The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is a federal program that works alongside state partners to try to make sure that work places are safe for employees of all kinds.
Still, there were more than 4,600 workers killed at work in 2011. This is despite the more than 2,000 OSHA inspectors that are responsible for making sure these areas are safe. They’re supposed to look over the approximate 130 million workers and close to 10 million work sites in the nation. Their inspection and enforcement might not be as effective as it could be because, when you break it down, each health and safety inspector covers close to 60,000 workers.
OSHA has 10 regional offices in addition to nearly 100 local area offices. They have a budget of nearly $585,000,000. Still, thousands are killed and even more are injured each and every year.
Our Boston workers’ compensation attorneys understand that there were close to 41,000 federal inspections conducted in 2011. This in addition to the more than 52,000 state inspections conducted.
The problem is that this organization isn’t big enough to handle the problems of work sites nationwide. For every 100,000 U.S. workers, there were close to 4 who were killed on the job. You might be thinking that 4 isn’t a lot, but when you take into account that there are 130 million workers in the U.S. and you remember that these are human lives that we’re talking about here, you’ll quickly realize that this is a huge problem.
This means that there are close to 15 fatalities a day, or close to 90 a week, throughout America’s work sites.
It’s also important to point out that these newly-released numbers illustrate an increase from the 2009 numbers.
Close to 750 were Latino or Hispanic workers. Close to 15 Latino workers, or 2 a week, were killed on the job.
“Every day in America, 13 people go to work and never come home. Every year in America, nearly 4 million people suffer a workplace injury from which some may never recover,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis.
The most alarming thing about these incidents is that many of them are completely preventable. American workers are on the job chasing the American dream. We all want to go to work, make a decent living, work to provide for our families and make it home safe at the end of the day. .
The truth of the matter is that employers have to do their job, too. Employers are required to make sure that working conditions are healthy and safe for all workers. American workers rely on it. And the safety of you and I depends on it.
The workers’ compensation attorneys at Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers are here to offer free and confidential consultations to those who have been injured on the job. Call (617) 777-7777 today!
More Blog Entries:
New England Brewery Cited After Workers Death, Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Blog, October 28, 2012
Workplace Safety and Health Challenge: Educating Workers Nationwide, Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Blog, October 26, 2012