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. By the…
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. Workplace falls are so common and preventable, OSHA and many other agencies have launched awareness campaigns to stem further deaths, said…
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. According to news reports, Woods, a bus driver for the Worcester…
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 Commonwealth’s Executive Branch employees. During a State House briefing, state labor unions, safety advocates and members…
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. 16-year-old Liz…
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 recommendations…
On January 30th, in MassCOSH’s new East Boston worker center office, temporary workers and community and labor supporters commemorated the anniversary of the Temp Worker Right to Know Law’s passage with chants and testimonies. The group, known as the REAL Coalition (Reform Employment Agency Law), also released an official progress…
MassCOSH board member Melissa King is fighting to spare families that have recently lost a loved one on the job a second tragedy. Having lost her own father from a work fatality at Logan Airport, the King family was forced to spend thousands of dollars on a funeral that came…
Tolle Graham, MassCOSH’s Union and Healthy Schools Coordinator, has a very special relationship with the Trotter Elementary School in Roxbury. It’s where she sent her own children when they were younger and now it’s where she works closely with school staff to make the building a poster child for efforts…
The morning of February 19th, MassCOSH and former employees hand delivered a written Letter of Complaint to the supply chain company Fulfillment America and its contracted temporary agency seeking an end to wage theft, unlawful firings, and harassment that had plagued the workers for years during their employment. The former…
The recent death of long-time Natick employee Michael F. McDaniel Jr., is a stark reminder of the dangers our municipal public works employees face each day. It also highlights the urgent need for health and safety requirements that meet or exceed those in the private sector. McDaniel…
One year after a groundbreaking temporary agency reform law went into effect in Massachusetts, advocates are hailing the law’s role in combating labor abuse and promoting transparency for the tens of thousands of temporary workers employed in the Commonwealth. At an event commemorating the anniversary of the law, advocates released…