Workers Memorial Day spotlights deaths, injuries on the job

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_5509

28 April 2013

WASHINGTON - The food on your dining table comes at a particularly high price, not in dollars and cents, but in lives.

A recent report from the Center for Progressive Reform, citing federal data, says one farm worker dies on the job every day of the year. Hundreds more get injured or ill. The report was issued as unions across the country commemorated April 28 as Workers Memorial Day, a time to remember those killed and injured on the job and renew the commitment to workplace safety.

”The hazards of farm work run the gamut,” the report adds. “Oppressive heat is common in every area with major agriculture. Heavy loads and repetitive motion strain workers’ bodies. Slips, trips, and falls happen on a regular basis. Irrigation equipment can electrocute workers. Tractors overturn. Workers can become entrapped in grain silos and engulfed in clouds of pesticides. In short, farm work is dangerous business.”

The farm workers whom the report cites are 98% non-union because federal labor law bans farm workers from its coverage. That lack of protection, among other factors – many farm workers are immigrants and 44% don’t speak English -- are not the only workers who die on the job. They’re just some of the most-frequent victims.

FULL story at link.