The wildfire smoke spreading across the United States and Canada shows the need for urgent action to protect workers from the ongoing effects of climate change, say leaders of the National Council of Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH).

The wildfires raging in Canada and sending clouds of haze across U.S. cities are proof of the urgent need for federal standards to protect workers from the effects of climate change, the National Council of Occupational Safety and Health said Thursday.

Groups like the National Council of Occupational Safety and Health, also known as National COSH, point out that wildfires have polluted the air in a number of states in recent years, a hazard they and environmental experts attribute to climate change.

“This is not a one-time crisis,” Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, co-executive director of the organization, said in a statement. “Dangerous pollution in the air we breathe will be a fact of life for years to come, because climate change has greatly increased the occurrence of wildfires and other extreme weather events.”

“Right now, only two of 50 states—California and Oregon—have specific safety rules which protect workers from wildfire smoke,” said Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, co-executive director of The National Council of Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH), in a recently published news release. Washington State filed proposed permanent wildfire smoke rules for workers in May 2023.

Swissport was cited nearly 20 times by OSHA investigations nationwide in the past decade for safety violations, from injuries to violations for the agency’s standards on heavy machinery and seatbelts. Last month, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health listed Swissport among the twelve most dangerous employers in the country, alongside Amazon, Norfolk Southern and Packer Sanitation Services, which was the subject of a national Department of Labor probe on migrant child labor.

Another alarming trend: Black and brown workers die on the job at a higher rate than other workers, a consequence of past and current workplace discrimination. Some of the most egregious offenders, like FedEx, are highlighted in the 2023 Dirty Dozen report released this week by our organization, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health.

The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) announced today the “Dirty Dozen” list of employers who put workers and communities at risk due to unsafe practices. The Dirty Dozen report is released each year as part of the observance of Workers’ Memorial Week, which takes place this year from April 23 through April 30.

It's easy to see why employers like young workers, Jessica Martinez and Marcy Goldstein-Gelb write at The Progressive. "With less information, less power, and fewer options, they are easier to exploit." There are good reasons to keep kids out of the workplace: They're more prone to injury, and they usually end up falling behind in their education as well. That means it is urgent "to enforce the child labor laws that already exist and push back forcefully against any attempts to weaken them."

Twelve employers have been flagged for repeated unsafe workplace practices by a national watchdog organization. 

Released April 26 by the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, the “Dirty Dozen 2023” report documents trends in U.S. worker safety and calls out employers it finds most lacking. 

April 28 is Workers Memorial Day, commemorating those killed, sickened, or injured on the job. As part of a week of events, today the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health is releasing its “Dirty Dozen” report.

The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, a worker safety advocacy federation made up of 26 local groups, announced a list of “Dirty Dozen” employers April 26, naming and shaming those who allegedly “put workers and communities at risk due to unsafe practices.” 

Not everyone is covered. OSHA covers private employers. Only in 22 states or territories are there OSHA-approved plans covering state and local government workers. Public employees in 23 states are still not afforded full OSHA protections. Unions and safety coalitions (like the national and state Council for Occupational Safety and Health, or COSH, groups) have been fighting to extend, expand and strengthen worker protections since OSHA was created.

Lorna McMurrey was 27 when she collapsed after inhaling cannabis dust at a production facility in Holyoke early last year. It was the second time in two months she’d been rushed to the hospital because she couldn’t breathe at her job filling pre-rolled joints. She died a few days later.

McMurrey was one of 51 workplace fatalities in Massachusetts last year, according to the annual “Dying for Work” report released Thursday by the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health, or MassCOSH, and the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. The emerging cannabis industry was singled out in the report for failing to protect employees even as strict controls have been put in place to protect consumers.

Just in time for Workers’ Memorial Week (April 23-30), the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) has released its annual “Dirty Dozen” list – the 12 most unsafe employers in the U.S. – companies who put workers and communities at risk by engaging in unsafe practices.

Shipping, transportation and warehousing companies were among the industries singled out by the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health in its annual list of unsafe employers.

National COSH, in its report released Wednesday, also highlights that workplace fatalities are on the rise and that Latino and Black workers are dying on the job at a higher rate than other workers — consistent with federal data.

The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) announced today the “Dirty Dozen” list of employers who put workers and communities at risk due to unsafe practices. The Dirty Dozen report is released each year as part of the observance of Workers’ Memorial Week, which takes place this year from April 23 through April 30. 

No worker should have to die from inhaling marijuana dust. But that’s what happened to Lorna McMurrey, 27, in a Holyoke, Mass., cannabis plant, her cousin says.

Because McMurrey’s death was “completely preventable,” as her cousin Alicia Bounds, adds, her asthmatic fatal heart attack landed her employer, Trulieve Cannabis Corp., on the annual “Dirty Dozen” list. Those are the firms whom the labor-backed National Council on Occupational Safety and Health (NACOSH) spotlights for rampant refusal to protect their workers on the job.

A worker safety advocacy group, the National Council on Occupational Safety and Health, issued a report Wednesday labeling Norfolk Southern and the other major freight railroads as some of the most dangerous employers in the nation because of those labor concerns about the impact of the cost cutting.

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

According to a news release, 12 employers are selected by National COSH from nominations provided by COSH affiliates; “Criteria include the severity of risks to workers; repeat and serious violations of safety standards and applicable laws; the position of a company within its industry and the economy and its ability to influence broader workplace standards, and the presence of a campaign by workers and/or allies to correct health and safety problems.”

The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) has announced what it considers to be the “Dirty Dozen” employers for 2023.

“The rate of U.S. workplace fatalities from sudden trauma is on the rise, and so is the rate of workplace injuries and illnesses,” said Jessica E. Martinez, MPH, co-executive director of National COSH, in a statement.