This is my great grandpa Joe Patuliea. He immigrated from a small Portuguese village called Galveias to Ellis Island in 1924. He worked for A.C. Lawrence tanneries in Peabody Massachusetts and that is how he lost is arms. He lost his arms by trying to pull out a piece of rolled up leather from the machine he was working on and the machine crushed his arms and they had to be amputated. The hooks he is wearing in the 2nd picture are hooks that he made by himself. My grand pa and I found some remaining hooks from him upstairs in our attic while we were cleaning up there a couple of years ago. (I would have posted a picture of his hooks but I do not know where my grandparents put them). There is a picture of my great grandpa in the George Peabody House on Washington St. that I plan on seeing later. The reason why I chose to upload this picture is to show what happened to workers in the Industrial Revolution. Many lost limbs and some even died from working on the machines. Luckily they now have safety measures while working on machines so you will not get hurt badly like my great grandfather.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peabody,_Massachusetts
http://www.charlestonworkerscomp.com/articles/injuries-during-the-industrial-revolution/
This is a powerful post. The remedy for most workers is "Workers Compensation", which is a regulated insurance program that company owners pay into for their employers. However, the insurance is only as good as a state's regulations make it. Workers Comp. is administered at the state level. Some states have good programs. Texas does not have a good program and even allows employers to opt out.
ReplyDeleteWorkers Comp is not the only remedy. Some industries like mining and the oil and gas industries have more regulations because of the dangerousness of the work.
There is also the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that only came in to being in 1971. OSHA is under the Dept. of Labor and monitors health and safety issues in workplaces. Here is an article on OSHA citing safety issues on the cell tower industry due to four deaths already in 2014--just 6 weeks in to the year
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304558804579377592158949218
Nice post Jeff. I remember how today (February 20) we talked about this in class. Good thing today they have safety measures while people are working on machines and they won't have their arms crushed. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! its very sad but it's reality..how old was your great grandfather when this happened? and do you know what the job did after this happened? did he get a job somewhere else? Its sad knowing that this really happened, in my mothers country Honduras these accidents happen everyday i saw a post on the website how a man lost both arms and he was pulling a cart with ropes on his shoulders. Life is sad for many people and like i said this is still happening in other countries.
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting Jeff. Your great grandpa was a tuff man to lose both his hands and overcome it and keep going. very powerful and inspiring story. Thank You for sharing it.
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