A new report by the AFL-CIO shows that workplace illnesses outrank workplace injuries as a cause of death by nearly 10 to 1. Pennsylvania had the lowest rate of workers injured on the job for 2011, but the number of workers who died due to illnesses or diseases contracted on the job was much higher. Fire fighters, nurses and those who work with patients are at much higher risk than the general population for contracting a deadly illness in the workplace, according to the AFL-CIO's study.
The statistics on workplace injury used by the AFL-CIO in its report come from both the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Both agencies compile annual reports on work-related injuries and the industries that are most affected. According to OSHA and the BLS, fishing and logging have the highest injury death rates in the country. Currently, 13 people per day die in work-related accidents. However, neither OSHA nor the BLS accounts for work-related illness deaths which the AFL-CIO estimates account for another 137 deaths per day.



