The AFL-CIO released its 34th annual “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect” on April 23. The report analyzes the state of workers’ health and safety at the national and state levels.
Findings include:
- Inadequate workplace safety laws and policies resulted in the deaths of 5,283 workers on the job in 2023, the latest year of data available, and an estimated 135,304 workers from occupational diseases.
- Black and Latino workers are still disproportionately dying on the job, both at rates higher than the national job fatality rate.
- The report shows 659 Black worker deaths, the second-highest number in more than two decades.
- The report also shows 1,250 Latino worker deaths, making Latino workers the group at the greatest risk of dying on the job among all demographics.
The group says the national job fatality rate was slightly lower in 2023 than in 2022, due to strong pro-worker policies.
However, it notes that the "Trump administration’s substantial cuts to—and in some cases, effective elimination of—federal agencies that protect the health and safety of 161 million American workers will likely increase mortality. These cuts include gutting the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the agency that delivers critical health and safety expertise for both workers and employers; eliminating 11 office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in states with the highest workplace fatality rates; eliminating 34 office of the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), which protects coal miners from hazards like black lung disease, in 19 states, while simultaneously pausing a new silica rule that would prevent coal miners from acquiring silicosis; and allowing Elon Musk, whose companies are being investigated for dozens of workplace safety and health violations, to pursue access to sensitive OSHA data through his inquisition into the Department of Labor."
The union says that the fundamental right of every worker to come home safe at the end of their workday is under attack. “Workers fought and died for generations for the health and safety laws and protections we have today, and this year’s report shows we need to do even more," said Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, in a statement.