by revere
Originally posted at Effect MeasureÂ
You know any post that starts out . . .
Gerardo Castillo, 30 years old, had worked at the Blommer Chocolate Co. for 9 years. His family wanted him to quite ever since an explosion in a roaster killed a fellow worker and injured another. He was fearful himself, but he stayed on . . .
is going to end badly. You'd be right. Continuing with our post . . .
But on the weekend, something terrible happened at Blommer's four story factory on Chicago's Near West Side, after an unnamed substance was added to a batch of chocolate resulting in a chemical reaction that produced ammonia or an ammonia-like substance. Two co-workers were hospitalized. Ammonia and ammonia-like chemicals are extremely irritating to the respiratory tract. They can cause laryngospasm, a condition where the larynx involuntarily locks up to prevent the irritant from gaining access to the lungs. It is like being chemically garroted. The worker can't breathe. If the ammonia gets into the lungs it can cause severe inflammation and an outpouring of fluid from the blood into the lung sacs where gas exchange must take place to maintain loife. The worker drowns in his own body fluids. That is likely what happened to Gerardo Castillo last weekend.
Two days later (yesterday) a fire department hazmat team was called back to the factory to deal with a fire there. In 2005 a neighbor complained about the smell from the factory and an EPA inspection revealed a violation of the limits on the thickness of dust produced by the factory's grinder. But the EPA is not a workplace safety agency.
This was the second fatal accident at this factory in seven years. You'd think the first might have drawn the interest of OSHA. You'd be wrong. The Bush administration OSHA is out of the business of being interested in workplace safety:
OSHA last inspected the facility in 1994, said federal compliance officer Tricia Railton, who was reading from a report. Those safety investigations had to do with workers who were cleaning a piece of equipment that either had not been disconnected or was not marked as being potentially dangerous to the cleaners if turned on. It was not immediately clear if an injury prompted that inspection, Railton said. (Chicago Tribune)
Not only had the Bush administration OSHA not inspected a company with a fatal accident, but it was a company with a prior record of workplace safety violation.
So, yes, this post ends badly:
Castillo left two children, with the youngest, Daniele, 3, still not told as of Monday afternoon that her father had died, [his brother-in-law Miguel] Reyna said. (Chicago Tribune)
OSHA finally sent inspectors to Brommer Chocolate. The day after Gerardo Castillo died.
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Gerardo rip. He was a good young friend, what a
bad feeling and convulsing emotions when his
family gave me the news, This very simple hard
working united family originals of coahuila
Mexico, with lots of humility I have the
privilege of working together with them at
blommer for some yrs. many of gerardo's brothers
sisters, his father uncles and cousins work or
have worked any other time at blommer, hard
working people almost never complain because the
fact they are the two only minorities working
forever there polish and Mexicans, their poor
English to communicate properly and in need of
the job, all them beautiful people unbelievable
hard working people credit to those old polish
ladies, people that gave their blood to the
blommer company, spite of the bad conditions of
the factory, hot like hell, hot chocolate
everywhere, no ventilation, I was feets away
down the 3th. flooer of the explotion time ago
when the other death happened, the explosion of
the Stupid Old Cocoa bean Roaster so strong that
demolished the wall of the room exposing it from
outside the factory building the big hole and
bent steel beams, Victor Casillas lost his life
on this explosion, so many times the fire
department had to fight back hard when this old
machinery got fire, Old crap. Victor Casillas
rip, Adrian the other victim on that time almost
died he was in comma for a while, still young
fellows like gerardo they left young wife with
two young kids ,both Victor and Gerardo Good
soccer players, healthy people. Gera was working
enclosed in a small room catching the black
cocoa powder, that is the cocoa liquor after
been compressed and because it comes very hot
out of the presses they use nitrogen to cool it
down, now what the family told me is that there
was a leakage of the Nitrogen that in same way
cause the poisoning of Gera, did N combined with
other substances cause it or what? because it
seems the poisonous element was odorless still
waiting for the forensics report, they holding
for like two more months,Gera found like if he
fell asleep all skin purple by work bench at the
bag filler even the coworker firs on the scene
himself fell to the flour in the spot unconcious
due to the horrible scene, or may be still the
poisonous substance still enclosed there, this
is a small room belive me.. Now , I use to work
there and the environment conditions, were bad,
like hell your supervisors lack a communication,
screaming to old and young coworkers the same,
and the fast pace of work make that even worse
than unhealthy and risky at all time.
There are everywhere too many people without the
right legal status to work properly in this
country and had been abused time and time again,
risking their live since the moment they make
the hard decision to move for a better living,
unrefutable fact of nature you have to move in
order to survive, only choice, but when some
body, for years keep them exploiting all over
and over, without remorse, then what is left,
now who is the guilty one, and then they say,
hey!!!.. don't get lawyers we are going to fix
it good, yeah.. right..
And don't come to me with the romantic feelings
of the smell of the chocolate that impregnates
the downtown, every time I going there the smell
brigs to memory frustrating times, even when I
am enjoying my marathon, (better organization
this year I hope, please).
I think blommer enjoys privileges of some kind
from the city, they have been in this location
for a while, I remember from time to time they
just told you hey, here your paycheck less the
amount of money we gave for charity, so easy
they always trying to show the good face, I just
can't believe OSHA gives Carta Blanca to this
Company, I got to know Joe Blommer, Rick
Blommer, they are cordial people but, still
unfair to the employees inside, any moment
another victim is waiting to be counted also the
health problems to what one is exposed inside,
like the acid from the cocoa liquor cause your
hair to fall damage your skin perforate your
lungs and digestive system, employees are the
living evidence.. apart from various people been
mutilated because of the obsolete machinery, and
those machinists on maintenance frustrated,
hiding o back of the shop drinking their vodka.
nice.