55 Years After OSHA Opened Its Doors, Trump Administration Attacks Workers’ Rights and Protections, Wiping Away Decades of Progress
Workers are dying and being injured on the job as the Trump administration cuts essential funding and staffing and directs resources away from the agencies and policies that protect workers and hold employers accountable, according to a new report released today by the AFL-CIO.
Ahead of Workers Memorial Day on April 28, the AFL-CIO released its 35th annual “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect” report, a comprehensive analysis of the state of workers’ health and safety at the national and state levels. Findings include:
Workplace hazards kill approximately 140,000 workers each year in the United States—more than 380 workers each day.
5,070 workers died from traumatic injury on the job in 2024, the latest year of data available, and an estimated 135,000 died from occupational diseases. An estimated 530 workers died from heat alone.
Black workers still die on the job at a disproportionately higher rate than the national average.
Latino workers continue to face the greatest risk of dying on the job in 2024, at a rate 30% higher than the national average. Of the Latino workers who died, 68.5% were immigrants, a larger percentage than in previous years.
The rate of young worker deaths has nearly doubled since 2020, and workers ages 65 and older are nearly three times as likely to die on the job than other workers.
Workplace injuries create an enormous burden on the economy, costing an estimated $177 billion to $354 billion a year.
Underreporting is widespread, and the true toll of work-related injuries and illnesses is estimated to be between 5.0 million and 7.5 million each year in private industry.