Sawmill Cited by OSHA for Violations After a Worker Was Killed

DALLAS – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Nix Forest Industries Inc. in Timpson, Texas, with 17 safety and health violations, including one willful, after a worker was killed in December 2012 when he was struck by a broken band saw blade and other workers were exposed to hazards at the sawmill.

The willful violation resulted from failing to use control procedures for hazardous energy when cleaning, removing debris and unjamming equipment and machinery. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.

Some of the 14 serious safety violations cited include failing to provide easily understood lockout/tagout training for energy control, failing to certify that energy control training was completed and current and failing to ensure that tagout devices were affixed to clearly indicate the operation or movement of the energy isolating device. Violations were also cited for failing to guard machines, ensure that pulleys with parts less than 7 feet from the floor were guarded, ensure that entry point warning signs were posted at possible low carriage areas, ensure band saw wheels were completely enclosed or guarded, and ensure flexible cords and cables were not used as substitutes for fixed wiring. One health violation was cited for failing to administer an effective hearing conservation program for workers exposed to occupational noise. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

An other-than-serious violation was cited for failing to ensure that an OSHA 300A injury and illness form was properly certified. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.

“Nix Forest Industries failed to take adequate measures to protect workers from a variety of hazards, including being struck-by and caught-between machinery and equipment,” said Stephen Boyd, OSHA’s area director in Dallas. “Following OSHA standards saves lives. This unfortunate loss of life could possibly have been avoided.”

The citations can be viewed at http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/NixForestIndustriesInc_771461_0603_13.pdf* and http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/NixForestIndustriesInc_798862_0603_13.pdf*.

Proposed penalties total $116,200. The company, which specializes in cutting lumber to size for its customers, has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s Dallas area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency’s Dallas office at 214-320-2400.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions exist for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration

WI Cheese Worker Loses Fingers To Unguarded Machine

Gilman, WI (WorkersCompensation.com) – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Gilman Cheese Corp. for 10 safety violations totaling $126,700 in proposed fines. A worker had two fingers amputated by an unguarded cheese packing and labeling machine at the Gilman factory. A January inspection was prompted by a referral. OSHA found that another worker suffered a similar amputation in January 2012.

“This tragedy could have been prevented if Gilman Cheese Corp. ensured adequate machine guarding and lockout/tagout procedures,” said Mark Hysell, OSHA’s area director in Eau Claire. “Too often, compromised safety procedures have tragic consequences. OSHA is committed to protecting workers on the job.”

Two willful violations involve failing to develop and train workers on machine-specific lockout procedures to prevent unexpected start-up and lockout machinery during servicing and maintenance, and to provide adequate machine guarding. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.

Additionally, six serious violations involve inadequate guarding on a bench grinder and a portable grinder; lack of adequate emergency eyewash stations for workers handling corrosives; operating powered industrial vehicles without adequate training and inspections; using a flexible cord as permanent wiring; lack of an electrical safety program; and failing to provide training on bloodborne pathogens to those who cleaned equipment following the amputation. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

Two other-than-serious violations include obstructing a means of egress and using compressed air greater than 30 pounds per square inch for cleaning. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.

Because of the hazards and the willful violations cited, Gilman Cheese Corp. has been placed in OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program, which mandates targeted follow-up inspections to ensure compliance with the law. Under the program, OSHA may inspect any of the employer’s facilities or job sites. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=DIRECTIVESp_id=4503.

The current citations may be viewed at http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/Gilman_Cheese_Corp_829801_06-07-13.pdf*. The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

OSHA : Caseworker’s stabbing death " could have been prevented "

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Dade City, Florida — The U.S. Labor Department’s OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, says the death of a young caseworker in Dade City this past December “could have been prevented”.

OSHA has cited Integra Health Management, of Owings Mills, Md., with two violations following an incident in December 2012 during which Stephanie Ross was fatally stabbed by a patient in front of his Dade City home.

Ross was meeting Lucious Smith for a required face-to-face hospitalization risk assessment to make sure the 53-year-old was taking his medications, and that his paperwork for treatment was in order. She was overcome by Smith and stabbed multiple times while attempting to flee in a brutal attack witnessed by neighbors.

RELATED: Neighbors, co-workers mourn murdered healthcare worker

SEE ALSO: Family of murdered healthcare worker speaks

According to records, Smith has a criminal past dating back three decades and spent more than a dozen years behind bars on charges including aggravated assault.

