Workplace fatalities up 5.7% in 2022

Washington – The Bureau of Labor Statistics on Dec. 20 released its 2022 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. The 5,486 total reported deaths on the job marked a 5.7 percent increase in fatal work injuries compared with 2021. That’s one worker death every 96 minutes.

Numbers show that workplace deaths were the highest among transportation and construction workers, and that Black workers’ and Hispanic workers’ fatality rates grew by 12.4 percent and 10.4 percent, respectively.

AN EMPTY CHAIR AT THE TABLE
“Every workplace fatality represents a family member who will never return home after a shift. An empty chair at the dinner table that never again will be filled. A loss that ripples through entire communities,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a statement “We cannot and will not accept these tragedies as inevitable. Workplace deaths are preventable, but unchecked employers blame workers and treat people as disposable.”

The Labor appropriations bill recently put forward by House Republicans proposes cuts to funding for both the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).

“Maintaining a safe workplace should not be partisan,” Shuler said. “A bipartisan Congress established this right under the law more than 50 years ago.

“Significant hazards like workplace violence and occupational heat exposure are getting worse and need immediate attention,” she said. “Now is the time for more resources, standards and agency oversight to ensure our loved ones have the protections they need to come home at the end of the day.”

A SOBERING REMINDER
“Today’s announcement by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of a 5.7 percent increase in fatal occupational injuries is a sobering reminder of the important work we must do, especially for Black and Hispanic workers who saw the largest increase in workplace fatalities,” said Doug Parker, the U.S. Department of Labor’s assistant secretary for Occupational Safety and Health.

“No worker should ever be disadvantaged because of their skin color or ethnicity; and that is never truer than when it comes to their lives and health. This is why the Department of Labor has expanded its efforts to protect those disproportionately at risk of injuries and illnesses on the job.

WORK-RELATED OVERDOSES AND SUICIDES
“The BLS census also finds work-related overdoses and suicides continue to be causes of great concern, and they are another call to action for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, employers and other stakeholders to address these very serious issues,” Parker said. “Mental health must be part of overall worker safety and health. We are committed to supporting the mental health of all workers, just as we are committed to protecting them from physical hazards on the job.

“Every worker death has profound impacts on family, friends, co-workers and communities. That is why investing in worker safety and health must be a core value in every workplace across the country. All workers have a right to do their job without fear of being injured or sickened.”