CSEA joins State Department of Transportation to honor fallen and build awareness

ALBANY, NY (04/27/2011)(readMedia)-- - Thursday, April 28, 2011 is Workers Memorial Day.

CSEA President Danny Donohue will join state Department of Transportation officials for a memorial service, 11 a.m., at the outdoor courtyard, DOT Headquarters, 50 Wolf Road to honor the workers who have passed away or sustained serious injuries while doing their jobs.

Events held across the state will focus on honoring members who lost their lives due to on-the-job incidents or illness. This past year alone we mourn:

• Nicole Gaulin, 35, an Orleans County Social Services worker, in the Town of Kendall, who passed away in a car crash while on the job, April 21, 2010;

• Stacie Williams, 45, a patient care assistant at Nassau University Medical Center, passed away due to workplace violence stemming from a domestic incident, June 16, 2010;

• David Page, 56, Central New York Developmental Disabilities Services office worker, passed away from a fatal motorcycle crash, July 29, 2010;

• Anthony Ruggiero Jr., 48, a Village of Tarrytown Department of Public Works employee, passed away while working in a village manhole, Sept. 6, 2010;

• John P. Kelly, 51, a state Department of Transportation worker from Westchester County, passed away while responding as a volunteer firefighter to the Tarrytown Village manhole incident that also claimed the life of Anthony Ruggiero Jr., Sept. 6, 2010;

• Sandra A. Marasco, 49, program coordinator at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, passed away from injuries sustained in an automobile incident on the job, Jan. 27, 2011.

Workers Memorial Day was established in 1989 as an international day of remembrance observed on the anniversary date of legislation establishing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). This year marks the 40th anniversary of OSHA.

CSEA also marks this 40th anniversary and Workers Memorial Day as a special opportunity to continue the ongoing fight for workplace safety and health by calling attention to the CSEA Occupational Safety and Health campaign to bring awareness to an emerging threat to our nation's road workers and urge New York state drivers: Don't Zone Out.

"On this day, we honor the fallen and recommit ourselves to improving working conditions everywhere. CSEA has long led the way nationally in ensuring safer, healthier workplaces, but there is still more work to do," said Donohue.

Distracted driving poses one of the greatest dangers on the road today, delaying a driver's reaction time similarly to being legally drunk. Road crews are especially at risk for injury or death. In the U.S., there is a work zone fatality every 10 hours and a work zone injury every 13 minutes.

Since CSEA began keeping count in 1983, 45 members have been killed in work zones alone and that is not counting the many injured or lost on the job outside of work zones due to distracted driving. (For a downloadable brochure, visit the CSEA home page: www.csealocal1000.org)

"During the spring and summer months, there will be hundreds of crews on our roadways and bridges; on our highways, in our cities, villages and towns. One way we can honor the fallen men and women this Workers Memorial Day and continue to honor them throughout the year is by pledging to drive safely and move over when possible in work zones giving the same respect that we now give to emergency workers and traffic stops," said Donohue.

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