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In 2009 alone, 4,340 workers were killed on the job – an average of 12 workers every day– and an estimated 50,000 died from occupational diseases. Read more »
Now, over 27,000 men and women are working to clean up BP’s toxic mix of oil and chemicals without any breathing protection. Not every single worker needs a respirator – it depends on the specifics of the situation – but many do. Already, cleanup workers have reported vomiting, nosebleeds, headaches, and chest pain. Read more » Cross-posted from www.FixOurJobs.org: Today is Workers Memorial Day, on which we remember the thousands of men, women, and children who are injured or killed on the job. The April 5, 2010 disaster at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, in which 29 miners lost their lives, makes this year’s observance especially poignant. But while that event shocked and galvanized the nation, it was hardly unique. Just days before, an explosion at the Tesoro Refinery in Anacortes killed six workers in Washington. In February, three workers were lost in a gas explosion at the Kleen Energy Plant in Middleton, Connecticut. Every day in the United States, an average of 14 workers die as a result of workplace injuries. There’s a word we can use to describe the majority of these horrible incidents: Preventable. |
