150 workers die each day from hazardous work conditions: AFL-CIO study

About 150 workers each day died as a result of hazardous working conditions in 2015, according to a new labor analysis.

The AFL-CIO study released Wednesday found 4,836 workers died after suffering workplace injuries in 2015, the most recent year data is available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In addition to the employees who died from workplace injuries, the AFL-CIO pointed to an estimate from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) that another 50,000 workers died from illnesses and occupational diseases contracted at work.

The AFL-CIO combined the figures to determine that 150 employees are killed each day from either injuries or illnesses suffered at the workplace.

The numbers were about the same as the labor group’s analysis for 2014 and 2013.

{mosads}“Corporate negligence and weak safety laws have resulted in tragedy for an astonishing and unacceptable number of working families,” said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.

“Instead of working for stronger protections, too many Republican politicians in Washington, including the Trump administration, are trying to roll back commonsense regulations that enable workers to return home safely to their families,” he added.

The AFL-CIO claims older Americans and immigrant workers are among the most vulnerable people in the workplace.

One-third of the workers who died from workplace injuries were over the age of 55. 

The fatality rates of workers over 65 and Latinos are notably above average as well.

And the number of immigrant workers killed on the job — 943 — climbed to the highest level in 10 years. This figure partially overlaps with the number of Latinos killed on the job.

Construction workers are more likely than those in other industries to be killed on the job, with 937 dying from workplace injuries they suffered in 2015.

Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming are the most dangerous states to work, according to the AFL-CIO.