Ahead of Workers Memorial Day on April 28, the AFL-CIO released its 33rd annual report, Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect. This annual report serves as a national and state-by-state profile of worker safety and health, offering direction to policymakers and regulatory bodies as they strive to address the scourge of working people facing death, injury and illness at work. Among the report’s startling data are the disproportionate rates of Latino and Black workers at risk of dying on the job. Black workers are facing the highest job fatality rates in nearly 15 years and Latino workers continue to face the greatest risk of dying on the job, compared to all other workers.
“The sobering findings outlined in the AFL-CIO Death on the Jobs Report stress the urgent need to prioritize worker safety,” said Wisconsin AFL-CIO President Stephanie Bloomingdale. “The report finds that 125 Wisconsin workers died on the job in 2022, marking a 16-year high. The fight to protect workers from death and injury at work is far from over. As we mourn all those killed at work this April 28 on Workers Memorial Day, we remain steadfastly committed to holding corporations accountable so that all jobs are safe jobs where every worker can return home to their family at the end of the day.”
This year’s AFL-CIO Death on the Job report reveals that in 2022:
- 344 workers died each day from hazardous working conditions.
- 5,486 workers were killed on the job in the United States.
- 125 Wisconsin workers were killed on the job, the highest number since 2006.
- An estimated 120,000 workers died from occupational diseases.
- The job fatality rate increased again to 3.7 per 100,000 workers.
- Workers of color die on the job at a higher rate: Black and Latino worker job fatality rates are disproportionate compared with all other workers and are continuing to increase.
- Black workers’ job fatality rate was the highest it has been in nearly 15 years—4.2 per 100,000 workers.
- Latino workers’ job fatality rate increased again to 4.6 per 100,000 workers—meaning they continued to face the greatest risk of dying on the job than all workers, at 24% higher than the national average; the rate marked a 24% increase over the past decade.
- Employers reported nearly 3.5 million work-related injuries and illnesses, an increase from the previous year.
Read the full report here.
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