Today marks Workers Memorial Day, observed annually to honor workers who have died on the job due to the negligence of others. As in years past, this holiday leaves us no cause for celebration - Workers Memorial Day serves as a grim reminder that our own government agencies responsible for protecting workers, particularly OSHA and MSHA, have been asleep at the wheel under Elaine’s watch.  

Putting the kibosh on claims made by Elaine and her surrogates that workers are safer under her watch, the latest figures from the Labor Department’s own Bureau of Labor Statistics report reveal a startling finding.

In 2006, 5,840 workers died while on the job, marking a 2 percent increase in workplace fatalities from 2005. Even more troubling, BNA points out:

The revised figures show that fatalities for Hispanic workers rose from 923 deaths in 2005 to 990 in 2006. The death rate also increased, from 4.7 deaths per 100,000 workers in 2005 to 5.0 in 2006, BLS found.

The largest revision in fatalities by occupation was in transportation and material moving operations–up by 38 fatalities from the preliminary report for a total of 1,501 deaths in 2006, BLS said. This was followed by construction and extraction occupations–up by 15 deaths for a total of 1,273 fatalities in 2006, according to the agency.

This despite claims from Elaine’s PR mouthpiece who recently stated that “Worker-fatality, injury and illness rates are at record lows under this administration’s leadership.”

On this year’s Workers Memorial Day, it’s time to separate fact from fiction as we seek to remind ourselves of the progress still left undone in the fight for safe and healthy workplaces. 

This entry was posted by Jon Steed on Monday, April 28th, 2008 at 11:01 am to , Department of Labor, Elaine Chao, Health & Safety.
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