Today, Tuesday, April 28th, we will remember those who have lost their lives at the workplace in honor of Workers’ Memorial Day. Every year, working people needlessly lose their lives on the job due to a lack of safety standards and precarious working conditions.
This day is particularly solemn in the wake of further roll backs of safety standards across the nation. Working people in all manners of industries and careers are on the front lines of keeping our communities safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, unfortunately, they are met with some of the lowest safety standards we have seen in generations.
In 2018, 332 working people died on the job in the state of Florida, marking a ten-year high. Nationwide 5,250 fatal work injuries occurred, a two percent increase from 2017 and over 50,000 workers lost their lives due to the long-term effects of work-place hazards.
Safety standards across the country have drastically declined as a focus on maximizing profits over the well-being of working people has continued. It has been decades since the Occupational Health and Safety Act, or OSHA, was passed, the last major legislation protecting workers to be put into law. In the last few years, OSHA has been purposefully weakened, the administration is currently without a director and nationally, we have the fewest workplace inspectors in a generation.
Workplace injuries and fatalities can occur in all manners of jobs, not just the traditional image of dangerous construction sites and factories. Across all industries we have seen an increase in risk of workplace violence. Our medical workers are at risk of violence and disease every day, across Florida we have seen an increase in injuries and even death for transit workers, and first responders are increasingly met with violence on the job. This legislative session, the Florida Legislature heard multiple bills that would increase the protections for our state’s transit and mental health employees, unfortunately, they were not passed.
Safety on the job has become even more critical in the face of the current public health crisis we are experiencing. Across the nation, we have heard the horror stories of nurses and healthcare workers having to perform their jobs without access to the proper safety materials to help prevent the spread of the disease. They are not the only ones at risk to the virus. Essential workers in the industries that keep our communities running, like grocery workers and delivery workers, are also in harm’s way.
It’s absolutely critical that our elected officials, both at the national and state level, work to enact policies that protect our working people both during this crisis and after. Each one of these losses is a tragedy. Working people should feel safe knowing that they will make it home from work every day.
Mike Williams is the President of the Florida AFL-CIO which represents over one million union members, retirees and their families in the state of Florida.