Maine is a state of hard, rugged, tenacious workers. They won’t quit cutting cordwood, hauling traps, or haying the fields until it’s getting dark and time for supper, maybe a beer.

But that affinity for working until the job is done comes fraught with potential danger. It’s not easy to get injured sitting behind the desk pushing papers, but outside or on the loading deck, trees fall, ladders lean and tractors tip.

 In 2013, 19 workers, all of them men, died on the job in Maine, in construction, transportation and materials unloading, according to the Maine Department of Labor.

In 2012, 16 died. Eight died in the farming, forestry and fishing industries. Eight more died in transportation, materials unloading, machinery and related work. All were men except for one woman, and all were age 45 and older.

The year 2011 was even rougher. That year, 26 people died in similar industries, and all were over age 45.

Then there are the injuries, and that’s where the service jobs join the list —  CNAs lifting heavy patients hurt their backs, nurses risk injuries with violent patients, and cops face the possibility of dangerous situations around every corner.

Charlie Morecraft has a message for everyone: “Safety is about going home at the end of the day, kissing your wife and hugging your kids. We are each responsible for our own safety.”

Morecraft knows this well. At one time, he considered himself sufficiently practiced in his own job that he could take shortcuts. That’s when the world blew up in his face. Literally. It was 1980, and he was a just one of the guys going to work, his hard hat and lunch box  beside him.

An Exxon employee, he was working in Lindon, N.J., at a gas refinery. He drove the pickup to the spot where he was to blend gas, a task he’d done before many times.

“I knew the job inside and out, but I took shortcuts,” he said.

Fumes from a chemical leak drifted down over his truck, which he had left running when he got out. He noticed the leak, and started to run for a safety shower, right past the truck. That’s when the vapors combined with the truck’s running engine, and — you know what happened.

“I had broken a rule in refinery,” he said. “The truck blew and I blew with it.”

"For 15 of the 27 years that I worked at Exxon, I thought, accidents don't happen to me, they happen to the other guy," Morecraft said. "Unfortunately, this is a common perception in many workplaces. But on a hot, humid day in August 1980 it happened to me.

He suffered third-degree burns over 50 percent of his body. Where his clothing had burned off, the burns were to his bones.

He spent the next five years trying to rebuild his body, and then his life. Exxon didn’t know what to do with him, so the company put him in the safety department. He hated it. Until something flipped inside him.

That is the rest of the story that will be told Wednesday, April 12, when Morecraft speaks at the Camden Opera House at 2 p.m.  The talk is to benefit P.A.W.S. Animal Adoption Center.

After years of hell — pain, substance abuse, divorce and the death of a child — he found his calling. He is dedicated work place safety motivational speaker, and yes, he can talk.

Morecraft is a self-described Jersey Boy. Spend five minutes in conversation with him, and you get the Jersey swagger and charm, the bravado and the sensitivity. He is frank and honest about his personal story, and holds no punches. He wants to break through to the people who run the risk of getting cocky, or complacent, about safety, because he knows where they are coming from. 

People think they are only hurting themselves when they get injured, but it’s the family that ultimately suffers, said Morecraft. It devastates families, and they don’t realize what happens to their loved ones.

“That’s how I’m able to get through to the tough guys,” he said.

Morecraft travels around the world with his talks, to China, Saudi Arabia, Fiji, Europe.... working for colleges and corporations, moving his audiences to new levels of awareness.

He is considered to be the leading motivational speaker in the safety training world, according to PAWs, which recruited him for the April 12 fundraiser. His wife, Janet, — likewise a mover and shaker (she was instrumental in getting the new Camden animal shelter built, and broadening its scope to Belfast)  —  is on the board at PAWs, and they split their time between Florida and Northport. 

“I’ve been blessed,” said Morecraft.

Now, more than ever, he wants to share what he has learned with the public.

Back to that afternoon working the Exxon job. Morecraft took shortcuts with safety. He thought he had his life covered. Things were good, with a wife, family, steady salary. But he wasn’t careful.

“I could have done it a safer way,” he said.

Life can change on a dime. But it doesn’t have to. Learn more about Morecraft at charliemorecraft.com.

And attend his talk April 12. 

Tickets to this presentation are $25 for general admission; $50 for admission and a VIP Reception ticket (limited to 25 people) and a group rate of $200 for 10 tickets. Tickets can be purchased on line at pawsadoption.org.

Pickup  tickets at the box office beginning at 1 p.m. the day of the presentation.

Event sponsors are the Town of Camden and J. Edward Knight Insurance.

Reach Editorial Director Lynda Clancy at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657