SWEETWATER COUNTY — The following is a press release from the AFL-CIO.
The full text follows:
On April 28, the unions of the AFL-CIO observe Worker’s Memorial Day to remember those who have suffered and died on the job and to renew the fight for safe jobs.
The Occupational and Safety Health Act and the Mine Safety and Health Act promise workers the right to a safe job. Unions and our allies have fought hard to make that promise a reality, winning protections that have made jobs safer, saved hundreds of thousands of lives and prevented millions of workplace injuries and illnesses.
But our work is not done. Each year, thousands of workers across the country are killed and millions more suffer injury or illness because of their jobs. Workplace fatalities are on the rise again.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Census of 2016 Fatal Occupational Injuries (latest statistics available) reports there were 5,190 workplace fatalities in 2016, a 7-percent increase from 2015. The fatal injury rate also increased from 3.4 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers in 2015 to 3.6 in 2016.
New safety rules to protect workers from deadly silica dust and beryllium, a stronger coal dust standard for miners and stronger anti-retaliation protections for workers who report injuries are all now threatened. The current administration has launched an all out attack on regulations, declaring that for each new protection, two existing safeguards must be removed.
The Southwest Wyoming Central Labor Council urges all workers to work safely. Follow your employer’s safety procedures, use your personal protective equipment, pay close attention to the tag-out/lock-out and confined space procedures, encourage your coworkers to follow procedures and never let anyone pressure you into doing something unsafe. Remember, your greatest responsibility is to your family and loved ones. Make sure you return to them whole and healthy.
