http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20090301/ARTICLES/903010316/1182?Title=The-Good-Fight-
FLORENCE - Someone should have made sure Patrick Hayes had been trained for the assignment he was told to do that day.
Patrick, himself, should have spoken up and said he hadn't been trained to do the work.
Proper safety equipment should have been used.
His coworkers should have told Patrick about the dangers of the assignment.
Somebody on the job site should have had proper rescue training.
"Five mistakes," Patrick's father, Ronald Hayes, said. "Every one correctable."
He then sighed. "If only."
That was in 1993, when Patrick was a 19-year-old warehouseman who worked at a grain silo.
He died in an accident that day. Grief stricken and filled with questions, Ronald Hayes made it his goal to fight for better worker protection.
The Fairhope resident formed the FIGHT Project, which stands for Families in Grief Hold Together, a nonprofit agency that helps families of victims of workplace accidents.
"We don't charge a dime for this service," Hayes told a group at a recent safety seminar sponsored by various city of Florence agencies. "We send families free grief books, offer help in getting information and provide a shoulder to lean on."
The city's electricity department was among those that sponsored the seminar. Bill Jordan, who works at the department, had heard Hayes speak in the past and invited him to the seminar.
"His story is just amazing," Jordan said. "It's an incredible service he provides."
Hayes does not get paid for any aspect of his work. He does it in honor of his son and so that other families don't have to go through the needless death of a loved one.
Patrick's death could have been avoided if proper safety precautions had been taken.
Neither Patrick's duties nor training involved something called "walking the corn," which involves walking atop the collection of corn in a silo. But that was what he was ordered to do on that fateful day in 1993.
Disaster struck. Patrick stepped at an area of the silo where the corn wasn't steady, in what would be a fatal move.
"Sixty tons of corn had collapsed on him," Ronald Hayes said. "When they called and told us about the accident, we thought there had been a mistake in identifying who it was. He didn't work in the silo. He was a warehouseman."
As it turns out, someone had quit the previous day, and Patrick was ordered to walk the corn.
"I'll never forget seeing him for the last time," Hayes said. "It was at the funeral and we had to close Patrick's casket forever. I couldn't leave so they could do it. It took four or five men to pull me away."
He wishes someone had talked to Patrick before he entered the silo on the day of his death. "If just one person had pulled him aside and told him, 'Wait a second and get a harness,' it wouldn't have happened."
The Hayes family had a difficult time getting information about what happened. They also couldn't get information on what benefits were available. Eventually, Hayes was able to muddle through the red tape and find information. He wants to make it easier for other families to do so.
Hayes formed the Fight Project in 1996. The effort helps families receive reports ranging from autopsies to OSHA investigations. The project also gives families the option to speak with other families who have had loved ones killed or injured at work.
Since 1996, the agency has helped more than 500 families.
"Not one person in any family has ever called me and said, 'I'm going to sue the company,' " Hayes said. "Those who end up suing do so because they can't get the company to cooperate, but all they want is for this never to happen again to anyone else."
His work with the project has taken him to the 48 continental states to help families and speak at company conferences, where he refuses to accept payment. He has made countless journeys to Washington, D.C., where he is well known among Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials, and has testified at U.S. Senate labor committee hearings.
"They listen to me in Washington because I tell them the truth," he said. "I have no reason to lie. I have nothing to lose. I've already lost the thing that's most important to me."
He said an average of 16 workers die on the job every day in the United States. Thousands more are injured.
Hayes proposes companies design something he calls the "Hayes Safety Board."
It includes the company's safety statement. It also has the statement, "Why your safety is important," on a corkboard, where employees put photos of their loved ones. He recommends placing the board where workers clock in.
"This reminds you every day why safety is so important and who it's important to," he said.
Companies often have asked Hayes for advice on ways to honor an employee who was killed on the job. He recommends they talk with officials in their city about planting a tree in the person's honor at a place such as a public park. That way, the family can go to the tree for generations to come and the older members can tell the younger members about the person being honored.
Hayes said families often are surprised to find out there is no charge for his project's services.
"I believe the fact that we don't charge anything helps make a difference in how we're received," he said. "We do not advertise. We're not ambulance chasers. The families come to us.
"I know what documents they need and what to look for. That's what they need, is someone to help them and show them compassion and respect."
