U.S. Department of Labor Blog

Young girls in Ethiopia sort out good coffee beans in a plant. Credit: Abbas/Magnum Photos for MFA Italy

In May 2015, a crew in Bonita Springs, Florida, was installing roofing on a single-family home. The weather was cloudy with rain off and on, and the crew worked between rain showers. At around 3 in the afternoon, the four employees completed the installation and were leaving the roof when a bolt of lightning struck a 36-year-old roofer in the head. He was removed from the roof but was unresponsive.

There have been times when the weight of life nearly caused Army veteran Steven Nelson to give up.