Bonita Springs, FL — With workplace fatalities on the rise in the United States, a new research report from the Work to Zero initiative at the National Safety Council indicates employers “may not be doing enough to protect their workforce.”
According to Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries data released Dec. 17 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 5,250 workers died as a result of on-the-job injuries in 2018 – a 2% increase from 2017 and the highest number of fatalities since 5,657 were recorded in 2007.
The report, “Safety Technology 2020: Mapping Technology Solutions for Reducing Serious Injuries and Fatalities in the Workplace,” reviews the current state of safety technology; provides insights from more than 40 environmental, health and safety professionals; and maps major sources and causal factors of workplace deaths to promising safety technologies.
“The data says it all – while workplace injuries are trending down, workplace fatalities are rising,” NSC President and CEO Lorraine M. Martin said in a Feb. 18 press release. “Hundreds of technologies exist today that have enormous potential to eliminate these preventable deaths. This report is an excellent starting point for employers to understand how new technology can ensure a safer workforce.”
The report looks at 18 various non-roadway, hazardous situations, such as working at height, workplace violence, and repair and maintenance – in which fatal injuries are most likely to occur among workers and provides potential technology solutions for each situation.
The report was presented Feb. 13 during the inaugural Work to Zero Summit.