That’s just one of the preventable hazards faced by workers processing the meats we’ll be sizzling on our grills this weekend. Several of her co-workers, Marielena reports, “hurt themselves lifting because the floors were wet. There were chemicals; they have cuts and the velocity [of the line] is so fast [but] the supervisor comes and yells at us to move faster.”

Marielena tells her story at WorkedUp, a new platform hosted by the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, where we are co-executive directors. WorkedUp highlights testimony from workers standing up for better work conditions. But she prefers not to use her real name due to the very real threat of employer retaliation. 

Peter Dooley, a safety and health senior project coordinator for the National Council of Occupational Safety and Health, said the additional commenting period gives time to ensure OSHA makes the right decision.

“Revoking a state plan would be an unprecedented action by OSHA,” Dooley said in a statement. “It makes sense for OSHA to take the time to review all the evidence and get this right, because having Arizona DOSH underperform lowers the bar for the rest of the country – and all workers are paying the price.”

More than a year since President Joe Biden took office, NCOSH has pushed for greater enforcement of workplace safety laws. In 2021, NCOSH leaders criticized OSHA for failing to keep workers safe during the pandemic. In its June letter, the organization also cited a “lack of consistent and aggressive enforcement of existing safety laws” that could prevent hazards such as falls and trench collapses.

Janine Denise Johnson Williams, 50, was one of nine workers who died this past December when a tornado struck Mayfield Consumer Products in Kentucky. She is survived by her husband, four children and 17 grandchildren. Five workers at the Mayfield plant say they asked to leave after severe weather alerts but were told to stay or risk being fired.

These three preventable deaths are just a few of those that took place at workplaces recognized as this year’s Dirty Dozen unsafe employers by our organization, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (COSH). Each year we release this list to call attention to egregious actions by companies that put workers and communities at risk.

But in today’s labor market, where employers are dealing with a shortage of workers, the old tricks aren’t working. Workers are standing up to intimidation with bold campaigns at companies like Starbucks, Amazon and Dollar General. Stories from these workplaces and others can be found on workedup.us, a new National COSH platform for workers who are joining together to turn bad jobs into good jobs and good jobs into better ones.

Janine Denise Johnson Williams, 50, was one of nine workers who died this past December when a tornado struck Mayfield Consumer Products in Kentucky. She is survived by her husband, four children and 17 grandchildren. Five workers at the Mayfield plant say they asked to leave after severe weather alerts but were told to stay or risk being fired. 

These three preventable deaths are just a few of those that took place at workplaces recognized as this year’s Dirty Dozen unsafe employers by our organization, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health. Each year we release this list to call attention to egregious actions by companies who put workers and communities at risk. 

For the third time this year, Amazon was singled out by the National Occupational Safety and Health Council for its grueling warehouse labor practices and having an injury rate more than double the industry average. Limiting productivity quotas prevents workers from abiding by questionable safety standards and can "ease the bargaining process" when making workplace health claims, Senator Ramos explains in a statement. If the bill is passed, companies would be required to go through an extensive assessment of all conditions and tasks, and face penalties if they fall short in safety standards.

Released in honor of Workers’ Memorial Week, National COSH’s “Dirty Dozen” report is an annual list of “egregious” employers, all of whom are accused of exposing their workers to preventable hazards. Companies are selected based on their prominence and the degree to which they allegedly endangered their employees. This year, nearly half of the companies on National COSH’s list are involved in farming or the food industry, and the report highlights serious labor violations throughout the supply chain.

If you are unaware of the workings of COSH or more commonly known as Council for Occupational Safety and Health, then worry not, as they are a national advocacy group regulating and monitoring working conditions in numerous organizations. Their list Dirty Dozen now includes Amazon. While the massive package delivery platform has to say otherwise, the facts and figures prove that they deserve to be on the list, if not at the very top.

The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health named Starbucks, Amazon, Dollar General and nine other companies in the organization's "dirty dozen" report released Wednesday, which labels 12 businesses it says.

Yesterday, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (COSH) announced this year’s “dirty dozen” employers, companies who have unsafe work practices.

According to National COSH, in 2020, more than 4,700 workers died because of workplace incidents. It estimates that more than 95,000 workers die every year from long-term exposure to hazards and toxins.

National COSH announced this during Workers’ Memorial Week, a week to remember those who lost their lives on the job, and one day before Workers’ Memorial Day.

The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) revealed this Wednesday its “Dirty Dozen” report, in which it listed the 12 companies that failed to implement workplace safety laws to protect their employees in 2021, a year marked by the pandemic but which also registered several work accidents.

 Jessica E. Martinez, co-director of National COSH, said at a press conference today that those companies “unnecessarily expose workers to preventable hazards, leading to illness, injury and death.”

The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health on Wednesday released its annual report on employers nationwide whose alleged unsafe working conditions have led to deaths or serious injuries, with COVID-19 safety lapses now on its radar.

While the Occupational Safety and Health Administration identified 1,945 workplace deaths from COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021, National COSH said in its report that the number is likely higher, citing a rise in U.S. deaths since 2020.

Amazon has made a list for the most dangerous workplaces in the US for a third time. The advocacy group National COSH (Council for Occupational Safety and Health) has included Amazon in a "Dirty Dozen" list meant to shame what it sees as the least safe American workplaces of 2022.

National COSH noted that one of the workers who died was reportedly forced to work while ill as he didn't have enough unpaid time off. It also pointed to worker Jennifer Bates' concerns that the "pace of work" and overall strain contributed to injuries.

Amazon has made a list for the most dangerous workplaces in the US for a third time. The advocacy group National COSH (Council for Occupational Safety and Health) has included Amazon in a "Dirty Dozen" list meant to shame what it sees as the least safe American workplaces of 2022.

National COSH noted that one of the workers who died was reportedly forced to work while ill as he didn't have enough unpaid time off. It also pointed to worker Jennifer Bates' concerns that the "pace of work" and overall strain contributed to injuries.

The announcement is already drawing cheers from the labor-backed National Council on Occupational Safety and Health and its Arizona affiliate, and, predictably, jeers from the right-wing Republicans on the House Education and Labor Committee, led by notoriously anti-union Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C. She called OSHA’s move “a power grab.”

Taking all of this into consideration it comes as no surprise that Amazon landed a spot on the ‘Dirty Dozen’ list of the most hazardous employees in the USA courtesy of the National Council on Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH).

The “COVID-19 pandemic highlights the need for employers to take effective measures to reduce risk for workers,” Jessica Martinez, Los Angeles-based co-executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health wrote in an email. “Every employer has a legal and moral responsibility to provide a safe workplace free from recognized hazards, which certainly includes the hazards of workplace violence.”

In a brief to the court, the AFL-CIO and several unions argued strongly for the OSHA standard and for protecting the health care workers as well. The labor-backed National Council on Occupational Safety and Health had previously blasted the lower court ban on OSHA’s rule. The court majority upheld that ban.

“It’s shameful and outrageous to see anyone put politics ahead of public health,” National COSH co-Executive Director Marcy Goldstein-Gelb said then.

Jessica E. Martinez, co-executive director, National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH):

“At a time when the COVID-19 virus is spreading faster than ever, workers will pay the price—with their very lives—for this wrong-headed decision by the Supreme Court. A deeply flawed opinion ignores law and precedent that clearly states OSHA’s authority to protect workers from dangerous conditions. It’s good to know that workers in federally-funded health care facilities will still have protections from COVID-19, but we cannot leave other workers defenseless against a deadly virus. OSHA can and should still require employers to meet their legal and moral obligation to provide a workplace safe from known hazards, which certainly includes infectious diseases like COVID-19.”