The Northeast Florida Safety Council held a special Workers’ Memorial Day on Thursday to pay tribute to the 18 lives lost in Northeast Florida workplaces in 2021.
During the ceremony, the names of 18 people who have died in the workplace in our area were read. A bell rang to memorialize each life lost.
The people honored:
- Kim Abdul
- Nolan Bickhardt
- Elijah Chute
- Mike Ellis
- Paul Michael Fabian
- Mason Hudgens
- Enoch Jackson
- Gilberto Macario
- Allen MacCalla
- David McLaurin
- Fredys A. Montejo
- Jean Guito Meus
- Shyama Nixon
- William Rynearson
- Eric Shoup
- Greg Simmons
- James Wharton
- William Ziegenfelder
“We realize that this was an opportunity for us to relate to those who had lost their life from workplace incidents. So to recognize those folks who went to work, as was said, every day and then were not able to come home that day,” said Catherine Sutton, Safety Council CEO.
“Our goal is to have no one to recognize at a memorial, but we recognize these 18, not only the person who lost their life but also their families,” Sutton added.
The event was a joint project of the Northeast Florida Safety Council, First Coast Manufacturers Association, Associated Builders & Contractors, First Coast Chapter, National Utilities & Excavation Contractors of North Florida, American Society of Safety Professionals, Feeding Northeast Florida, Northeast Florida Home Builders Association and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
According to the Safety Council, every seven seconds a workplace injury takes place in Florida. There are 300 work-related deaths in the state every year.