At the time, Nora Webster, one of Ross’ neighbors, questioned why a 25-year-old caseworker was sent to Smith’s home.

“She should never have gone in that house, from what I read about him,” said Webster.

After the incident, Maryland-based Integra Health Management sent top executives to Tampa to counsel and console Ross’ co-workers.

At the time, the company had about a dozen people work for the company in the Tampa Bay region. Integra’s Chief Operating Officer Dee Brown said each team member receives safety training and are told their own welfare comes first.

Before her last visit with Smith, Brown said, “he was an individual that Stephanie had met with several times already. So, she was not unknown to him and he was not unknown to her.”

However, an investigation revealed Ross had previously raised concerns about Smith.

As a result, OSHA says a serious safety violation has been cited for “exposing employees to incidents of violent behavior by a patient that resulted in death”. OSHA goes on to explain a serious violation occurs “when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known”.

One “other-than-serious violation” also has been cited for the employer’s failure to report a workplace fatality. An other-than-serious violation, it explains, is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.

“This incident could have been prevented if the employer had a comprehensive, written, workplace violence prevention program to address hazards and assist employees when they raise concerns about their safety,” said Teresa Harrison, OSHA’s acting regional administrator for the Southeast.

Integra Health Management has its corporate office in Owings Mills, with service coordinator operations in Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Florida. The company conducts mental and physical health assessments and coordinates health care for members through community service coordinators. Service coordinators work from their homes or in the field.

The citations for the serious and other-than-serious violations carry $10,500 in proposed penalties.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Smith was deemed competent to stand trial back in February and is still in jail awaiting his trial for first degree murder.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration says Dade City caseworker …

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Eric Glasser

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Dade City, Florida — The U.S. Labor Department’s OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, says the death of a young caseworker in Dade City this past December “could have been prevented”.

OSHA has cited Integra Health Management, of Owings Mills, Md., with two violations following an incident in December 2012 during which Stephanie Ross was fatally stabbed by a patient in front of his Dade City home.

Ross was meeting Lucious Smith for a required face-to-face hospitalization risk assessment to make sure the 53-year-old was taking his medications, and that his paperwork for treatment was in order. She was overcome by Smith and stabbed multiple times while attempting to flee in a brutal attack witnessed by neighbors.

RELATED: Neighbors, co-workers mourn murdered healthcare worker

SEE ALSO: Family of murdered healthcare worker speaks

According to records, Smith has a criminal past dating back three decades and spent more than a dozen years behind bars on charges including aggravated assault.

At the time, Nora Webster, one of Ross’ neighbors, questioned why a 25-year-old caseworker was sent to Smith’s home.

“She should never have gone in that house, from what I read about him,” said Webster.

After the incident, Maryland-based Integra Health Management sent top executives to Tampa to counsel and console Ross’ co-workers.

At the time, the company had about a dozen people work for the company in the Tampa Bay region. Integra’s Chief Operating Officer Dee Brown said each team member receives safety training and are told their own welfare comes first.

Before her last visit with Smith, Brown said, “he was an individual that Stephanie had met with several times already. So, she was not unknown to him and he was not unknown to her.”

However, an investigation revealed Ross had previously raised concerns about Smith.

As a result, OSHA says a serious safety violation has been cited for “exposing employees to incidents of violent behavior by a patient that resulted in death”. OSHA goes on to explain a serious violation occurs “when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known”.

One “other-than-serious violation” also has been cited for the employer’s failure to report a workplace fatality. An other-than-serious violation, it explains, is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.

“This incident could have been prevented if the employer had a comprehensive, written, workplace violence prevention program to address hazards and assist employees when they raise concerns about their safety,” said Teresa Harrison, OSHA’s acting regional administrator for the Southeast.

Integra Health Management has its corporate office in Owings Mills, with service coordinator operations in Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Florida. The company conducts mental and physical health assessments and coordinates health care for members through community service coordinators. Service coordinators work from their homes or in the field.

The citations for the serious and other-than-serious violations carry $10,500 in proposed penalties.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Smith was deemed competent to stand trial back in February and is still in jail awaiting his trial for first degree murder.

Texas Sawmill Cited After A Worker Was Killed

Dallas, TX (WorkersCompensation.com) – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Nix Forest Industries Inc. in Timpson, Texas, with 17 safety and health violations, including one willful, after a worker was killed in December 2012 when he was struck by a broken band saw blade and other workers were exposed to hazards at the sawmill.

