By BRIAN FERRY

bferry@timesobserver.com

On Workers Memorial Day, officials at OSHA are hoping that the tragic, work-related deaths of Caleb Hultman of Youngsville and many others like him are not in vain — that their sacrifices can lead to changes and improvements that will prevent other worksite deaths.

In honor of Workers Memorial Day, OSHA – the Occupational Safety and Health Administration – held a media teleconference Wednesday to help spread the word about the importance of education, prevention, equipment inspection, and planning to help save lives.

On June 27, 2020, Hultman fell from the roof of the St. Marys church where he was working. He later died as a result of those injuries. He was 25.

Brendan Claybaugh, director of OSHA for the Erie area, spoke about Hultman and Michael Coleman of Punxsutawney, who also died in a work-related fall last year.

“They went to work with their lives totally in front of them and didn’t come home,” Claybaugh said. “We honor and commemorate the workers who lost their lives on the job. We mourn not only those who were lost, but those who were left behind.”

Workers Memorial Day is also a day to be pro-active, he said. “We are going to talk about the top issues and situations in the workplace that are killing workers. It is important to ensure that others do not have to suffer the same fate.”

He said an average of 15 workers die on the job every day.

That’s down more than 50 percent from when OSHA was founded 50 years ago, when there was an average of 38 job-site deaths a day.

The rate is much lower, but it’s still too high.

Falls, like those that killed Hultman and Coleman, are the most common cause and Claybaugh stressed that many workplace falls can be prevented. “Fall protection is a 100 percent concept,” he said. “Many of these losses were entirely preventable.”

He said data indicates that it is not those who work high in the sky who die in falls.

“You don’t have to be a window washer, someone working on a skyscraper, to die in a fall,” Claybaugh said. “A majority are happening at 25 feet or less. Roofing is one of the primary sources of fatal injuries in 2019.”

The other leading causes of work-place deaths are electrocution, “struck-by,” and “caught-between” incidents.

Heat stress is another area that OSHA is working on — and the climate in northwestern Pennsylvania doesn’t mean it can’t happen here.

Claybaugh said hundreds of young people — including 22 under the age of 18 — are killed in workplace incidents every year.

“We have to make sure that every worker knows about their rights,” Claybaugh said.

Next week, OSHA is backing the National Safety Stand-Down.

“We want you to be aware of the hazards when working at heights,” he said. “We want employers to engage and have their employees be involved – to have an open dialogue.”

He said key issues for safety include “toolbox talks, safety equipment inspections, rescue plans, job-specific hazards, and what needs improvement.”

Additional information and resources regarding workplace health and safety are available by visiting www.osha.gov.

“We will keep fighting to make sure every American worker is protected,” Claybaugh said. “Every worker has a right to a safe and healthy workplace.”