Workplace fatalities

Washington — The full extent of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on the nation’s workforce will likely remain unclear because of the lack of a comprehensive national system to gather such information, according to the AFL-CIO’s annual report on the state of safety and health protections for U.S. workers.

When a worker dies on their watch, safety professionals must contend with grief while looking at safety processes "to make sure that it doesn't happen again."

Silver Spring, MD — The number of construction workers killed on the job reached its highest level in at least nine years in 2019, according to a new report from CPWR – The Center for Construction Training and Research.

Olympia, WA — The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office may continue to seek a manslaughter conviction against a construction company owner whose employee died in a trench collapse, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled Feb. 4.

Arlington, VA — Twenty-nine miners died on the job in 2020, marking the sixth straight year the annual total has remained below 30, the Mine Safety and Health Administration announced Jan. 13.

Los Angeles — Workplace deaths as a result of trauma have increased at a significantly higher percentage for Black, Latino and Asian workers compared with white workers, according to the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health.

Washington — A total of 5,333 workers died as a result of on-the-job injuries in 2019 – a 1.6% increase from 2018 and the highest number of fatalities since 5,657 were recorded in 2007, according to Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries data released Dec. 16 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Emmitsburg, MD — Sixty-two firefighters died while on duty in 2019 – the fewest since the U.S. Fire Administration began tracking such data in 1977, according to an annual report recently released by the agency.

Washington — The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on workplace safety is among the issues explored in the AFL-CIO’s annual report on the state of safety and health protections for U.S. workers.