Maryland Injury Attorney Blog
Did you know that in the U.S., an average of 12 people die on the job every day? As an experienced Baltimore County work injury lawyer will tell you — no one heads off to work in Maryland not expecting to make it home for dinner that night.
But for people in dangerous jobs, including shipyard workers, commercial truck drivers, farm and agricultural workers, and those in the construction fields, serious and fatal work accidents can and do happen in Maryland.
New Bureau of Labor Statistics reveal that the U.S. as a whole showed little change in the overall number of workers killed on the job last year as compared to 2009. Preliminary results from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries show that in 2010, an estimated 4,547 workers died from work-related injuries, down from 4,551 fatal work injuries in 2009. Some improvements…
–Fatal construction work injuries in the private construction sector declined by 10 percent in the past year, with an overall 40 percent reduction in construction work deaths since 2006. Fatal falls — which account for a large number of construction related deaths, were down by 2 percent in 2010 (from 645 in 2009 to 635 in 2010).
–Homicides in the workplace were down by 7 percent to the lowest nos. ever recorded in this category, however women involved in workplace homicides increased by 13 percent.
–Transportation accidents decreased slightly in 2010 relative to 2009, but still accounted for nearly 2 out of every 5 fatal work injuries in 2010. Long haul commercial truck drivers are among those at risk of serious and fatal work-related accidents.
However some industries showed increased worker deaths. For example, fatalities in the mining industry rose last year, in part due to multiple fatality accidents, including the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana and the Upper Big Branch coal mine explosion in W. Va. In addition, work-related fatalities resulting from fires more than doubled from 53 in 2009 to 109 in 2010. Those are the highest numbers since 2003.
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis made the following statement: “No worker should have to sacrifice his or her life to earn a living. When the Occupational Safety and Health Act [OSHA] was passed in 1970, the National Safety Council estimated that 14,000 workers died each year on the job. Now, with a workforce that has doubled in size, the annual number of fatalities has dropped significantly. But it’s not enough. We cannot relent from our enforcement of laws that keep our nation’s workers safe. One worker killed or injured on the job is one too many.”
That last statement is echoed by Maryland workers compensation attorneys, who work with grieving families when a loved one is injured or killed on the job in Baltimore City, Baltimore County, or elsewhere in Maryland.
Related Maryland Injury Attorney Articles:
Maryland Workers Compensation: The Top 3 Reasons Employers Tell Injured Workers Not to File (And Why You Shouldn’t Listen to Them)
Is Your Maryland Workplace Unsafe? OSHA Announces Plans to Improve Whistleblower Protection Program (Aug. 4, 2011)
Source:
Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Summary, 2010
United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics News Release Aug. 25, 2011