This year marks the 33rd anniversary of the enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The Act - which guarantees every American worker a safe and healthful working environment - created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to set and enforce standards and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to conduct research and investigations

Since 1970, workplace safety and health conditions have improved. More than 289,262 workers can now say that their lives have been saved since the passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Unfortunately, too many workers remain at risk

MILLIONS OF WORKERS ARE KILLED, INJURED OR DISEASED ON THE JOB EACH YEAR

• In 2002, 4.7 million workers were injured, 5,500 killed by traumatic injuries and an estimated 50,000 - 60,000 died from occupational diseases.
• According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there were 5,524 workplace deaths due to traumatic injuries in 2002, a decline from the number of deaths in 2001, when 5,915 workplace deaths were reported.
• Hispanic or Latino workers experience a disproportionate number of work-related fatalities. 2002 saw the second highest number of fatal occupational injuries to Hispanic workers with 840 deaths.
• On average, 15 workers were fatally injured each day during 2002.
• In 2002, more than 4.7 million injuries and illnesses were reported in private sector workplaces. An additional 592,100 injuries and illnesses occurred among state and local employees in the 30 states and territories where this data is collected.
• In 2002, BLS reported 2.5 million injuries that resulted in days away from work, job transfer or restriction.  
• In 2001, the national private sector injury rate was 5.7/100 workers. Though not comparable because of a change in OSHA’s recordkeeping rule that became effective January 1, 2002, the injury and illness rate in 2002 was 5.3/100 workers.
• In 2002, BLS reported 487,915 musculoskeletal disorder cases that resulted in days away from work. MSDs continue to account for more than one-third of injuries and illnesses involving all days away from work, demonstrating that MSDs remain the biggest category of injuries and illnes. However, these numbers understate the true magnitude of the problem. Research and experience shows that many MSDs go unreported; OSHA has estimated that for every reported MSD, another MSD goes unreported. In addition, the BLS numbers do not include the many ergonomic injuries that occur among state and local workers, or those that do not require days away from work.

OVER THE YEARS, WORKPLACE SAFETY HAS IMPROVE

•  According to the National Safety Council and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job fatality rate has been cut by 78 percent since 1970.
• Injury rates have also fallen. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 11 injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in 1973; by 2001, the rate was 5.7 per 100 workers--a decrease of 48 percent. In 2002, the rate was 5.3.
• Declines in workplace fatalities and injuries have been much greater in those industries where OSHA has targeted its standards and enforcement activities. In manufacturing, the fatality rate has declined by 66 percent and the injury rate by 53 percent since the passage of OSHA. Similarly, in construction, the fatality rate has declined by 82 percent and the injury rate by 64 percent.
• Throughout the years, OSHA standards have significantly reduced worker exposure to serious hazards and prevented unnecessary injuries, illnesses and deaths. For example, OSHA’s 1978 cotton dust standard virtually eliminated new cases of byssinosis, the 1978 lead standard dramatically reduced occupational lead poisoning, and standards on confined space entry, lock-out of dangerous equipment and grain dust prevented thousands of unnecessary deaths.
• Moreover, many OSHA standards have saved employers money and increased productivity. Compliance with OSHA's vinyl chloride standard led to improvements in the production process, increased profits and lowered worker exposures. The OSHA cotton dust standard spurred new investment in the textile industry, making textile mills more productive and healthier for workers.
• Without the involvement of unions, these standards would not have been issued. The Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers union and the North Carolina Public Interest Research Group petitioned OSHA to issue the cotton dust standard, and the AFL-CIO defended it in court when it was challenged by industry. The Steelworkers and United Auto Workers were instrumental in winning a protective lead standard in 1978 for general industry and other unions joined in to defend it and expand its coverage to the construction industry. Labor was involved in pushing for, defending and/or strengthening just about every standard at OSHA and MSHA.

