Mississippi Workplace Injury Attorneys Discuss a Recent Increase in Workplace Accidents

Sometimes, statistics can be shocking. For example, in 2014, one person died on the job every other hour, every single day for the entire year? The total number of on-the-job deaths in 2014 amounted to 3.3 deaths per one hundred thousand workers, which is a slight increase from the 3.4 deaths per hundred thousand workers that occurred in 2013. The aforementioned numbers only account for deaths that happened on the job. The numbers do not include any deaths that resulted from job-related sicknesses like black lung disease.

The consensus among the people who study workplace injuries and fatalities is that workplace deaths continue to increase because there are not stiff enough penalties to deter employers from utilizing dangerous or even illegal labor practices like failing to provide necessary safety equipment or have adequate staff on duty to allow for sufficient breaks. Workplace deaths are not distributed evenly throughout the United States. For example, Mississippi residents may be surprised to learn that their home state had 7.1 workplace deaths per hundred thousand people in 2014, which put it behind only four other states as the fifth most dangerous state to work in.

As you might imagine, not all of the workplace injuries and deaths were evenly distributed among different types of work. Logging, fishing, oil drilling, and construction caused the most deaths, and falls were the most common type of workplace death. Unfortunately, 2014 was a record-setting year for workplace deaths among older workers, which includes workers over the age of fifty-five. One thousand six hundred and ninety-one older adults died on the job that year. There are even some workplace deaths that are not accidents – just over eight hundred workplace murders took place in 2014.

The increase in workplace deaths in 2014 occurred despite some progress towards improving job safety. For example, enforcement has increased, along with some fines. One significant development allows OSHA to adjust its federal civil fines for inflation, which increases maximum employer penalties significantly. It is possible that moving forward; these increased penalties will have a deterrent effect on companies who do not take safety seriously.

Giddens Law Firm, P.A.: Support for Workplace Accident Victims and Families

If you got hurt at work or if you lost someone that you love in a workplace accident, do not wait – reach out for help right away. After you get medical attention, call a workplace injury attorney and speak to them about your accident. Your attorney can help you make sense of what happened and they can work with you to develop safe work practices. What’s more, they can help you to formulate a plan for presenting your case in court, if need be. If you have questions related to Mississippi workplace accident law, the Mississippi Workplace Accident Attorneys of the Giddens Law Firm, P.A. could possibly help you. Please call our office today, at (601) 355-2022, to learn more.