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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAt least the petty ones, sure. But the really serious stuff, you can't beat Capitalism…
'They were not thinking of him as a human being'
CHICAGO By the time Carlos Centeno arrived at the Loyola University Hospital Burn Center, more than 98 minutes had elapsed since his head, torso, arms and legs had been scalded by a 185-degree solution of water and citric acid inside a factory on this citys southwestern edge.
The laborer, assigned to the plant that afternoon in November 2011 by a temporary staffing agency, was showered with the solution after it erupted from the open hatch of a 500-gallon chemical tank he was cleaning. Factory bosses, federal investigators would later contend, refused to call an ambulance as he awaited help, shirtless and screaming. He arrived at Loyola only after first being driven to a clinic by a co-worker.
At admission Centeno had burns over 80 percent of his body and suffered a pain level of 10 on a scale of 10, medical records show. Clad in a T-shirt, he wore no protective gear other than rubber boots and latex gloves in the factory, which makes household and personal-care products.
Centeno, 50, died three weeks later, on December 8, 2011.
A narrative account of the accident that killed him and a description of conditions inside the Raani Corp. plant in Bedford Park, Ill. are included in a U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration memorandum obtained by the Center for Public Integrity. The 11-page OSHA memo, dated May 10, 2012, argues that safety breakdowns in the plant warrant criminal prosecution a rarity in worker death cases.
The story behind Centenos death underscores the burden faced by some of Americas 2.5 million temporary, or contingent, workers a growing but mostly invisible group of laborers who often toil in the least desirable, most dangerous jobs. Such workers are hurt more frequently than permanent employees and their injuries often go unrecorded, new research shows.
http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/12/20/11925/they-were-not-thinking-him-human-being
CHICAGO By the time Carlos Centeno arrived at the Loyola University Hospital Burn Center, more than 98 minutes had elapsed since his head, torso, arms and legs had been scalded by a 185-degree solution of water and citric acid inside a factory on this citys southwestern edge.
The laborer, assigned to the plant that afternoon in November 2011 by a temporary staffing agency, was showered with the solution after it erupted from the open hatch of a 500-gallon chemical tank he was cleaning. Factory bosses, federal investigators would later contend, refused to call an ambulance as he awaited help, shirtless and screaming. He arrived at Loyola only after first being driven to a clinic by a co-worker.
At admission Centeno had burns over 80 percent of his body and suffered a pain level of 10 on a scale of 10, medical records show. Clad in a T-shirt, he wore no protective gear other than rubber boots and latex gloves in the factory, which makes household and personal-care products.
Centeno, 50, died three weeks later, on December 8, 2011.
A narrative account of the accident that killed him and a description of conditions inside the Raani Corp. plant in Bedford Park, Ill. are included in a U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration memorandum obtained by the Center for Public Integrity. The 11-page OSHA memo, dated May 10, 2012, argues that safety breakdowns in the plant warrant criminal prosecution a rarity in worker death cases.
The story behind Centenos death underscores the burden faced by some of Americas 2.5 million temporary, or contingent, workers a growing but mostly invisible group of laborers who often toil in the least desirable, most dangerous jobs. Such workers are hurt more frequently than permanent employees and their injuries often go unrecorded, new research shows.
http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/12/20/11925/they-were-not-thinking-him-human-being
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At least the petty ones, sure. But the really serious stuff, you can't beat Capitalism… (Original Post)
MrScorpio
Mar 2013
OP
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)1. kr, & i'd bet there's more than 2.5 million.
MrScorpio
(73,631 posts)2. Way WAY MORE, indeed nt
Scuba
(53,475 posts)3. Look for a hefty fine, perhaps even hundreds of dollars.
socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)4. This kind of stuff is NOT new. This IS capitalism.......
Back in the day I worked in a shipyard as a Boilermaker. I was a shop steward and I saw MANY examples of management trying to force unsafe jobs or unsafe conditions on workers, especially new and naive workers. And this was back when OSHA was relatively strong and in a place where we had several craft unions and negotiated contracts. IOW, more than 30 years ago. Even back then your life didn't matter, only the surplus value you could put into THEIR pockets.
Apparently it's gotten worse.
demosocialist
(184 posts)5. do you really believe it has gotten worse?
Same concept just applied differently... certainly hasn't gotten better
socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)6. Yeah you're right. It's not really gotten worse.......
just more blatant.