Workplace fatalities

A roofing contractor was recently charged in a criminal indictment with violating an OSHA standard. This is a rare occurrence. Why is that?

East Lansing, MI – Work-related deaths in Michigan dropped slightly in 2013 from 2012, according to a recent report from Michigan State University’s Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

Washington – Two new resources from OSHA detail worker fatalities involving electrocution and engulfment and explain how similar events can be prevented.

Philadelphia – In a rare criminal prosecution for a workplace fatality, the Department of Justice has charged a roofing company owner with attempting to cover up his failure to provide fall protection for a worker who fell 45 feet to his death.

Washington – The fatality rate for oil and gas workers decreased 36.3 percent despite an industry boom from 2003 to 2013, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Despite the downward trend in workplace fatalities, safety advocates are calling for stepped-up efforts to protect workers.

New York – The construction industry comprises less than 4 percent of employment in New York state, but it accounts for 20 percent of the state’s occupational fatalities, according to the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health.

San Diego – Immigration reform can directly improve the safety and health of Latino workers, the only demographic group to experience an increase in fatalities in 2013, according to the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health.

Arlington, VA – Ten miners were killed during the first three months of 2015, according to preliminary data from the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Washington – OSHA has made strides in helping to reduce workplace deaths, but the agency still needs to issue more worker protections, according to the AFL-CIO’s annual “Death on the Job” report.