work-related deaths

National COSH calls 10-year spike in workplace deaths “preventable and unacceptable”

December 23, 2019

A ten-year spike in workplace deaths is unacceptable and calls for urgent action, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) said today. “As we prepare to gather with our families this holiday season, everyone who is committed to workplace safety will be thinking about the 5,250 U.S. workers who will never see their loved ones again,” said Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, co-executive director of National COSH.

N. Dakota oilfields claim second life in a week

June 22, 2016

In the second oilfield fatality in North Dakota this week, a worker died Monday after being struck by the boom of a crane.

After safest year in history, three coal mining deaths in 19 days

January 22, 2016

Last year saw the fewest U.S. mining deaths since such data was recorded, but events so far this year suggest that 2016 will not be nearly as safe for coal miners.

A U.S. Department of Labor blog post

A commitment to keeping workers safe

December 18, 2015

The fatal explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine in 2010 shocked the nation. It was the worst mine disaster in the United States in decades, with 29 coal miners losing their lives. Earlier this month, jurors in West Virginia sent a clear message that no mine operator is above the law when they found former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship guilty of conspiracy to willfully violate mine health and safety standards.

NYC considers tougher penalties for unsafe contractors

16 construction workers killed so far this year

December 14, 2015

In a response to New York City’s alarming construction fatality rate, the Big Apple’s City Council is considering tough new legislation that would punish contractors who violate safety regulations.

Cirque du Soleil returns to Las Vegas stage after acrobat’s death

June 30, 2015

Late last year, performances resumed in a Cirque du Soleil show after changes were made to the choreography and equipment used in the scene in which a performer died in a fall.

7,600-pound conveyor crushes worker after weld failure

KCI Inc., Ford Kansas City Assembly Plant cited in employee's death

June 16, 2015

The death of a 52-year-old contractor, crushed by a conveyor carriage weighing nearly 4 tons at an automotive assembly plant, could have been averted if his employer followed federal safety standards, OSHA investigators determined.

Seven-ton buoy hits, kills 2 workers at Pearl Harbor naval facility

Two others injured

June 15, 2015

Stronger safety measures may have saved the lives of two workers who died at a Pearl Harbor naval maintenance facility in December 2014 after being struck by a 7-ton buoy, which has led OSHA to order safety upgrades.

Lack of PPE, training cost electrician his life

Ferro Magnetics cited for 1 willful, 14 serious safety violations

May 20, 2015

A 31-year-old assembly technician had only been working for a battery charger manufacturer for about a month when he was killed on the job.

Occupational exposure is OSHA’s focus for this year’s Workers’ Memorial Day

April 24, 2015

OSHA’s national Workers’ Memorial Day commemoration this year has a specific theme: toxic chemical exposure. The ceremony, which will take place April 28 from 2-3 p.m. at the Frances Perkins Building Auditorium in Washington, D.C., will include: