AFL-CIO Report Data Shows Latino and Black Workers Dying on the Job at Highest Rate in Over a Decade

On Wednesday, April 26 the AFLCIO released its 32nd annual report, Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect, a national and state-bystate profile of worker safety and health. Key findings from the report point to a troubling rise in worker deaths, particularly among Black and Latino workers, and illustrate the urgency of funding and support needed for critical job safety oversight and enforcement.

Over the last 50 years, there has been significant progress toward improving working conditions and protecting workers from job injuries, illnesses and deaths. Federal job safety agencies have issued many important regulations on safety hazards and health hazards like silica and coal dust, strengthened enforcement and expanded worker rights. These initiatives have undoubtedly made workplaces safer and saved lives. But much more progress is needed.

Over the years, the progress has become more challenging as employers’ opposition to workers’ rights and protections has grown, and attacks on unions have intensified. Big corporations and many Republicans have launched an aggressive assault on worker protections. They are attempting to shift the responsibility to provide safe jobs from employers to individual workers and undermine the core duties of workplace safety agencies.

The nation must remain committed to protecting workers from job injury, disease and death. Preventing injury, illness and death at work to restore dignity, save lives, improve livelihoods, and reduce burdens on families and communities must be a high priority. Employers must meet their responsibilities to protect workers and be held accountable if they put workers in danger. Only then can the promise of safe jobs for all of America’s workers be fulfilled. There is much more work to be done to ensure the fundamental right to a safe job is a reality for all.

The report shows the fatality rate for Black workers grew from 3.5 to 4.0 per

100,000 workers and more than 650 died on the job, the highest number in nearly two decades. Latino workers have the greatest risk of dying on the job, with a fatality rate at 4.5 per 100,000 workers that has grown by 13% over the past decade. There was also a slight uptick in deaths for Latino workers in 2021, and the overwhelming majority who died were immigrants.

“Every American should be alarmed and outraged by the tragic data unearthed in this report,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “It is unconscionable that in the wealthiest nation in the world, Black and Latino workers are facing the highest on-the-job fatality rates in nearly two decades. This report is more than a wakeup call, it is a call to action. No one should have to risk their lives for their livelihoods. There is no corporate costbenefit analysis that should put human life and worker safety on the wrong side of the ledger." l

Read the report at www.theimmigrantsjournal.com