Once again, extremely profitable companies appear on the Dirty Dozen List of the nation’s most dangerous employers.
Each year, in recognition of April’s annual Workers’ Memorial Week, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (COSH) releases its “Dirty Dozen List.” These are the top companies in the United States that COSH has found to put workers at the highest risk for serious injury or death while on the job during the past year. This year’s list was published last Wednesday.
From Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, co-executive director of National COSH:
“We can make our workplaces safer – if we listen to workers and take action to reduce hazards on the job. There is no reason to tolerate irresponsible behavior by employers who fail to provide a safe workplace – and force workers and families to pay the price.”
Unacceptable Risk of Workers Dying on the Job
According to their findings, the risk of dying while working on the job in this country remains unacceptably high. COSH reports an 11% increase in workers dying from workplace trauma since 2011.
Illinois’ National Safety Council warns:
- Preventable workplace deaths have increased each year for the past four years; and
- Preventable worker deaths have jumped 17.5% since 2008.
In support of Workers’ Memorial Week, OSHA issued a release reminding everyone that:
“[w]orkplace safety is everyone’s business, and must be everyone’s priority. Safety must start on day one and be a continuous process. OSHA will continue to work with its partners across the country – employers, workers, trade associations, labor unions, and safety and health professionals – to ensure that every workplace is safe and healthful.”
Given the risks facing Americans each day on the job, some may find it shocking to discover the names listed on the COSH Dirty Dozen List. Surely these will be companies facing financial problems that prevent them from protecting workers properly, right?
No. All too often, corporations put profits over people. Safety costs money. Safety does not generate revenue. As a result, there are enterprises generating tremendous revenues that allow their employees to face high risks of serious injury or death while on the job.
The 2019 Dirty Dozen List of Dangerous Employers
Consider last week’s revelations as COSH published its “Dirty Dozen Employers of 2019.” They are (descriptions directly quoting from the COSH release):
- AMAZON
“Six worker deaths in seven months; 13 deaths since 2013. Reports of a high incidence of suicide attempts; workers urinating in bottles and workers left without resources or income after on-the-job injuries. The company was also a “Dirty Dozen” entry in 2018.”
- ATLANTIC CAPES FISHERIES AND BJ’S SERVICES
“Women workers exposed to unwanted touching, solicitations for sex and crude comments. Two women who complained were fired. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reached a $675,000 settlement with both companies.”
- BEDROCK DETROIT
“Cited for $3,500 in safety violations, this company owned by billionaire Dan Gilbert launched an aggressive campaign to avoid regulation. Corporate officials told safety inspectors “how to do their jobs and who they were allowed to inspect.” ”
- BEIZA BROTHERS
“Miguel Chavez died from heat exhaustion on a Georgia farm, just one week after arriving in the U.S. OSHA cited the firm for exposing him to high temperatures and direct sunlight.”
- FACEBOOK AND ACCENTURE, COGNIZANT, PROUNLIMITED AND TECH SOLUTIONS
“Low-paid moderators spend hours each day watching hate speech, pornography, and images of suicides, murders and beheadings. Facebook and contractors provide inadequate mental health support – and none after workers leave their jobs.”
- GENAN
“Byron Jones, 26, pulled into a tire shredder and killed during his fourth day on the job. Company cited for 20 violations and fined $100,000.”
- INTEGRA HEALTH MANAGEMENT, INC.
“Stephanie Ross, a 25-year old social service worker who was working alone, was stabbed to death while visiting a client. She was murdered after reporting safety concerns about a previous home visit.”
- JOHNS HOPKINS HOSPITAL
“Four out of five nurses report they have been victims of workplace violence; one out of four say Hopkins ignores these dangers. Tampa Bay Times reports that although Johns Hopkins ‘wrote the rules on patient safety… its hospitals don’t always follow them.’”
- MCDONALD’S USA, Chicago and worldwide
“More than two dozen workers have filed EEOC complaints about sexual harassment; workers strike to protest the company’s failure to act and demand the McDonald’s USA is accountable for working conditions in both corporate and franchise stores.”
- PURDUE PHARMA AND THE OPIOID INDUSTRY
“Workers, suffering in pain from preventable injuries, are among the primary victims of America’s opioid crisis. To sell painkillers, Purdue targeted patients with workplace injuries – and their doctors.”
- TOOMA ENTERPRISES
“39-year old Jason Holmes dies in a trench collapse, with no shoring or trench box present.”
- XPO Logistics
“One worker died and six women have suffered miscarriages in an overheated, high-stress warehouse. After an exposé and a union organizing drive, XPO closed the warehouse.
‘It’s just horrible in that place,’ says Tasha Murrell, a former XPO worker from Memphis who suffered a miscarriage while working there. ‘The hours were long, the heat was unbearable, and on top of all that, we were facing sexual harassment. It’s our right to get together and advocate for better conditions – and it’s plain wrong for XPO to close our workplace.’
‘It’s hard for me to even talk about what happened to me at my job,’ says Tanya Harrell, a McDonald’s worker from New Orleans. ‘A co-worker locked me in the bathroom, exposed himself and tried to rape me. I’m not the only one. A big company like McDonald’s, they have the resources to prevent this horrible behavior. What are they waiting for?’”
Dirty Employers: Seeking Justice for Workplace Deaths
Reviewing the Dirty Dozen, it’s important to recognize that McDonald’s Inc. made the list (Chicago was specifically noted in the list). Amazon made the list, too.
Amazingly, the famous John’s Hopkins Hospital made the list. An internationally-recognized health care facility made the annual Dirty Dozen list this year.
From COSH Executive Directory Goldstein-Gelb:
“You can’t put a price tag on what happens when a mother, a father, a sister or a brother never comes home. You can take steps to prevent these tragedies. The goal of the Dirty Dozen report is to shine a light on unsafe practices and to motivate employers to do a better job of protecting workers.”
Preventable workplace injuries and worker deaths are the result of failure to protect the worker from harm. Safety at work must become a priority in this country.
Sadly, it may well be that one of the main avenues to achieving that goal will be for these employers to be faced with significant damage claims which impact their bottom line. For companies that put profits over people, personal injury actions and wrongful death damages may provide not only redress for the victim and their families, but also a message in a language they clearly understand: revenue and profit.
For more, read:
- Job Site Injury in Illinois or Indiana: When Accidents at Work Are Not Worker’s Compensation Claims
- Profits Over People: Corporate Greed in the News
- Chicago’s Sacred Heart Hospital Arrests: CEO/Owner, Executive and 4 Doctors Arrested Today in FBI Sting Alleging Things Like Unnecessary Procedures Performed on Patients for Profits Through Insurance Fraud
Workers hurt or killed on the job in Indiana and Illinois can assert claims for justice under state workers compensation systems and in some instances, through wrongful death or personal injury claims based upon negligence, malpractice, or product liability laws. Please be careful out there!
