Dying for a Job?

On an average day in the United States, 154 workers die from workplace injuries and illnesses and another 17,000 are injured. On-the-job injuries alone cost the economy more than $110 billion a year.

"Though workplace safety and health conditions have improved since the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was founded in 1970, we still have a long way to go," said Dr. Roger Lewis, assistant professor of environmental and occupational health at the School of Public Health. And this need for improvement is especially true for Missouri. While the rest of the country experienced a 5 percent decrease in workplace deaths in 1998, Missouri saw a 15 percent increase.

Based on those startling statistics, it's apparent that workplace safety and health is no small concern. Nationally known experts on this issue gathered on campus for the first "Workers Memorial Safety and Health Conference" April 27.

The conference was held a day before Workers Memorial Day. April 28 was declared Workers Memorial Day in 1989, chosen because it marks the anniversary of the founding of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Workers, community leaders, university students, members of environmental organizations, and safety and health professionals joined together to create a community agenda to raise awareness and lower rates of workplace deaths, injuries and illnesses.

"People take a safe and healthy workplace for granted," Lewis said. "But 60,000 people die every year from workplace injuries and illnesses -- that's the same number of lives lost annually to diabetes. More public attention and financial support is needed so communities and the federal government realize this is a pressing problem."

One reason this issue is not in the forefront may be because it is misunderstood. "This has always been considered a labor management matter, not a public health one," Lewis said. "But many workplace injuries and illnesses are predictable and preventable, and prediction and prevention is at the core of what public health is about."

What jobs are most vulnerable to workplace death, injury and illness? The top "industries of concern" are: automobile manufacturing, construction, health services, steel manufacturing and transportation. And though not in itself an industry, office settings also have a high risk of injury and illness. "These are not obscure jobs we are talking about. There are almost 900,000 people in these lines of work -- and that's just in Missouri," Lewis said.

*** FACTS ON U.S. WORKER FATALITIES, INJURIES AND ILLNESSES

Every year 6,000 Americans die from workplace injuries.

An estimated 50,000 people die from illnesses caused by workplace chemical exposures.

Six million people suffer non-fatal workplace injuries annually.

In 1998, the four most dangerous occupations were: truck driving, farming, sales jobs and construction.

Major causes of job-related fatalities are falls and industrial accidents, transportation accidents, assaults and exposure to harmful substances, fires and explosions.

Work-related injuries and illnesses that occur most frequently in office settings are due to joint problems, eye problems, infectious diseases and violence.

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