The nation's workplace safety laws and penalties are too weak to effectively protect workers, according to a new AFL-CIO report, Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect. There were 5,840 fatal workplace injuries in 2006, an increase from the year before, with significant increases in fatalities among Latino and foreign-born workers, the report shows.

On average, 16 workers were fatally injured and another 11,200 workers were injured or made ill each day in 2006. These statistics do not include deaths from occupational diseases, which claim the lives of an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 more workers each year.

This year's report examined job safety enforcement in cases of worker deaths, finding that the average national total penalty in fatality investigations was just $10,133. Delaware was the state with the lowest average penalties in fatality cases, with no penalties assessed, followed by Alaska, with $750 in penalties per fatality case, and Oregon, with $793.

"$10,000 for a worker's life is an outrage!" says AFL-CIO president John Sweeney. "It's clear that the workplace safety net has more holes than fabric, and it is costing too many American workers their lives. Our nation's workplaces have gotten more dangerous, not safer, under President Bush. Congress and the next president must take real action by strengthening the OSHA Act with tougher civil and criminal penalties, addressing increasing risks for Hispanic and immigrant workers, increasing funding for OSHA, and fully implementing the provisions of the MINER Act."

The report also examined OSHA staffing levels. To inspect each workplace once, it estimates, would take federal OSHA 133 years with its current number of inspectors. The current level of federal and state OSHA inspectors provides one inspector for every 63,913 workers. This compares to a benchmark of one labor inspector for every 10,000 workers recommended by the International Labor Organization for industrialized countries.

Also notable was the finding that workplace fatalities have increased sharply since 2005 for Latino and immigrant workers. The fatality rate among Latino workers in 2006 was 25 percent higher than the fatal injury rate for all U.S. workers. In 2006, fatal injuries among Latino workers increased by seven percent over 2005, with 990 fatalities among this group of workers, the highest number ever reported.

Alaska, Wyoming, and West Virginia had the highest rates of worker fatalities in the last year, while New Hampshire and Rhode Island were tied for the best record of workplace safety. Twenty-nine states saw an increase in either the rate or number of fatalities between 2005 and 2006. The construction sector had the largest number of fatal work injuries (1,239, up from 1,192 in 2005), followed by transportation and warehousing (860), and agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting (655). The mining industry also saw a sharp increase in fatalities, from 159 deaths reported in 2005 to 192 deaths reported in 2006.

The release of the Death on the Job report comes in advance of the 20th Workers Memorial Day on April 28, which commemorates workers who were killed or injured in the past year. As part of the day of remembrance, community and union members from around the world will participate in hundreds of events to remember local workers and draw attention to the problem of unaddressed workplace hazards.

Also in conjunction with Workers Memorial Day, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will hold a hearing on April 29 to investigate OSHA enforcement in cases of worker fatalities. Peg Seminario, the AFL-CIO's director of safety and health, will testify before the committee. She will tell the senators that the OSHA Act is too weak to protect workers and to deter employers from violating the law.

While work-related fatalities are extremely rare among AFT members, workplace injuries are not unusual—and health and safety issues more broadly are a concern of every worker. The AFT's Web site has a large and varied collection of fact sheets on different health and safety issues. [AFL-CIO press release, AFT health and safety program]

April 24, 2008