Workers Memorial Day
kkrisberg | May 9, 2014In New York, construction is the deadliest industry, with immigrant workers experiencing half of all occupational-related fatalities. Across the country in California in 2012, transportation incidents took the unenviable top spot as the leading cause of workplace fatalities. In Massachusetts in 2013, it’s estimated that upward of 500 workers died from occupational disease, at least 1,800 were diagnosed with cancers associated with workplace exposures and 50,000 workers experienced serious injury. In Wyoming, workplace deaths climbed to a five-year high in 2012, from 29 in 2011 to 35 in 2012.…
lborkowski | April 25, 2014Monday, April 28, is Worker Memorial Day, and groups around the US – and around the world – are holding events and issuing reports this week to remember workers killed on the job and push for stronger workplace protections.
For Workers Memorial Week 2014, National Council for Occupational safety and Health (National COSH) has released the 2014 edition of its report Preventable Deaths: The Tragedy of Workplace Fatalities. The report focuses special attention on occupational illnesses, citing silica exposures and high-risk populations, including Hispanic and contract workers. In addition to an…
lborkowski | May 2, 2013Last week, Workers' Memorial Week events and reports from around the country drew media attention. Dorry Samuels at National COSH has a great writeup of the hugely successful week, including links to several newspapers that covered Worker Memorial Week stories:
California: ABC News/ Univision and La Opinion
Illinois: The Telegraph
Nebraska: Lincoln Journal Star
New York: The Daily Gazette (subscription required)
North Carolina: News & Observer
Massachusetts: The Dedham Transcript, EHS Today, Worcester Mag, MetroWest Daily News (all articles are posted on the MassCOSH site)
Tennessee: WBIR…
lborkowski | April 22, 2013This week is Workers' Memorial Week, when we remember the thousands of men and women who die on the job each year and work to prevent future deaths by improving workplace health and safety. Workers' Memorial Day is recognized worldwide on April 28, and more than a dozen US communities are holding local Workers' Memorial Week events. In the US, nearly 5,000 workers are killed on the job each year and, as the AFL-CIO notes in its annual Death on the Job report, an estimated 50,000 die from occupational diseases.
This week begins in the shadow of a tragedy in Texas, where a massive fire and…
lborkowski | April 18, 2012April 28th is Workers Memorial Day, and groups California to Nebraska to Kentucky are planning events -- see a complete list at the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (COSH) website. Events in Washington, DC are happening in advance of Workers Memorial Day: On Thursday, April 19th at 10am, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing on the failures of the OSHA standard setting process. On Friday, April 20th at noon, several groups are holding a Worker Memorial Day event in front of the US Chamber of Commerce headquarters (1615 H Street NW),…