Washington — OSHA and the Mine Safety and Health Administration have scheduled a nationwide Workers Memorial Day ceremony for April 27 on the Department of Labor headquarters.
OSHA will broadcast the ceremony on-line at 1 p.m. Eastern. OSHA chief Doug Parker and MSHA administrator Christopher Williamson will probably be joined by AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and United Support & Memorial for Workplace Fatalities Vice President Wanda Engracia, whose husband, Pablo Morillo, was amongst three employees killed in a 2005 office explosion in New Jersey.
“Work-related injuries claim the lives of approximately 14 people each day in the United States, that’s one life lost every 101 minutes,” an OSHA press launch states. “Workers Memorial Day pays tribute to these people, and all the fallen workers before them, and the survivors who remain to grieve and carry on.”
A complete of 5,190 employees died because of on-the-job accidents in 2021 – an 8.9% improve from the earlier yr, in accordance to Bureau of Labor Statistics knowledge launched in December. That marks the fifth time in six years that office deaths surpassed 5,000 on the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.
“On Workers Memorial Day, as we remember the people whose jobs claimed their lives, we must recognize that behind these numbers, there are people who mourn each loss,” Parker stated within the launch. “For them, these statistics are loved ones: they’re parents, children, siblings, relatives, friends or co-workers.
“On this day of remembrance, we should reflect on what might have prevented their loss and recommit ourselves to doing all we can — and all that can be done — to safeguard workers and to fulfill our moral obligation and duty as a nation to protect America’s workers.”
OSHA’s web site options info on native Workers Memorial Day occasions, a lot of that are scheduled for May 28, in addition to a listing of names of people that’ve misplaced their lives on the job.
The AFL-CIO on April 26 launched its thirty second annual Death on the Job report, which exhibits that Black and Latino employees are notably susceptible.
In 2021, the fatality fee for Black employees rose to 4.0 per 100,000 staff – up from 3.5 in 2020.
“This is now the third year in a row the fatality rate for Black workers is greater than the overall job fatality rate (3.6 per 100,000 workers) and the highest rate in more than a decade,” the report states.
Latino employees had the very best fatality fee, at 4.5 deaths per 100,000 staff, which has elevated 13% previously decade.
“Every American should be alarmed and outraged by the tragic data unearthed in this report,” Shuler stated in a press launch. “It is unconscionable that in the wealthiest nation in the world, Black and Latino workers are facing the highest on-the-job fatality rates in nearly two decades. This report is more than a wake-up call, it is a call to action. No one should have to risk their lives for their livelihoods. There is no corporate cost-benefit analysis that should put human life and worker safety on the wrong side of the ledger.
“This report isn’t just about data points, it is about people. Every worker who died on the job represents another empty seat at a family’s kitchen table.”
