Opinion

Editorial

Death motivates university action

Posted on Oct. 17, 2002, at 12:00 a.m.

It is commendable that UMaine has decided to create a new department to govern safety issues. What may be overlooked, however, is that it took the death of William O’Coin, 43, to motivate the university to think about creating something even close to their new department.

If you examine the facts, it quickly becomes apparent that the university was too late in coming up with simple safety guidelines that should have been in place to begin with. The thought of something as simple as a thorough safety inspection did not exist before the death of O’Coin. A safety inspection is something that any business, corporation, university or program should have instituted before it even opens its doors to the public or its workers.

Speaking of workers, the university also lacked official training for their workers in the field they were working in either. No wonder O’Coin had to die for these safety measures to be implemented. Maybe if their had been some sort of job-specific training, O’Coin would’ve been able to save his co-worker George Schaefer, 16, along with himself.

O’Coin shouldn’t have had to save himself at all. Schaefer, in all reality, should not have been cleaning sludge out of the bottom of a 16-foot high tank full of dangerous fumes to begin with. Had he been properly trained by the university, he never would have been in that situation.

After facing heavy fines, the university just now decides to create a new department that will deal with safety, health and environmental issues. Unfortunately, it’s a bit too late for O’Coin and his family.

The safety department is an excellent idea, but why wasn’t it created years ago? The university should have had a body that enforces safety codes all along.

All employees will undergo rigid equipment training, and the university will be required to properly label all confined spaces that expose employees to hazardous chemicals.

We can all surely hold the university responsible for making sure that O’Coin’s death wasn’t a complete waste.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 17th, 2002, 12:00 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.