Labor Day Thoughts About A Deadly Week For U.S. Workers

On Labor Day we should pause to realize how many workers in the U.S. die each week performing their duties, providing needed services, building our homes, transporting our goods, supporting their families and chasing the American Dream. Confined Space provides a listing of the weekly death toll for us to review.

Weekly Toll: Death In The American Workplace

Tree service worker dies as saw taps power line

DUNEDIN, FL – A tree trimmer cutting branches off a gigantic oak in a back yard was electrocuted Monday after his saw apparently touched a 7,200-volt power line, authorities said.

Jaime Bautista, 29, was working in a five-person crew for Hanson Tree Service of Clearwater. During the morning, they were trimming large trees at 1149 Nelson St., a home just east of the Dunedin Country Club. Four crew members were working in front of the house, while Bautista was trimming a grand oak in the back yard, investigators said. He was wearing a harness and using a manual pole saw. Just before 10:45 a.m., Bautista was roughly 30 feet up in the tree when his saw apparently touched what is called a primary line, the most powerful line that can be found in a residential area, said Chief Tom Brennan of the Dunedin Fire Department.

Some of the dozens of other headlines from Confined Space:

Worker dies in fall from school roof

Trash collector falls from truck on first day, dies