Latest news with #RonaldSilverII
CBS News
28-04-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Maryland leaders to honor those who died on the job during Workers' Memorial Day ceremony
Maryland leaders will hold a Workers' Memorial Day ceremony Monday to honor people who have died on the job or those who have suffered work-related injuries. During the ceremony at Baltimore City Hall, leaders and workers will call for job safety protections and the freedom to join unions. Attendees are also expected to talk about the weakening of job safety agencies facilitated by the Trump administration. According to organizers, the administration's actions are putting workers in danger by undermining safety standards and enforcement. After the ceremony, the Baltimore City Council will introduce a resolution recognizing April 28 as Workers Memorial Day. Trump administration's federal staffing cuts endanger workers According to union leaders and state officials, progress toward job safety is at risk due to President Trump's ongoing cuts to federal staffing and funding. Through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the president has facilitated wide-reaching cuts to federal funding and staffing with the goal of lowering spending. The task force has directed government agencies to implement layoffs, prompting some state and county leaders to provide additional resources for workers who lost their jobs. According to union leaders and workers, the Trump administration's effort to defund or eliminate staff from federal job safety agencies would have a negative impact on working people. "Efforts to fire federal workers means we will have fewer job safety inspectors to ensure corporations follow the law," event organizers said in a statement. "Efforts to undermine independent federal agencies erode workers' only safeguard against employers who endanger them or retaliate for reporting unsafe working conditions." According to event organizers, data shows that 5,283 workers were killed on the job and 2.6 million cases of workplace illness or injury were reported across the U.S. in 2023. "Under the Trump administration, new anti-worker attacks threaten to increase those numbers," leaders said. Workers killed on the job in Maryland There were 59 workplace fatalities reported in Maryland in 2020, according to the Maryland Department of Labor. The number of work-related deaths declined from 78 in 2019. According to 2020 data, the occupations with the highest number of workplace deaths were transportation and material moving. In August 2024, a Baltimore City Department of Public Works (DPW) employee died while on the job. Ronald Silver II died from heat exhaustion while working. His death sparked investigations and led DPW to be cited with a serious violation for failing to protect employees from dangerous heat. The investigations by the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Agency (MOSH) and Baltimore City's Inspector General both identified red flags, including bad working conditions, lack of training and a culture of fear. In November 2024, the agency faced scrutiny again after a waste collector was trapped by a trash truck and died. Timothy Cartwell's death sparked renewed calls for change at DPW. Following the investigations into Silver's death, DPW's director promised changes in safety measures and workplace culture.
CBS News
10-03-2025
- Health
- CBS News
City of Baltimore, DPW cited for "serious" violation after heat death of worker
The Baltimore City Department of Public Works, Bureau of Solid Waste was cited for a "serious" violation, for failing to protect its employees from dangerous heat, according to Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Agency (MOSH). MOSH began its investigation into DPW following the death of Ronald Silver II. Silver died of heatstroke on August 2, 2024, while working in temperatures approaching 100 degrees. According to MOSH's citation, DPW did not "furnish a place of employment free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees, in that employees were exposed to excessive heat." On Aug. 2, the date of the violation, the department said employees were working in direct sunlight when the calculated heat index reached approximately 108.6° Fahrenheit. Those conditions can cause muscle cramps, rashes, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and death, MOSH said in its report. While the citation does not come with a financial penalty, it requires Baltimore City officials to correct the problem and show remediation of the dangerous conditions by March 17. The violation is classified as "serious," which indicates that the violation involves a condition where there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from the hazard, per the citation. Death of Ronald Silver II The death of Ronald Silver II sparked outrage from Baltimore City leaders, who said DPW had a "toxic" work culture. Silver's family told WJZ that DPW had been warned about employee safety during extreme heat. Thiru Vinerjah, the attorney for Silver's family, called for accountability in a press conference after Silver's death. Those calls for accountability culminated in a report by the Office of the Inspector General, which said that an investigation revealed a negative work culture and concerns for worker safety and morale that have persisted for the "last decade" at DPW. Mayor Scott responds to DPW concerns. Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott addressed the OIG's report last week, saying that the problems at DPW pre-dated his administration. "We're talking about historic levels of disinvestment and not having the protocols and practices in place, and that's why we have the leadership--and that's why we have been proactively starting to work on these things," Scott said. "I'm not going to be happy until the work is complete, but I also know this is not overnight work." According to the Baltimore Banner, Scott said last week that the city has "a long, long, long way to go" to improve conditions at DPW. He also said work to address the problems at DPW has already begun with the creation of a new deputy mayor role, which will oversee key city agencies, including DPW.
