Mom speaks at rally on workplace fatalities in honor of daughter who was electrocuted while working as lifeguard

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- A group rallied in front of the State Capitol in Raleigh Friday, to call on the North Carolina Department of Labor to do more to prevent workplace fatalities.

The event was held a day before Workers' Memorial Day, meant to remember those who have died on the job.

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Michelle Rosoff, whose teenager daughter Rachel was electrocuted and drowned while working as a lifeguard last year, spoke at the event.

She is now trying to push legislation to try to prevent deaths similar to Rachel's. She said her daughter's death could have been prevented.

"It was clearly due to negligence," Rosoff said, adding there were "permits not pulled, some different inspections not done."

MaryBe McMillan, North Carolina AFL-CIO, President said there is a need for more inspections of workplaces.

"These workers didn't have to die," McMillan said. "These deaths are often preventable. We believe we need more inspections."

The North Carolina Department of Labor sent this statement:

It is important that we all remember those who do not return home at the end of a workday. Early on in her service, Commissioner Berry determined that the most effective way for her to honor anyone who loses their life in the workplace is to work harder to prevent such tragedies from occurring in the future. Though zero injuries and fatalities in the workplace is our goal, North Carolina's injury and illness rate has steadily declined since 2001 and remains at an all-time low and N.C. is one of the safest states in which to work with an injury and illness rate below the national average.