Transcripts

Missouri Department of Labor has provided closed captioning transcripts of our videos for your needs.

2010 Virtual Missouri Workers' Memorial

>>LARRY REBMAN: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.  My name is Larry Rebman.  I’m the Director of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.  Thank you all for coming today.  Today we are gathered for the Worker Memorial Day to remember the 116 Missourians who lost their lives during 2009, as well as the many more that were injured at work.

Today we re-dedicate our efforts to protecting those that go to work every day.  As we honor our fallen workers, we must take note that our 116 workers who died came from across Missouri.  These tragedies occurred in down town Saint Louis, Kansas City, and in small towns like Knoll and Phillipsburg.  Those workers were farmers, welders, business owners, drivers and emergency first responders.  These workers, 116 of them, ranged in age from 69 to 16, and while the loss of each one is heartbreaking, the death of a 16-year-old stands out. His name was Jake Smith. Jake was from Eldridge, Missouri, and he was working as a ranch hand when tragedy struck. He had been on the job for five days. Jake's family is here today. Jake's story requires us to remember that safety begins on day one.

WORKERS REMEMBERED:

Melvin H. Hamilton, Sr.,
Lt. Roger Vorwark
Christino Puentes
Jacob “Jake” Smith
Harry Miller, III
Gerald F. Engemann
Jesse Collier
Andrew Wade
Robert Warren
Steven M. Lillicrap
Deborah Sweeny
Cpl. Dennis E. Engelhard
Anthony Burrell Evans
Mauro Brito-Pacheco
Charles Knapp
Julius Moore
Michael Patrick Dolan
William Henry Renick
Christopher Wayne Stansbury