WORKERS NEED MORE SAFETY AND HEALTH PROTECTION

• Although injury and fatality rates are falling, too many workers are being killed and injured on the job. In 2002, 5,524 workers died from traumatic injuries, and more than 50,000 died from occupational diseases. More than 4.7 million workers were injured on the job.
• On an average day, 152 workers lose their lives as a result of workplace injuries and diseases, and another 12,877 are injured.
• Millions of workers still lack OSHA protection -- more than 8.4 million state and local public employees are not covered by OSHA. Millions of workers in the transportation industry do not benefit from OSHA protections.
• For many serious hazards, standards are of out of date or non-existent. Since OSHA was enacted, comprehensive standards have only been issued for 29 toxic chemicals. Permissible exposure limits for toxic chemicals adopted in 1971 have never been successfully updated. Ergonomic hazards, the major source of workplace injury and illness, still have no standard, since OSHA’s November 2000 ergonomics regulation was repealed by Congress and President Bush.
• Other major safety and health concerns facing workers today include issues of work organization such as increased hours of work, intensification of work due to downsizing, increased pace of work and other changes in technologies and work processes. Many of these changes have been associated with repetitive strain injuries, stress, workplace violence and even fatalities.
• Immigrant workers have a disproportionate rate of injuries, illnesses and fatalities in the workplace largely because they are hired to do the most undesirable and dangerous jobs at the lowest wages. They often do not know what rights they have or what laws protect them and they receive no training in safety and health. Language and cultural barriers make it difficult for them to learn their rights and those who lack immigration status are particularly fearful of speaking out. Employers frequently view immigrant workers as disposable and easy to exploit. The increase in fatalities among immigrant workers, particularly Hispanic and Latino workers, has been alarming. Since 1992, when this data was first collected in the BLS census of fatal occupational injuries (CFOI) the number of fatalities to Hispanic workers has increased by 65 percent, from 508 fatalities in 1992 to 840 in 2002. For foreign-born Hispanic workers the situation is worse with fatal injuries to this population increasing more than 2-fold from 275 fatal injuries in 1992 to 577 in 2002.
• Thousands of workers are retaliated against by their employers each year for raising job safety concerns or reporting injuries, fired or harassed simply because they want a safe place to work. OSHA whistle-blower and anti-retaliation provisions are too weak to provide any real protection to workers who try to exercise their legal rights.
• At the workplace the move toward behavior-based safety and incentive programs is particularly alarming. Rather than examining how core work processes affect health and safety, behavior-based safety programs claim that an overwhelming majority of job injuries and illnesses are the result of the unsafe acts of workers themselves. Behavior-based safety programs attempt to place the responsibility for a safe workplace squarely on the backs of workers, rather than addressing workplace hazards.
• Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, a whole new set of workplace safety and security issues have emerged.
• OSHA is a small agency that does not have the funding or staff to oversee the safety and health of the approximately 100 million workers in the 7.9 million workplaces under its jurisdiction.
• Federal OSHA only has about 889 safety and health inspectors and can inspect workplaces, on average, once every 106 years.
• OSHA's current budget (FY 2004) of $457 million amounts to $4.25 per worker in the private sector.
• Workers’ compensation laws are inadequate. Over the years, massive changes instituted by state legislatures have both reduced benefits and made them harder to collect.
• As a result, workers who do receive workers’ compensation benefits can hardly get by. In 16 states, the weekly average temporary total disability benefit to workers is below the poverty threshold. In 21 states, the benefit is no more than 20% above the poverty threshold. Not one state has a weekly average temporary total disability benefit that is more than about 30% above the poverty threshold.

BUSH SAFETY AND HEALTH POLICIES FAVOR BUSINESS, NEGLECT WORKERS

• Since taking office in January 2001, the Bush administration has turned its back on workers and workplace safety. Siding with its corporate friends, the administration has overturned or blocked dozens of important workplace protections and weakened job safety programs, leaving workers in danger.
• The assault began soon after Bush took office when the President joined with anti-worker business groups to repeal OSHA’s ergonomics standard. The standard would have required employers to protect workers from injuries caused by heavy lifting and repetitive work. The administration’s promised comprehensive approach to the biggest job safety hazard facing workers has turned out to be a sham. In 3 years, only one voluntary non-enforceable guideline – for nursing homes – has been issued.
• The Bush administration killed dozens of worker protection measures under development at OSHA and MSHA, including rules on cancer causing substances, reactive chemicals and infectious diseases such as TB. The Bush administration has the worst record on safety rules in OSHA’s entire history, with no plans to issue any new rules during its 4-year term.
• The Bush administration has even refused to issue a rule requiring employers to pay for personal protective equipment, particularly important for immigrant and low-wage workers.
• Employer groups are fighting each and every attempt by OSHA to regulate any hazard, no matter how serious a problem it is for workers. It is very clear that many in the business community and right wing Republicans have a strong anti-regulatory ideology that allows no room for common sense regulation to protect workers and their communities.
• In November 2003, Washington State’s ergonomics standard was repealed through a ballot initiative. The initiative was sought by and paid for by the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW). Their campaign to pass the initiative misled voters into believing that the rule would cost the state jobs.
• The insurance companies are driving the reductions in workers’ compensation benefits by continuing to increase premiums paid by employers. Together with business, insurers campaign in state legislatures to introduce legislation to cut benefits for workers. During the first half of the 1990s, insurance companies won significant cuts in workers’ compensation benefits, and they were so flush with cash from the ballooning stock prices that they cut premiums to employers to attract new customers.
• But when the stock market crashed, all property and casualty insurers were faced with the need to increase cash reserves to meet anticipated claims. Workers and consumers are left with an unregulated insurance industry that basically sets its own rules.
• The Bush administration has demonstrated clearly that it has no interest in worker safety and health. In the past three and a half years, the Bush administration has killed workplace ergonomic protections, repealed recordkeeping for ergonomic injuries, shut down all new workplace safety and health rules, favored employer voluntary programs over enforcement and excluded workers and unions. It has tried to dismantle worker safety and health training programs, yet increased funding for outreach to employers. Time and again, this administration demonstrates its commitment to helping business, to the detriment of the workers it is obligated to protect.

Prepared by: AFL-CIO Department of Occupational Safety and Health
March 2004

Note: Due to the revised recordkeeping rule, which became effective January 1, 2002, the estimates from the 2002 BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses are not comparable with those from previous years. Among the changes that could affect comparisons are: changes to the list of low-hazard industries that are exempt from recordkeeping, employers are no longer required to record all illnesses regardless of severity, there is a new category of injuries/illnesses diagnosed by a physician or health care professional, changes to the definition of first aid, and days away from work are recorded as calendar days. For a complete list of the major changes, see the OSHA website at http://www.osha.gov/recordkeeping/RKmajorchanges.html.