The willful violation resulted from failing to use control procedures for hazardous energy when cleaning, removing debris and unjamming equipment and machinery. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.

Some of the 14 serious safety violations cited include failing to provide easily understood lockout/tagout training for energy control, failing to certify that energy control training was completed and current and failing to ensure that tagout devices were affixed to clearly indicate the operation or movement of the energy isolating device. Violations were also cited for failing to guard machines, ensure that pulleys with parts less than 7 feet from the floor were guarded, ensure that entry point warning signs were posted at possible low carriage areas, ensure band saw wheels were completely enclosed or guarded, and ensure flexible cords and cables were not used as substitutes for fixed wiring. One health violation was cited for failing to administer an effective hearing conservation program for workers exposed to occupational noise. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

An other-than-serious violation was cited for failing to ensure that an OSHA 300A injury and illness form was properly certified. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.

“Nix Forest Industries failed to take adequate measures to protect workers from a variety of hazards, including being struck-by and caught-between machinery and equipment,” said Stephen Boyd, OSHA’s area director in Dallas. “Following OSHA standards saves lives. This unfortunate loss of life could possibly have been avoided.”

The citations can be viewed at http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/NixForestIndustriesInc_771461_0603_13.pdf* and http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/NixForestIndustriesInc_798862_0603_13.pdf*.

Proposed penalties total $116,200. The company, which specializes in cutting lumber to size for its customers, has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s Dallas area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

WI Foundry Cited For Exposing Workers To Coal Tar Pitch And Formaldehyde

Waukesha, WI (WorkersCompensation.com) – Castalloy Inc. has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for 14 safety and health violations as the result of a follow-up inspection at the company’s Waukesha foundry on Nov. 28, 2012. The inspection found two repeat violations for allowing workers to be exposed to coal tar pitch volatiles in excess of permissible exposure limits and failing to provide medical surveillance for workers exposed to formaldehyde. OSHA has proposed fines totaling $83,160.

“Castalloy has failed in its responsibility to monitor exposure to hazardous materials and to provide proper respiratory and personal protective equipment to its foundry workers,” said Chris Zortman, OSHA’s area director in Milwaukee. “Repeat violations demonstrate a lack of commitment to worker safety and health.”

The November inspection follows one in February 2011 where the company was cited for exposing workers to both coal tar pitch volatiles above the permissible exposure limit and to formaldehyde above the action level. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.

Nine serious violations include exposure to formaldehyde in excess of the 8-hour OSHA permissible exposure limit, lack of eye protection for formaldehyde exposure and failing to post restricted warning signs regarding the use of formaldehyde. Other violations involve OSHA’s respiratory protection standards, including inadequate respirators for protection from coal tar pitch volatiles, allowing a respirator to be worn with a beard, deficient medical evaluations and changing cartridges without leaving the respirator use area and infrequently changing cartridges. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

Three other-than-serious violations were issued involving personal protective equipment, machine safety and an electrical panel. An other-than-serious violation is one that has direct relationship on job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.

The steel foundry employs 132 workers. Six of the 13 previous inspections since 1976 have resulted in citations. The last inspection in 2011 was conducted under the primary metal industries local emphasis program. Castalloy Inc. has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Safety checklist for your first office space

This week’s “Ask the Mompreneur” features an interview with Ed Foulke, former head of OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, from 2006 to 2008.  Foulke is now a partner at Fisher Phillips LLP, a law firm that represents employers across the country.

Ask the Mompreneur:

Many owners of growing businesses will need to rent commercial office space when they outgrow the spare bedroom.  What do they need to do when setting up their space to ensure safety and avoid potential liability?

Ed Foulke:

When beginning a new venture and purchasing or renting an office or building space, many small business owners assume there are no safety or health issues or that those issues are handled by the seller or rental management agent.  Such an assumption is wrong and, in many cases, could result in the small business owner being faced with significant OSHA penalties for safety and health violations.

Every entrepreneur needs to realize that once he or she starts their new venture and hire their first employee, they are automatically covered under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and subject to safety and health inspections by Compliance Officers with OSHA.  In addition, depending on the state in which the new business is started, there may be additional safety and health laws which have been promulgated by that particular state or local government entity.

