On Workers' Memorial Day, recalling those who died on the job

The mournful bagpipe played as, one by one, the names of those who died on the job were read out loud, and as a rose for each was tossed into the Delaware River.

Joggers running along Penn's Landing slowed their pace, perhaps wondering about the empty coffin on the wall and why more than 100 people had gathered near it, some crying, some holding signs with someone's name and a date of death.

Leaders in the local labor movement mingled with the family members. Someone offered a prayer. Someone exhorted the crowd to push for stronger safety laws.

That's the scene every year at Workers' Memorial Day, held the last Friday in April, and it was no different on this Friday.

But it was painfully new to Tom Keeley, a reluctant first-time observer. He was there to honor his son Mark, a Philadelphia Gas Works employee who died, at age 19, when a gas main exploded.

For Keeley, there was mainly silence.

Another tough day to get through, like all the others. "I'm crushed," he said, and then fell silent. His son had followed Keeley, and Keeley's father, into PGW. That weighs hard on Keeley - "absolutely" - as if, somehow, he were to blame for his son's death, instead of a faulty furnace in an office building.

This year's list of 170 people who died on the job in 2010 in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware fatalities includes someone kicked by an elephant, a farmer knocked over by a cow, a lunch-truck owner run over as he stood next to his truck, and a race-car driver who died when the car's parachute failed to deploy to slow the car.

The youngest worker was 12. Luke Hahn died July 5 while working with his father in Northampton County. The boy backed a truck into a propane valve, causing an explosion.

As is usual, most workplace fatalities occurred in construction. Typical would be the deaths of James Berry, 35, who died a year ago Friday in Berwick when a trench collapsed, and Angel Ramiro Loja, 38, who died Oct. 25 in Havertown when he fell 20 feet from a roof.

Workplace homicides claimed the lives of another large group.

Among those who died were William Glatz, 67, who was shot Oct. 21 during a robbery at his jewelry store, William Glatz Jewelers, in Philadelphia, and Nuan Mo, 53, who was stabbed during a robbery at Family's Laundry in Philadelphia on Aug. 11.

Tow-truck driver Ray Santiago's death Sept. 26 made front-page headlines. A rival driver was charged with using his truck to run over Santiago, 30. Also on the front page were the deaths of LaTonya Brown, 36, and Tanya Wilson, 47, both killed Sept. 9 by a coworker at Kraft Foods in Philadelphia.

In 2009, there were 130 names on the list. Massive layoffs during the recession meant fewer people at work and fewer dying on the job.

But this year's statistics point to some disturbing trends - the less obvious effects of the prolonged recession and slow recovery, said event organizer Barbara Rahke, director of the Philadelphia Area Project on Occupational Health and Safety.

Companies, she said, seem to be delaying regularly scheduled maintenance on their machinery and equipment and they are also working their employees harder for longer shifts.

"Regular, thorough checking of equipment is an identified component to maintaining safety," she said. "If you cut back, the workplace becomes more dangerous."

Also, "people are going to become fatigued," she said. "There will be more missteps, more accidents."

The recession also has pushed older people to work longer, Rahke said. This year's list includes about six workers in their 70s and 80s.