Case highlights unsafe conditions at Verizon

After a five-month investigation into the death of a Verizon technician in Plymouth, MA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued three citations and proposed $13,500 in fines for "serious" violations of federal occupational safety and health laws.

Gary Gibbons, a 53 year-old splice service technician was killed on the job last October while attempting to repair a problem on Verizon lines.  Gibbons was electrocuted while working in an elevated bucket near high voltage electrical wires.  He was a member of IBEW Local 2322 in Middleboro, MA and had worked 34 years for Verizon. 

Gibbons' death -- the fifth Verizon workplace fatality in 2 years -- unfortunately epitomizes persistent safety concerns raised by workers at the huge telecommunications company.  Two of the fatalities were in Massachusetts and one was in Rhode Island.
 
"It's no surprise there has been so many serious accidents and fatalities," said Gene McLaughlin, business manager of Local 2322 and plant chairman of System Council T-6 that covers Verizon's New England operations.  "Management has begun stressing productivity over safety by pushing unreasonable increases in productivity on their employees.  This is just the tip of the iceberg."

OSHA cited Verizon on April 9 for not ensuring that "approach distances to overhead energized power lines conformed to safe working distances" and that his "vehicle mounted bucket came in contact with a high voltage energized overhead electrical power line resulting in electrocution of the employee who was in the bucket." 

OSHA proposed a penalty of $7,000 for this citation.  

OSHA further cited Verizon for not deploying traffic warning signs and improper inspection of personal protective gear, tools and equipment.  OSHA proposed penalties of $5,000 and $1,500 respectively for these citations. 

"These tragedies were preventable.  Yet management continues to maximize profit at the expense of safety to satisfy the corporate greed of the top brass and their Wall Street investors," added McLaughlin.  "We are doing everything we can to educate our members about safety so that this never happens again."

But even a workplace fatality won't change Verizon's push for unattainable production quotas that are putting workers and the public at risk.  Just days after Gibbons' death, Verizon fired five IBEW FiOS technicians for failing to meet production quotas.  The "FiOS Five" were new hires with less than 12 months on the job, just short of the one-year service requirement that would have called for a neutral arbitrator to decide on the merits of their dismissals.

Each year, thousands of workers are killed and millions more are injured or diseased because of unsafe jobs. Leaders of IBEW Local 2322 and the System Council T-6 will participate in Workers Memorial Day on Tuesday, April 29 at 12:00 noon, on the stairs of the State House in Boston to honor Massachusetts workers who lost their lives in 2007.  The event is sponsored by the Massachusetts Coalition For Occupational Safety And Health (MassCOSH).

At the event a special report, "Dying for Work in Massachusetts," will be released. The report highlights the fact that workers continue to be killed and maimed on the job in record numbers.