Solis Discusses UPTE Member's Death And Fight for Worker Safety

Secretary  Hilda Solis:

Every day, 12 workers die on the job across America. As the nation’s secretary of labor, I am surrounded by numbers about jobs, the labor market and about the economy more broadly. But the number 12 stays with me. It is a haunting reminder of the hard-working Americans we lose every day, often in the prime of their life, filled with the energy that we need to build a better world.

Sheri Sangji was one of these Americans, so full of promise. She was a 23-year-old research assistant in a lab at the University of California at Los Angeles, looking forward to a career that would allow her to pursue her interests in chemistry, law and the rights of women and immigrants. One day, while performing an experiment with highly reactive chemicals, a flash fire ignited her clothes and skin, causing fatal burns. Sheri had not been properly trained in the handling of the chemical that set off the blaze.

To remember Sheri Sangji and all others who die on the job across our country, we observe Workers Memorial Day every April 28. Today, we remember families who have lost a loved one because of workplace injuries, and we pledge to continue fighting tirelessly to make sure that no worker trades a life for a livelihood.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is the agency in my department that sets and enforces standards that ensure every American comes home at the end of a shift. In 1970, when President Richard Nixon created the agency, 38 workers died every day.

Forty years later, we have gone from 38 to 12. This decline is the result of people working together, marshalling the combined efforts of private industry, government, trade unions and academia to create safe and healthful workplaces for every worker in America. It shows that it’s possible to save lives through common sense safety and health standards and strong enforcement of the law.

I believe that we can keep doing better. I will not let up until we do.