| -=HOME=- |
Washington State Labor and
Industries Broken
|
Paul Roald Pedersen, 35, died as a result of work place accident involving a fork lift on Friday March 14th at his place of work, West
Coast Fabricators of Arlington. Paul with over 20 years professional experience worked as a diesel and general automotive mechanic. He was also skilled with
comercial refridgeration equipment and bucked rivets on the Boeing wing line for several years. He had been working at West Coast Fabricators for several
years, often describing the companies safety and operations, to put it in his words, as "Mickey Mouse". If he had acted on his knowledge of the dangers of working
for a "Mickey Mouse" operation he should have moved on. Instead he protected his employers and set out to improve the safety and operations of his workplace.
Paul ,being the son of a fisherman, followed in his fathers foot steps. Each year he saved his vacation time, and working on the family fishing boat each summer for over 20 years. He worked as a deck hand and as the boat mechanic. He knew the risk of working at sea, having previously lost an Uncle and 7 of his crew members in a crabbing boat accident during the mid 80's when sea going safety measures were lax. Now the Coast Guard oversees OSHA regulations and regularly boards vessels to inspect for safety hazards. It was at sea that we feared an accident, not under the watchful eyes of the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries.
After an investigation by L&I it was found that West Coast Fabricators was negligent in not following manufacturer safety practices as stated in operations manual for fork lift. The manual said that during repair the forks of the fork lift should be secured with a chain. There was no chain found on or near the fork lift after the accident. They had to use a bottle jack to try and rescue Paul. His official cause of death Mechanical Asphixiation. Had the proper procedure been in place, Paul would still be alive. Had L&I done theri job properly "Protecting the worker" Paul would be alive.
L&I works as an isurance policy for workers in Washigton State. L&I was created to protect workers and employers. It protects teh employes by creating a safe working environtment and pays out in case of a disabling accident or death. For the businesses it sheilds them from civil liability.
In cases of death L&I pays some $7k in funeral expenses and then provides a pension to his window or child. However the fact that Paul was unmarried and had no children makes it so that L&I only pays out funeral expenses. This is wrong and should be reformed.
The loss of companionship, security in old age, and loss of services (Did I mention paul fixed and maintained all of our vehicles in our family, Cars, Trucks and Boats, and aside from the fishing boat in Alaska never took payment for his services), make this a hard loss for the family and we have no legal recourse because of the way the law stands. $7000 for funeral expenses does not cut it.
Worse yet was L&I's response to this accidnet. L&I fined West Coast Fabricators only $450 for negligence, thats not a typo. $450... "Ooops... we killed someone cause we're negligent, oh here's $450 dollars". That seems like a small cost for skimping on safety procedures. Last time I checked negligent persons are liable both criminally and civily for manslaughter. That is criminal. How will West Coast Fabricators learn to put safety first when all L&I does it fine them $450 dollars and only pay out $7000 in funeral expenses. Didn't they pay the same L&I insurance premium on Paul a single man as they do on a married man? I can see what's happening here... West Coast Fabricators saves L&I money by hiring single people and keeping their safety standards low. "Oops we killed another one here's $450". Just the year prior another man was killed by a work place fork lift accident, at an Arlinton area company. It's clear $450 is not teaching companies to be safe. It's just the cost of doing business in Washington State.
While Washington State Labor and Industries may have been founded to protect the worker. It has seemingly turned into a racket where L&I oversight is too close and friendly with those they are charged to oversee.
It is for these reasons that I call on representatives in the Washington State Legislature to reform WISHA laws in order to protect our workers. Don't allow the unmarried person loophole to allow companies to get off easy for their negligent business practices. L&I is broken. It allows companies with poor safety procedures to go on with just a slap on the wrist. If L&I is to sheild companies from civil lawsuit there should be real fines for negligence and fair compensation for surviving family members. Else it is only an insurance racket that never really pays out.
If this shocks or concerns you, you are encouraged to contact your state representatives and to contact Bruce Chesterfield, Officer of Safety and Health Compliance for the Department of Labor and Industries at (425) 290-1349. Let him know that we cannot allow companies off the hook with only a slap on the wrist as it only enoucourages dangerous working conditions for the workers of Washington State. Also let Region 1 Compliance know at (425) 754-0825.
I will update this page with the L&I investigation report, the Official Police Report, and any other additional information I can dig up with. Any questions regarding this website can be directed to David Pedersen younger brother of Paul at (206) 948-9489 or send email to info@paulpedersen.org.