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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 2011)
April 15, 2011:NWLP 4/12/11 10:17 AM 1 Fishing Workers Fatal injury rate: 200 deaths per 100,000 workers Total deaths: 56 2 Logging Workers Fatal injury rate: 61.8 deaths per 100,000 workers Total deaths: 34 3 Aircraft Pilots/Flight Engineers Fatal injury rate: 57.1 deaths per 100,000 workers Total deaths: 63 4 Farmers and Ranchers Fatal injury rate: 38.5 deaths per 100,000 workers Total deaths: 293 5 Roofers Fatal injury rate: 34.7 deaths per 100,000 workers Total deaths: 60 6 Iron and Steel Workers Fatal injury rate: 30.3 deaths per 100,000 workers Total deaths: 18 7 Sanitation Workers, Including Recycling Collectors Fatal injury rate: 25.2 deaths per 100,000 workers Total deaths: 19 Page 2 The most dangerous jobs in America Fishers, loggers, and airplane pilots have the most dangerous jobs in the United States, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Using the most recent data avail- able, workers in the fishing-related in- dustry died from workplace injuries at the rate of 200 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers in 2009. That’s 60 times greater than the rate of 3.3 per 100,000 for the overall workforce. For loggers, the fatality rate was 61.8 per 100,000, and for aircraft pilots and flight engineers, 57.1 per 100,000. Construction and transportation and warehousing occupations registered the most deaths overall per sector, at 816 and 579 respectively. But because those deaths are counted against a larger population of workers in those fields, the fatality rates for both occu- pations — 9.7 and 12.1 per 100,000 — don’t even make the top 10. The BLS reported that 4,021 men died from workplace injuries in 2009, compared with 319 women. Twenty-six percent of the workers killed were between the ages of 45 and 54. Four in 10 workplace deaths in 2009 took place while driving. Another 18 percent involved assaults and homi- cide. Other leading causes included ex- plosions (3 percent of deaths), falls (14 percent), exposure to harmful sub- Senate resolution commemorates Workers Memorial Day in Washington OLYMPIA — With this month’s one-year anniversary of the deadly Tesoro refinery explosion in Anacortes that killed seven workers, and with the significant increase in workplace fatal- ities in the state of Washington in 2010, this year’s Workers Memorial Day commemorations planned in Belling- ham, Everett, Spokane, Tacoma and Tumwater will be especially poignant and meaningful. Additionally, on April 11, State Sen. Karen Keiser (D-Kent) read a resolu- tion commemorating April 28 as Workers Memorial Day. “I have put forth a Senate Resolution to not only commemorate Workers Memorial Day, but to honor the women and men who have perished as a result of work- place illnesses, diseases, or accidents,” Keiser wrote in a letter to the Washing- ton State Labor Council. Many union members and families were in the Senate gallery to listen to the reading. For a complete list of Workers Me- morial Day events planned in Wash- ington, go to www.wslc.org. stances (9 percent) and being struck by objects (10 percent). The preliminary total of 4,340 fatal work injuries was down from a final count of 5,214 fatal work injuries in 2008. The 2009 total represents the smallest annual preliminary total since the BLS’Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program was first con- ducted in 1992. Some of that, the bu- reau told the New York Times, was caused by a 6 percent decline in total work hours. But the BLS acknowl- edged another likely reason for the de- cline was that deficit-plagued state agencies had been delayed in collect- ing information and reporting deaths resulting from workplace injuries. The safest jobs in America are in the fields of education, training and health services, with 0.7 deaths per 100,000. Former Labor Press editor helped pass workers’ comp law in Oregon Former Oregon Labor Press Editor William A. Marshall was considered “the godfather” of Oregon’s workers’ compensa- tion law. A member of the Multnomah Typo- graphical Union No. 58, Marshall helped push through a law to provide compensation to injured workers and widows and orphans of those fatally hurt. In 1912, Gov. Oswald West appointed Marshall to the first State Industrial Accident Commission, where he served until 1927. In that job he became known nationally as an authority on what at that time was referred to WILLIAM MARSHALL as “workermen’s compensation.” Later, he was appointed an administrator in Seattle of the federal job-injury compensation program for long- shoremen and harbor workers. William Marshall died in Seattle in 1963 at age 88. 8 Industrial Machinery Installers and Maintenance Workers Fatal injury rate: 18.5 deaths per 100,000 workers Total deaths: 81 9 Drivers, Including Sales and Truck Operators Fatal injury rate: 18.3 deaths per 100,000 workers Total deaths: 586 10 Construction Laborers (Not Including Equipment Operators) Fatal injury rate: 18.3 deaths per 100,000 workers Total deaths: 224 Rain Forest Boots Made in America! Try a pair on, youʼll like them. Tough boots for the Northwest. ALʼS SHOES 5811 SE 82nd, Portland 503-771-2130 Mon-Fri 10-7:30 Sat 10-5:30 Sun 12-6 PAGE 2 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS APRIL 15, 2011
