20 April, 2009
Every year, on April 28, the world commemorates workers killed, injured, or made ill as a result of their jobs.
How many are there? Collecting good data on occupational injuries and deaths is very difficult. The most credible source of international statistics is the ILO. Their numbers are staggering. The ILO has estimated that globally, there are two million work-related deaths annually. That's more than 5,000 every day, and for every fatality, hundreds more injuries and illnesses occur.
These numbers, as incredible as they seem, are generally believed to be gross underestimates.
Fatalities are under reported by workers and employers. Often, an occupational fatality is not identified as such. Once reported, a fatality must be "accepted" or recognized by a country's regulatory authority or workers' compensation board to be counted among the statistics. In many jurisdictions, large numbers of workers are exempt from workers' compensation coverage. Data for injuries are even less reliable than for fatalities.
Worker deaths that are immediate and obvious tend to be recognized. Deaths due to illnesses that have an occupational origin are rarely recognized. Cancer is one of the biggest work-related killers, but rarely is it properly acknowledged. Relatively few occupational diseases are recorded in official statistics.
Injury and illness data are notoriously subject to bias and methodological problems. Many workers' injuries, illnesses, and even fatalities, are simply never recorded. Workers' compensation assessments and insurance premiums are often based on these statistics, creating a huge financial incentive for employers to suppress or discourage the reporting of accidents.
This is done in a number of ways, ranging from schemes that bring injured workers into the workplace so their injuries won't be counted as "lost time," to sophisticated psychological techniques like "behaviour-based" safety programs. Threats of discipline or discharge following a reported accident are not uncommon. "Post-incident drug-testing" has been highly effective in causing workers to conceal injuries rather than risk a false-positive test result.
In the days leading up to 28 April, many statistics will be quoted. Appalling as the numbers may be, the truth is probably far worse.
In the end, 28 April is not about numbers, it is about people. Next week, on Tuesday, let us pause and remember those who paid for their livelihoods with their lives or their health. Then let us renew the fight for safe and healthy workplaces.