveyer belt, failing to have a proper procedure to shut down equipment when clearing jammed clothing and failing to train workers on how to clear jams.
Did Eleazar Torres-Gomez Lose his Life for Company Profits?
Emmanuel Torres spoke last year about his father’s death:
Emmanuel Torres spoke at a press conference in support of the Protecting America’s Workers Act — legislation introduced by Senator Edward Kennedy that would protect more workers, require companies to provide necessary safety equipment for workers, and increase penalties for companies that break the law.On March 6, 2007, my father was killed while working at a Cintas laundry in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was reportedly dragged into an industrial dryer by a conveyor belt. This has been devastating for us. In 2005, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Cintas for not putting guards on a dryer at a laundry in New York. The equipment that was unguarded in that case was similar to the equipment involved in my father’s death. If the company had added the guards, which it knew was required by OSHA, my father would be alive today…
My father’s death was preventable.
Son of Tulsa Cintas Worker: My Father’s Death Was Preventable
In its investigation, OSHA found that employees weren’t trained in how to shut off equipment properly. A surveillance videotape at the Tulsa plant showed workers engaging in activities similar to what led to Mr. Torres-Gomez’s death over several weeks prior to the accident, say people familiar with OSHA’s investigation. A government memo, sent by Richard E. Fairfax, director of enforcement for OSHA, states that over the previous two weeks, other employees had used the same method of dislodging jams some 34 times.
“Employees climbed on and walked up the moving shuttle conveyer, and kicked at, jumped on, and tried to knee the jammed clothing into the dryer opening,” Mr. Fairfax wrote. “The recording also showed two employees inserting one of their legs into the chutes of the operating washing machines and jumping up and down to clear jams of laundry in the chute.”
Company surveillance video showed Mr. Torres-Gomez trying to clear the jam from the ground level. When that didn’t work, he got on the conveyor shuttle and began jumping up and down to push a clump of jeans through. He fell into the dryer. The automatic door shut, and a pilot light ignited. More than 20 minutes later a co-worker, hearing a loud thudding noise, found Mr. Torres-Gomez dead, lying on a pile of jeans, according to a police report.
The Workforce Protections Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s lack of adequate enforcement and oversight of workplace safety and health conditions within large, multiple-facility corporations.Witnesses explored events at the Cintas Corporation, the largest uniform supplier in North America. In 2007, a worker died at the company’s Tulsa facility despite previous evidence, known to both OSHA and Cintas, of similar hazards at other Cintas facilities and industrial laundries. The death resulted in the largest service sector fine in OSHA’s history and was followed by additional citations of similar problems at other Cintas facilities.
Hearing of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee
Subcommitte Chair Lynne Woolsey, in her opening statement:
Many of us on this subcommitte were outraged that Cintas originally sought to blame Mr. Torres-Gomez for his own death. Especially when Cintas had its own history of unsafe working conditions.
snip
We have documents showing that Cintas experienced three “close calls” involving almost the same exact accident scenario as killed Mr. Torres-Gomez. Yet the company failed to effectively adddress the problems.
The son of Mr. Torres-Gomez asked the subcommittee to adopt strong measures for workplace safety, including increased random investigations by OSHA so that “more lives are not lost.”
We need a real OSHA that prevents workers deaths in this nation. Please thank Lynne Woolsey for this hearing and her hard work for worker safety.
Lynne Woolsey for Congress website
You also can help.
YOU CAN HELP WIN UNIFORM JUSTICE.
Even though millions of people come into contact with Cintas’ services every day, few people know about the poverty wages, back-breaking workloads and unsafe conditions that Cintas employees endure.
Cintas workers are standing with UNITE HERE and the Teamsters to gain respect, better pay and safer jobs
Learn More: Uniform Justice
“We think OSHA can do better and that corporate America can do better.”
Leaving work alive is a BASIC HUMAN RIGHT!
Please ask your Senator and Congressperson to support the Protecting America’s Workers Act that was introduced by Senators Kennedy and Murray, and Representative Woolsey.
Kennedy, Murray, Woolsey Relaunch the Protecting America’s Workers Act
That is what Justice for Eleazar Torres-Gomez is. No more preventable deaths on the job. That is simple human decency.
5 comments
Skip to comment form
Author
Lynnne Woolsey, and no more worker deaths.
and for good reasons. Too bad it had to get to Congress to get anything done though.
Another invaluable series. If blogging has any value, this is where it lies.