Cintas Worker Dies in Gruesome Industrial Tragedy

Second Severe Incident in Two-Week Period at Company

A worker died at a Cintas industrial laundry plant Tuesday morning in a ghastly workplace tragedy. According to press reports, Eleazar Torres-Gomez was pronounced dead on the scene after apparently being dragged into an industrial dryer. Torres-Gomez was trapped in the dryer—which can reportedly reach temperatures of 300 degrees—for at least 20 minutes.

This gruesome incident is the second serious injury at a Cintas facility in recent weeks. A Yakima, Wash., worker’s arm was shattered and had to be sawed out of a washing machine late last month.

In 2005, Alex Ramirez, a Cintas employee who suffered serious work related injuries, stated on the Uniform Justice website that “Cintas talks a lot about safety, but in reality they don’t do anything about it. They don’t even properly train us on how to protect ourselves from accidents. And when you get hurt on the job, they blame it on you.” In light of Tuesday’s tragedy, Mr. Ramirez’s quote is even more powerful today.

Since 2003, the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) has given Cintas more than 170 violations for unsafe, illegal working conditions. Seventy of these were for violations could have caused the danger of “death or serious physical harm,” and some were for “repeated” breaches. The National Council for Occupational Health and Safety (COSH) has recently included Cintas among the “Dirty Dozen” of America’s most dangerous employers. Workers have repeatedly brought health and safety concerns to the company’s attention over the past few years. A National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) judge recently found that Cintas’s management coerced a worker for signing a petition advocating safer conditions. The NLRB's general council found merit in a charge for the retaliatory discharge of a health and safety and union activist. The company settled that charge rather than face trial.

“Eleazar Torres-Gomez’s death should be a wake up call to Cintas. This company has disregarded basic health and safety standards for too long and workers have paid the price. For every horrific incident like this one, there are many workers suffering from debilitating workplace injuries,” says UNITE HERE and International Brotherhood of Teamsters Health and Safety Directors Eric Frumin and Lamont Byrd in a joint statement.

The labor organizations are calling on OSHA to launch a full investigation into the incident, including the potential criminal prosecution if OSHA determines Cintas willfully violated applicable standards. In 2005, federal safety inspectors cited Cintas in New York for violating machine guarding standards to protect workers from industrial conveyors. In May, 2006, Cintas promised to install modern guarding systems on conveyors to protect washroom workers from injury. Mr. Torres-Gomez’s death raises questions on whether or not Cintas fulfilled its promise.

Cintas workers have been standing up for safer jobs with the Uniform Justice campaign, a partnership between workers, UNITE HERE and the Teamsters, in order to win safer jobs, better pay and dignity at work.

- 30 -

Back to Pressbox