U.S. Department of Labor reported an increase in fatal work injuries based on the Bureau of Labor and Statistics 2021 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.
According to a Dec. 16 DOL news release, the study reported a 9% increase in fatal work injuries in 2021. Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker called on "OSHA, employers and other stakeholders to redouble our collective efforts to make out nation;s workplaces safer."
"Each of these deaths cruelly impacts these workers' families, friends, co-workers and communities," Parker said in the release. "They are clear reminders of the important work that must be done."
The census found, among other things, that 5,190 workers suffered fatal work injuries in 2021, which amounts to one worker dying on the job somewhere in the U.S. every 101 minutes, according to the release.
The number of workers who died last year included 653 Black workers, an all-time high for that segment of workers, according to the census, which also found that Black and Latino workers had disproportionately higher fatality rates than did other worker groups in 2021, the release reported.
"These are deeply troubling facts," Parker said in the release.
Keeping down the rate of U.S. worker deaths is a focus of OSHA, according to the release.
"OSHA and its thousands of professionals across the nation are determined to enforce the law while working with employers, workers, labor unions, trade associations and other stakeholders to ensure that every worker in the U.S. ends their workday safely." Parker said in the release.