There are three broad areas of safety and health concerns that all entrepreneurs must examine when setting up their first office space.  The first concern involves the physical structure to be purchased or rented.  It is critical that the entrepreneur receive written assurances that the space being purchased or rented complies fully with the state and local building codes, the life safety codes and all OSHA safety and health standards.  Specifically, from an OSHA perspective, the small business owner must determine if there are any physical safety and health hazards to which employees may be exposed.  Those physical hazards may include electrical hazards, walking and working surface issues, sanitation, exit routes, ventilation, noise exposure, hazardous materials, fire protection, and machine guarding.  The owner must also closely examine whether there are any other health hazards, including mold, hazardous chemicals or substances in the walls, ceilings and carpeting and, if the building is built before 1980, that either all the asbestos in the space has been removed or is in a non-friable state, thus not exposing any employees to asbestos fibers.

The second major concern involves the selection of equipment and office furniture.  Clearly the set-up of the office furniture must be examined to ensure that no exit routes are being blocked and that there is free access to all exits for emergency use.  In addition, the business owner must review ergonomic issues associated with the selection of office furniture and equipment, particularly the placement of computer keyboards.  The entrepreneur also needs to ensure there are no electrical hazards associated with improper wiring or use of extension cords in lieu of permanent wiring.  Finally, the business owner should also examine the work site to ensure that the use of office equipment, and particularly electrical cords, does not present a tripping hazard for the employees.

The final concern involves other safety and health issues of which the small business owner must be aware.  These issues can include state and local safety regulations not covered under the two concerns set forth above.  In addition, the entrepreneur must determine (1) if there are any safety and health hazards that would necessitate the use of personal protective equipment at the work site; and (2) if any safety training will be necessary to meet the requirements of either OSHA safety and health standards or the use of protective equipment.

Lastly, every entrepreneur or small business owner needs to be aware that if their employees are present while the office space is being setup and outside contractors are being utilized, OSHA’s multi-employer citation policy could be applicable.  If outside vendors and contractors are working on or in the entrepreneur’s space, the entrepreneur becomes the “controlling” employer of the site and thus is responsible for any safety and health violations caused by the contractor or vendor where employees are exposed to a safety or health hazard.  In this scenario, the entrepreneur or small business owner may be cited by OSHA and receive penalties for safety and health violations that have been created by their contractors or vendors.

It is clear that there are many safety and health issues to which small business owners could be exposed when starting up and purchasing or renting their first office space.  These issues can be easily addressed, but it is critical that the small business owner realizes and addresses those issues before they become potential OSHA violations.

For additional resources for small business, check out www.osha.gov.

Jennie Wong, Ph.D. is an executive coach, author of “Ask the Mompreneur,” and founder of the social shopping startup CartCentric.com. Follow her on Twitter @DrJennieWong.

Some facts about worker safety in North Carolina

The safety and health of American workers is the subject of “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect,” an extensive report released last week by the AFL-CIO.

In 2011, there were 148 workplace fatalities in North Carolina. One-third of these deaths involved transportation incidents, while about 20 percent resulted from violence and assault. Latino workers are at particular risk for occupational death and injury, as they often work in markedly hazardous industries such as construction and agriculture. Undocumented workers may also be hesitant to report poor working conditions.

The report examines job safety and health at state and federal levels, including statistics on fatalities, injuries and illnesses by type, industry, race and gender. It finds that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) conducts too few inspections and that penalties for violating health and safety standards are too weak to motivate employers to make needed adjustments. The report suggests revising the Occupational Safety and Health Act and calls for renewed commitment to worker welfare from policymakers who control OSHA funding.

3.7 North Carolina’s workplace fatality rate per 100,000 workers

78,000 cases of workplace injuries and illnesses

59 years it would take for OSHA to inspect each workplace once

$970 average penalty for a serious safety or health violation

Note: Figures for 2011 and 2012
Source: AFL-CIO

This article appeared in print with the headline “Toil and trouble.”

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Workplace fatalities in North Carolina in 2011

51 Transportation incidents

29 Assaults and violent acts

28 Falls

24 Contact with objects and equipment

12 Exposure to harmful substances or environments

4 Fires and explosions

148 Total

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Senator Pressures OMB on Delayed Safety Regulations

In performing its much-discussed cost-benefit analysis on proposed regulations, the Office of Management and Budget is dangerously delaying key health and safety regulations, a senator has told newly installed White House Budget Director Sylvia Mathews Burwell.

In at least two cases, the delays are one and even two years past the 90-day deadline set by presidential executive order, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight, Federal Rights and Agency Action, wrote in a May 7 letter criticizing OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. “Currently, 84 of the 153 regulatory actions pending review at OIRA have been there longer than 90 days,” he wrote.

