Fewer Oregonians are dying on the job, but advocates say more still can be done

At least 69 Oregon workers died on the job or as a result of workplace injuries in 2021, according to labor advocates.

While the rate of workers dying in Oregon has declined since the late 1980s, the Oregon AFL-CIO says more can still be done to protect workers.

On Thursday, several dozen people gathered on the Capitol Mall by the Bureau of Labor and Industries building to remember the workers who died last year. Christina Stephenson, a civil rights lawyer and candidate for state labor commissioner, read the 69 names aloud, which took about three minutes.

Among the dead are Sebastian Francisco Perez, who died while working at Ernst Nursery & Farms in St. Paul during the June 2021 heatwave, and John Burright, a former local sergeant for the Oregon State Police, who died due to complications sustained from a car crash on Interstate 5 near Jefferson while he was on duty in 2001.

"Each one of these folks is more than a number," said Lou Savage, interim administrator of Oregon's workplace safety department, Oregon OSHA. "They're an individual who had hopes and dreams to pursue and family and friends to enjoy."

The 69 total doesn't include the 178 Oregonians who died after contracting COVID-19 as part of a workplace outbreak, according to the Oregon AFL-CIO.

"We must do better," Graham Trainor, president of the Oregon AFL-CIO, said during the ceremony. "A safe job is a fundamental right. Every worker deserves the right to leave for work in the morning knowing that they'll come home safe, free from injury and free from disease."

"Today we recommit ourselves to fight like hell for the living," Trainor said.

Oregon AFL-CIO says penalties for unsafe workplaces are too low

That fight, Trainor said, includes pushing lawmakers to pass policies that make it easier for workers to enforce safe workplaces, allocate money to state agencies to "level the playing field" for workers, and to "never stop fighting to ensure that state agency leaders remember their charge to keep workers safe amidst growing pressure from some employers to roll back protections," he said.

In a statement earlier this week, Trainor said "many employers and workers never see Oregon OSHA in their workplace," and that state penalties are still too low to deter unsafe working conditions that can lead to injuries.

A 2019 report found Oregon OSHA inspected 3.5% of employers in the previous year, but that was higher than the national average.

"We know that the way to make workplaces truly safe is to have safety and health practices on the job that accomplish that, at the same time there are penalties that can be the kind of deterrent that keeps employer behavior in check," Trainor said in an interview after the ceremony. "Now, we know that there's good employers out there that do important work to make their workplaces safe and their track record shows it. But unfortunately for those bad actors, for those abusers of safety and health laws, who are looking for ways to cut corners, unfortunately too many workers pay the ultimate price because of it."

Trainor said labor groups fought for months for Oregon OSHA to develop emergency standards to protect workers against COVID-19 and got pushback from employers "every single step of the way."

"Far too few of the workers" whose names are read each year worked for employers who are facing an investigation, Trainor said.

Oregon OSHA investigates whether employers are following health and safety standards, and determines what, if any, penalties should be assessed. If investigators identify a violation, they can cite the employer and citations can carry penalties. The state requires employers to fix serious health and safety violations.

Ernst Nursery & Farms and labor contractor Brother Farm Labor Contractor were fined $6,300 after Oregon OSHA found they hadn't trained workers on "heat-related hazards" following Perez's death, according to the Salem Reporter.

Employers can appeal fines, but Oregon OSHA spokesperson Aaron Corvin said the state's fines do have a “deterrent effect."

Not only does the agency believe its fines deter future violations by that specific employer, but other employers also see the state take action, Corvin said.

Oregon requires employers to carry workers' compensation insurance, and the employer might have to pay more for that insurance if they are cited for a health or safety violation.

"We're always trying to figure out how we can do this better, how we can improve," Corvin said. "Every year (on) this day, it's important to take the pause and reflect on this and grieve."

Which industries, companies are most dangerous?

Among industries, construction made up the largest share of workplace fatalities in 2020, according to data provided by Oregon OSHA.

The data looks at "compensable fatalities," which means situations where the workers' compensation insurer agrees to compensate the estate of the person who died.

In 2020, about 24% of workers who died worked in construction, while 18% worked in agriculture and forestry and 15% in transportation and warehousing.

This week, the National Council on Occupational Safety and Health released a list of a dozen companies that the group says "put workers and communities at risk due to unsafe practices."

Ernst Nursery & Farms made the list, as did Amazon and Starbucks locations throughout the country.

Why are workers dying?

Data provided by Oregon OSHA show that between 2016 and 2020, the highest share of compensable fatalities -- about 30% -- was related to roadway accidents. In about 18% of fatalities in that period, the person was struck by or against an object, and in 10%, the person fell or jumped to a lower level.

Data show that in 2021, "natural causes" was the most common cause of death reported at work. But that is based on early information reported to OSHA — before the agency determined whether the person's death was related to work and before an investigation, which doesn't occur in every case of a death at work.

Oregon requires employers to report things like heart attacks and traffic accidents on the job, and those might not lead to OSHA inspections because the incident wasn't caused by the workplace, Corvin said.

The leading cause of death in the construction industry is falling, according to a 2021 news release from the agency. And violations of fall protection rules were the most common violation OSHA inspectors found in 2021, with more than 220 violations, according to state data.

Overall, though, Oregon workplace deaths have declined "significantly compared to previous decades," Corvin said.

Even though Oregon's workforce has grown larger, the compensable fatality rate has gone down.

In 1987, Corvin said, the fatality rate was 7.1 in 100,000 workers. By 2002, the rate dipped to 3.3 in 100,000 workers, while early data suggest the rate in 2020 was even lower, at 1.78 in 100,000 workers.

Claire Withycombe covers state government for the Statesman Journal. Contact her at cwithycombe@statesmanjournal.com

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: 69 people died on the job in Oregon in 2021