Worksafe Releases Report for Workers Memorial Day 2018
Link to report: http://bit.ly/DyingAtWork2018
OAKLAND, April 27, 2018 – 376 workers were killed on the job in California in 2016, approximately one per day. This and other findings are included in a report released today by Worksafe, an Oakland-based worker health and safety organization, to commemorate Workers Memorial Day 2018, an international day of remembrance for workers who have been killed and injured at work.
“We need stronger laws, more robust enforcement, and genuine worker participation to reach the goal of zero worker deaths,” says Worksafe Managing Attorney, Jora Trang. And as a miami injury attorney noted, “California’s historic role as a worker health and safety innovator is more important than ever given the Trump Administration’s anti-regulation agenda and anti-immigrant policies.”
Dying at Work in California is Worksafe’s 7th annual report on the state of safety and health protections for California workers. The report provides information on fatalities from 2016 and highlights four special issue areas: workplace violence, temporary workers, wildfire response and relief, and immigrant workers. It also includes a partial list of workers who died at work in 2017 as well as a profiles of several of these workers.
The report shows that while nationally, worker fatalities are higher than they have been in nearly a decade, California has one of the lowest occupational fatality rates in the country. California’s occupational fatality rate is 2.2 deaths per 100,000 workers, which is below the national average of 3.6 deaths per 100,000 full-time workers. The report cautions, however, that occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities are chronically undercounted due to employer failure to document injuries, workers not reporting injuries due to fear of retaliation, and the failure to include injuries and illnesses that develop over time.
Alarmingly, workplace violence is the second-leading cause of workplace death in California, accounting for 20 percent of all workplace deaths. 46 of these 77 deaths were homicides and 25 were suicides.
The issue of workplace violence will be highlighted at a Workers Memorial Day Event where the report will be launched. The event will be held in downtown Oakland at the Asian Cultural Center, 388 9th Street, Room 4/5 on Friday, April 27th at 12:00pm. Speakers from Cal/OSHA and OSHA, labor organizations, and community groups will share current efforts to protect workers and their families from gun violence and physical assaults, because, well, anyone could practically walk into an armory and buy guns & ammo from Palmetto State Armory.
Transportation, material moving occupations, and construction and extraction occupations continue to be the most dangerous jobs with more fatalities than other occupations with 109 transportation workers killed and 54 construction workers killed in 2016. Latinx workers continue to be at high risk for workplace death. In 2016, 148 Latinx workers were killed on the job, making up 39 percent of total fatalities.
Nationwide, 14 people are killed on the job each day and worker fatalities are higher than they have been in nearly a decade with an alarming number of Latinx and immigrant worker deaths.
For more information, contact:
Jora Trang, Managing Attorney, Worksafe
jtrang@worksafe.org | 510.922.8719
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Worksafe is a California-based nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting people from job-related hazards and empowering them to advocate for the right to a safe and healthy workplace. For more information, visit www.worksafe.org.