Death at Work on the Rise

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Workplace fatality rates in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia rose last year after dropping for the previous three years. The nation's workplace safety laws are too weak to effectively protect the nation's workers, according to the AFL-CIO's annual Death on the Job report, released Tuesday. The report identifies how many people lost their lives and were injured at workplaces in the past year and provides in-depth state-by-state analysis  on workplace safety. The release of the report coincides with Workers Memorial Day, April 28th, which commemorates workers who died or were injured in the past year.
Congress is holding two hearings this week to investigate current job safety protections in the United States.  On Tuesday, the House of Representatives investigated whether OSHA standards are keeping up with workplace hazards, and on Thursday, the Senate will hold a hearing on the state of workplace safety and  health protections. In 2005, 4.2 million workers were injured and 5,734 workers were killed due to job hazards. Another 50,000-60,000 died due to occupational diseases.  On an average day, 152 workers lose their lives as a result of workplace injuries and disease, and another 11,507 injured. Peg Seminario, the AFL-CIO Director of Safety and Health, will testify before the Senate committee, arguing that enforceable safety regulations are crucial to protecting today's workforce. The hearing will take place in room 628 at Dirksen Senate Office Building at 10A. The report shows that workplace fatalities have increased since 2004 for Latino and immigrant workers, who face substantially higher risks of fatality.  In 2005, the fatal injury rate for all workers was 4/100,000 workers, compared to a rate of 4.9 for Latino workers.  Since 1992, the  number of fatalities among Latino workers has increased by 73 percent from  533 fatalities in 1992 to 923 deaths in 2005.  Among foreign-born workers, job fatalities have increased by 63 percent, from 635 to 1,035 deaths.

 

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