occupational injuries and disease workers memorial day here is a press release from the american federation of state county and municipal employees unions point to deadly workplaces afscme other unions commemorate workers memorial day to national desk labor writer contact janet rivera of the american federation of state county and municipal employees afl cio washington april the american federation of state county and municipal employees afscme and other unions of the afl cio on wednesday april will commemorate the fifth annual workers memorial day a day to pay homage to the million workers who are killed injured or diseased on the job this year afscme will focus its workers memorial day efforts an the dangerous environment in which corrections officers must work earlier this month an afscme corrections officer robert vallandingham was killed by inmates who overtook the corrections facility in lucasville ohio the law and order agenda of the s has resulted in a steady increase in the prison population for the past five years on jn the prison population was projections show a continued increase in the number of inmates with an expected prison population of in the conditions which this burgeoning prison population has created for corrections officers is partially reflected in the number of assaults by inmates against staff assaults against staff increased dramatically between and and remain high in there were assaults by inmates against staff compared to such assaults in the increased number of inmates has brought on the dangerous combination of overcrowding and understaffing for example in ohio officer to inmate ratio is to the second worst ratio in the nation the national average is to other health and safety issues facing corrections officers include aids hepatitis b tuberculosis stress and chemical hazards afscme has more than members who work in the nation s federal state and local correctional facilities correction officers are not alone in performing their jobs under life threatening conditions every year american workers die from job related injuries and tens of thousands more die from occupational disease public employees do some of the nation s most dangerous jobs perilous occupations include highway workers highway workers are often injured and frequently killed by moving traffic because work zones are not barricaded or don t have proper lighting health care workers hospitals have the highest number of job related injuries and illnesses of any private sector employer and nursing homes ranked fifth there were more than job related illnesses and injuries in private sector hospitals in up almost percent over the previous year it is generally believed that health care workers employed at public sector hospitals and nursing homes have a significantly higher rate of injuries and illnesses than do their private sector counterparts health and safety issues facing health care workers include exposure to tuberculosis and the hiv virus back injuries and high levels of stress social workers social workers who work in mental health institutions are often the victims of assaults and sometimes fatal attacks for instance last october a man carrying a semiautomatic handgun walked into the schuyler county social services building in watkins glenn n y and fatally shot social services workers before turning the gun on himself there are two basic problems first is a growing lack of support services for people who don t have the help they need because workers are overworked some clients are not given the adequate amount of counselling such conditions may cause clients to become more frustrated the quality of the clients is also becoming more violent as more are moved out of the institutions nearly million workers have been killed by workplace hazards since osha was passed moreover as afscme president gerald w mcentee explains osha does not provide workplace safety protections for public employees more than public employees are killed each year on the job yet states still provide no federally approved osha coverage for public employees said mcentee this despite the fact that public employees highway workers health care workers corrections officers to name but a few do some of the most dangerous work in our society this year we are fighting for passage of osha reform legislation to give all workers greater rights and protections and finally guarantee all public employees safe workplaces we need the public support to be successful government workers suffer percent more injuries than private sector workers and these injuries are almost percent more severe public employees were exempted from osha when the law was passed in and today public employees in more than half the states have no osha coverage canada remote systems toronto ontario
