AFL-CIO: Deaths on the Job Show Increase of Workplace Fatalities

n observance of Workers’ Memorial Day on April 28, which honors those who have suffered or died on the job, the labor union AFL-CIO released a report stating that the rate of workplace fatalities has increased for the first time in a decade.

Although workplace safety has improved dramatically in the 35 years since OSHA was created, the new job safety report – “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect - A National and State-by-State Profile of Worker Safety and Health in the United States” – shows the reported rates of workplace fatalities rose 4.1 percent in 2004 from 4 percent in 2003. Overall, workplace fatalities showed an increase the first time in 10 years and the reported rates of illnesses and injury declined slightly, according to the report.

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