AFL-CIO Documents Increase in Worker Deaths, Injuries

The nation's workplaces remain unsafe, and current safety laws and penalties are too weak to protect workers. That's the conclusion of the AFL-CIO's annual "Death on the Job" report, which provides grim statistics on how many workers were killed and injured on the job in the past year, as well as information on penalties assessed for serious violations and other data.

In 2006, the most recent year for which government statistics are available, 5,840 workers were killed by job hazards, an increase of 106 deaths from 2005. Some 4.1 million workers were injured and an estimated 60,000 died due to occupational disease. On an average day, 153 workers lose their lives as a result of workplace injuries and disease, and another 11,233 are injured, the AFL-CIO report found. The full report is available at http://www.aflcio.org/issues/safety/memorial/.

David LeGrande, CWA's occupational safety and health director, said the increase in the fatality rate was a major concern, because it demonstrated that our nation's system of safety rules and enforcement simply wasn't addressing workplace hazards and protecting workers. He also pointed to the Labor Dept.'s underreporting of workplace injuries and illnesses, as documented by the report, as more evidence that workplace safety and health has declined over the past eight years. 

Certain health and safety issues, like job stress and ergonomics, have received virtually no attention under the Bush administration, he said. Those topics will be discussed at the District 3 health and safety meeting next month in Jacksonville, Fla., with a panel of local leaders to discuss ergonomic and job stress issues for customer service and outside plant workers. 

On April 28, CWA locals across all districts will be joining with other unions and AFL-CIO labor councils to remember their co-workers killed on the job and focus attention on the need to better address workplace hazards.

To check on events on your area, go to http://www.aflcio.org/issues/safety/memorial/.