FLORENCE - Someone should have made sure Patrick Hayes had been trained for the assignment he was told to do that day.
Patrick, himself, should have spoken up and said he hadn't been trained to do the work.
Proper safety equipment should have been used.
His coworkers should have told Patrick about the dangers of the assignment.
Somebody on the job site should have had proper rescue training.
"Five mistakes," Patrick's father, Ronald Hayes, said. "Every one correctable."
He then sighed. "If only."
That was in 1993, when Patrick was a 19-year-old warehouseman who worked at a grain silo.
He died in an accident that day. Grief stricken and filled with questions, Ronald Hayes made it his goal to fight for better worker protection.
The Fairhope resident formed the FIGHT Project, which stands for Families in Grief Hold Together, a nonprofit agency that helps families of victims of workplace accidents.
"We don't charge a dime for this service," Hayes told a group at a recent safety seminar sponsored by various city of Florence agencies. "We send families free grief books, offer help in getting information and provide a shoulder to lean on."
The city's electricity department was among those that sponsored the seminar. Bill Jordan, who works at the department, had heard Hayes speak in the past and invited him to the seminar.
"His story is just amazing," Jordan said. "It's an incredible service he provides."
Hayes does not get paid for any aspect of his work. He does it in honor of his son and so that other families don't have to go through the needless death of a loved one.
Patrick's death could have been avoided if proper safety precautions had been taken.
Neither Patrick's duties nor training involved something called "walking the corn," which involves walking atop the collection of corn in a silo. But that was what he was ordered to do on that fateful day in 1993.
Disaster struck. Patrick stepped at an area of the silo where the corn wasn't steady, in what would be a fatal move.
"Sixty tons of corn had collapsed on him," Ronald Hayes said. "When they called and told us about the accident, we thought there had been a mistake in identifying who it was. He didn't work in the silo. He was a warehouseman."
As it turns out, someone had quit the previous day, and Patrick was ordered to walk the corn.
"I'll never forget seeing him for the last time," Hayes said. "It was at the funeral and we had to close Patrick's casket forever. I couldn't leave so they could do it. It took four or five men to pull me away."
He wishes someone had talked to Patrick before he entered the silo on the day of his death. "If just one person had pulled him aside and told him, 'Wait a second and get a harness,' it wouldn't have happened."
The Hayes family had a difficult time getting information about what happened. They also couldn't get information on what benefits were available. Eventually, Hayes was able to muddle through the red tape and find information. He wants to make it easier for other families to do so.
Hayes formed the Fight Project in 1996. The effort helps families receive reports ranging from autopsies to OSHA investigations. The project also gives families the option to speak with other families who have had loved ones killed or injured at work.
Since 1996, the agency has helped more than 500 families.
"Not one person in any family has ever called me and said, 'I'm going to sue the company,' " Hayes said. "Those who end up suing do so because they can't get the company to cooperate, but all they want is for this never to happen again to anyone else."
His work with the project has taken him to the 48 continental states to help families and speak at company conferences, where he refuses to accept payment. He has made countless journeys to Washington, D.C., where he is well known among Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials, and has testified at U.S. Senate labor committee hearings.
"They listen to me in Washington because I tell them the truth," he said. "I have no reason to lie. I have nothing to lose. I've already lost the thing that's most important to me."
He said an average of 16 workers die on the job every day in the United States. Thousands more are injured.
Hayes proposes companies design something he calls the "Hayes Safety Board."
It includes the company's safety statement. It also has the statement, "Why your safety is important," on a corkboard, where employees put photos of their loved ones. He recommends placing the board where workers clock in.
"This reminds you every day why safety is so important and who it's important to," he said.
Companies often have asked Hayes for advice on ways to honor an employee who was killed on the job. He recommends they talk with officials in their city about planting a tree in the person's honor at a place such as a public park. That way, the family can go to the tree for generations to come and the older members can tell the younger members about the person being honored.
Hayes said families often are surprised to find out there is no charge for his project's services.
"I believe the fact that we don't charge anything helps make a difference in how we're received," he said. "We do not advertise. We're not ambulance chasers. The families come to us.
"I know what documents they need and what to look for. That's what they need, is someone to help them and show them compassion and respect."
