MassCOSH worker safety group responds to deaths in Longmeadow trench, MassPike ... - MassLive.com
BOSTON — The deaths of two Massachusetts workers in the same day Friday prompted a safety warning and call for action from Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety & Health ( MassCOSH ), a workers advocacy organization. Five Massachusetts workers were killed on the job in July, the coalition said. Just after midnight Friday, 61-year-old toll taker Bill Pappas of Holden was killed at the Auburn MassPike toll plaza. Pappas was crossing the EZ-Pass lane when he was struck by a 31-year-old Charlton man driving a 2010 Toyota Tacoma who was exiting the lane. Pappas is the sixth worker this year to be fatally struck by a motor vehicle in Massachusetts, MassCOSH said. MassCOSH points out that state legislation passed last year through its efforts gave the Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards authority to investigate the deaths of state employees on the job, like Pappas. Requiring protective systems for trenches five feet and deeper (examples include shoring, sloping or trench box). Source: www.masslive.com
