For immediate release: August 29, 2012

Memorial Honors Fallen Ohio Workers

COLUMBUS - The Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) today paid tribute to Ohio workers who lost their lives over the last year at the 2012 Fallen Workers Memorial. More than 100 workplace death claims were filed last year. BWC Administrator/CEO Steve Buehrer hosted the program, which concluded with reading the names of the fallen, followed by a moment of silence and then three tolls of a bell.

"Ohio’s workers are its greatest resource, and when one of them falls, we lose much more than hardworking employees: families lose loved ones who cannot be replaced," said BWC Administrator/CEO Steve Buehrer. "We're here to pay tribute to those who lost their life on the job and remember the importance of our efforts to create safer workplaces so other families do not face the same grief."

Administrator Buehrer was joined by members of the BWC Board of Directors, including Chairman Nicholas Zuk and David Caldwell. Director Peggy Griffith was unable to attend but taped a reading of the poem, "Memorial for Workers."

The names of the fallen were read aloud by Dale Hamilton, BWC's Chief Operating Officer, and Lawrence McKissic OCSEA/AFSCME BWC Assembly Vice President.

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