{"id":7274,"date":"2023-04-25T08:55:58","date_gmt":"2023-04-25T12:55:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/?p=7274"},"modified":"2023-04-25T15:23:02","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T19:23:02","slug":"workers-memorial-day-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2023\/04\/25\/workers-memorial-day-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Workers Memorial Day 2023 \u2014 A Time for Reflection and a Call to Action"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ahh\u2026. as Friday approaches, many working people breathe a sigh of relief. The weekend is in sight, spring is in the air, and there may be some time for a little R&R, even in the crush of chores, kids, and other family matters that need attention. Of course, some will gear up for a full-on working weekend, ensuring that stores and gas stations remain open; mail and packages get delivered; buses, trains, and taxis keep operating; medical services are provided; and our loved ones in nursing homes are cared for.<\/p>\n

This coming Friday, April 28, is more than just another Friday. It is Workers Memorial Day<\/a>, the day when people around the world pause, recognize, remember, and honor those workers who have paid the ultimate price — suffering, dying, or becoming disabled as a result of injuries and illnesses related to their jobs.\u00a0 And then redouble their efforts to make sure that workplaces are safe for the living.<\/p>\n

What the Data Does and Doesn\u2019t Tell Us <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Fatalities:<\/u> According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries<\/a>, 5,190 workers died as a result of job-related traumatic injuries in 2021, an almost 9 percent increase from 2020. That\u2019s one every 101 minutes. It\u2019s the highest fatality rate (3.6 fatal occupational injuries per 100,00 Full Time Equivalent [FTE] workers) since 2016.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s not the worst statistic: \u00a0It is estimated that another 120,000 died from occupational diseases (NOT including work-related COVID-19).<\/p>\n

Fatality rates for Black or African workers and for Hispanic or Latino workers (4.0 and 4.5 per 100,000 FTE workers respectively) were higher than the all-worker rate of 3.6. More than 20% of workers who died on the job were immigrant workers. Women accounted for 8.6 percent of all workplace fatalities, and workers between the ages of 45 and 54 accounted for just over one-fifth (20.9 percent) of all fatalities in 2021.\"\"<\/p>\n

The National Council on Safety and Health (COSH) has compiled a detailed database<\/a> of work-related deaths in 2022. It includes the worker\u2019s name, age, race\/ethnicity, date and cause of death, company name and location, and information on inspection status and sanctions. The COSH group will add additional names and information as they become available.<\/p>\n

As alarming as these numbers are, they don\u2019t reveal the terror of last moments and the horror that workers\u2019 families and friends must endure when learning the details of their loved one\u2019s death — perhaps buried alive in a trench collapse; mangled by a machine; crushed by a falling object; asphyxiated by a deadly\u00a0 gas; run over by a vehicle; murdered by a depressed or angry client, customer, patient, or co-worker; or killed in the line of duty as a police officer, firefighter, or emergency responder. Confined Space<\/a> — a newsletter singularly focused on worker health, safety, and labor issues \u2013 provides a Weekly Toll<\/a> that recounts these tragedies.<\/p>\n

Non-fatal injuries and illnesses:<\/u>\u00a0 According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics<\/a> (BLS), private industry employers reported 2.6 million non-fatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2021 \u2013 down 1.8% from 2020 (likely due to the pandemic-related economic downturn) \u2013 and 642.8 thousand in state and local public sector workplaces. More than one million private industry cases (1,062,700) resulted in days away from work.<\/p>\n

RED FLAG<\/span>:\u00a0 These data only tell part of the story, as occupational injuries and illnesses are both \u00a0under-recognized and under-reported (see here<\/a>, here,<\/a> here<\/a>, here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Good News and Bad News<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s start with the best news: workplace injuries, illnesses, and deaths are preventable. They don\u2019t need to happen. Resources abound for employers and for workers.<\/p>\n

Government standards and guidance, employer best practices, unions and worker health and safety committees are all part of the prevention toolbox, not to mention just plain common sense. And the law requires that employers furnish workplaces free from recognized hazards (OSH Act, General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1)<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Since the passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1970 and the Mine Safety and Health Act in 1969, critical health and safety standards have been enacted that employers must comply with. Working conditions have improved, and thousands of lives have been saved.<\/p>\n

Today, more and more workers and unions are organizing<\/a> and fighting for a living wage and for better benefits and working conditions. Workers are taking action<\/a> to press their case.<\/p>\n

Non-Governmental Organizations, think tanks, academic centers, and worker advocacy groups are speaking out on worker safety and health and other labor issues with reports, op-eds, articles, blogs, listservs, and engagement in the policy process around issues like child labor<\/a>, heat<\/a>, meat and poultry<\/a> hazards, Amazon<\/a>, and others \u00a0(see also here<\/a>, here<\/a>, here<\/a>, here<\/a>)<\/p>\n

President Biden\u2019s Fiscal Year 2024 budget proposal<\/a> invests $2.3 billion, an increase of $430 million over the FY 2023 enacted level, in the Department of Labor\u2019s worker protection agencies.<\/p>\n

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration\u2019s budget is pitifully small and has remained flat over the past decade, but the FY 2024 Biden budget proposes a 17% increase for OSHA<\/a> and a 13% increase for the Mine Safety and Health Administration.\u00a0 (Spoiler: it inexplicably proposes a 2% decrease for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the nation\u2019s only federal worker health and safety research agency).<\/p>\n

Now for some of the bad news (see Page 23-24, AFL-CIO Worker Memorial Day Toolkit<\/a>)<\/p>\n