Wyoming Workers Memorial Day

Wyoming once again is at the top of the list nationwide when it comes to its on-the-job death rate. The AFL-CIO tallies up workplace fatalities, injuries and illnesses each year for Workers Memorial Day - which was Thursday.  Nineteen Wyoming workers died on the job in a single year, ranking the state in the top ten for its worker death rate. Kim Floyd with the Wyoming State AFL-CIO believes lives could be saved and injuries prevented at job sites, but it will take some new laws, rules and partnerships with businesses to help make that happen.

"Wyoming working families - we work hard, and it falls on deaf ears when we get into the legislature and talk about what it means to work in a safe environment."

Wyoming workplace deaths and injuries are often tied to car crashes, and employee driving skills have been criticized as a factor. Floyd responds, "We’re getting really tired of hearing that, because any death, each of these deaths, is just as much of a tragedy, it’s just as much of a loss, and just as unnecessary as any other death out there."

The report finds that it would take the state’s eight workplace safety and health inspectors 62 years to inspect each Wyoming workplace once.