The three long-in-process proposed rules Blumenthal singled out as most threatening to health and safety are an Occupational Safety and Health Administration plan to protect workers from inhaling toxic silica dust (814 days under review); a Transportation Department rule intended to expand visibility in and around cars to protect children from being backed over by vehicles (539 days); and a Food and Drug Administration proposal to limit the amount of arsenic in consumer-level containers of apple and grape juice.

“I’m writing OMB to remind the agency that there are human costs to delay,” Blumenthal said. “Parents should not have to worry about whether the juice they give their child has arsenic in it, and workers should not have to risk contracting lung disease while on the job. Rules and guidelines that could prevent both of these problems have been moved from the back burner to the deep freeze at OMB. Another regulation that would decrease deaths due to back-over accidents has been stuck at OMB for years.”

He asked Burwell to estimate the completion dates for pending regulations and report them publicly, especially when the cost-benefit analysis requires more than 90 days. “Undue delay in the rulemaking process poses costs on the public, creates uncertainty in the industry, and reflects poorly on OIRA’s role in the regulatory process by giving the impression that life-saving public policy is being bottled up for political reasons or due to pressure from special interests,” he wrote.

OIRA has been under an acting director since Cass Sunstein left last August. Obama has nominated Federal Trade Commission economist and law professor Howard Shelanski for the post.

Blumenthal’s move cheered Amit Narang, regulatory policy advocate at Public Citizen, who called it “much needed and long overdue. Getting these rules out to the public and structural changes in terms of OIRA meeting their deadlines and transparency around their decision-making should be top priorities for the new head.”

Katie Greenhaw, a regulatory policy analyst with the Center for Effective Government (formerly OMB Watch), said “it is significant that Sen. Blumenthal, as chair of the Judiciary oversight subcommittee, is raising in a formal way the concerns that worker safety and public interest groups have been raising for a while. It rightly gets at the real impacts of these delays.” The letter’s timing, she added, is also significant given the new team assembling at OMB.

Workplace safety report released

Kansas ranked 40th among the states for its relatively high rate of work-related fatalities, according to the latest annual report by the AFL-CIO on the status of U.S. occupational safety.

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Death on the Job

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Mining, including oil and gas extraction, and agriculture remained the most dangerous job sectors, according to the study, and most states that fared poorly in the ranking were strong agriculture or mining states. Kansas had 78 workplace deaths in 2011, the last year included in the report. It also had 34,400 injuries or incidents of job-related illness.

The report’s authors concluded that the U.S. has too few job safety inspectors given that there are millions of job sites and described the nation’s safety regulation as “woefully inadequate.”

“The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the state OSHA plans have a total of 1,938 inspectors (873 federal and 1,065 state inspectors) to inspect the 8 million workplaces under the OSH Act’s jurisdiction,” they stated. “Federal OSHA can inspect workplaces on average once every 131 years; the state OSHA plans can inspect them once every 76 years. The current level of federal and state OSHA inspectors provides one inspector for every 66,776 workers.

The study said Kansas only had 14 federal job safety inspectors and no state inspectors. The federal officials inspected 786 of the state’s 87,223 work establishments in fiscal 2012.

The state’s with the highest job fatality rates were North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Alaska and Arkansas. Those with the lowest rates were New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Washington, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

The report said that after early reductions in workplace deaths after enactment of federal occupational safety laws in the 1970s, the rate of deaths has held steady in recent years:

“In 2011, according to final fatality data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4,693 workers were killed on the job—an average of 13 workers every day—and an estimated 50,000 died from occupational diseases. More than 3.8 million work-related injuries and illnesses were reported, but this number understates the problem. The true toll of job injuries is two to three times greater—about 7.6 million to 11.4 million job injuries and illnesses each year. After years of steady decline, for the past three years the job fatality rate has essentially been unchanged, with a rate of 3.5/100,000 workers in 2011. Similarly, from 2010 to 2011 there was no change in the reported workplace injury and illness rate (3.5/100 workers in the private sector), indicating that greater efforts are needed if we are to make further progress in reducing job injuries and deaths.”

According to the study there were 13,800 workplace fatalities among 77.7 million workers in 1970 versus 4,693 deaths among 147.2 million workers in 2011.

The KHI News Service is an editorially independent initiative of the Kansas Health Institute and is committed to timely, objective and in-depth coverage of health issues and the policy making environment. Find more about the News Service at khi.org/newsservice or contact us at (785) 783-2529.