Here's why Texas leads the nation in number of workplace deaths
Nine days before Christmas 2021, Daniel Licerio and a coworker at a Fort Worth food-processing company were attempting to dump a drum filled with trash into a large industrial compacting machine.
They lost control of the drum and it fell into the compactor. The 30-year-old Licerio went in to retrieve it, unaware that a truck was preparing to take the machine to another location. The single father of one was trapped inside and crushed.
And when he died five days later, Licerio became the 532nd Texas worker to die in 2021 from injuries suffered on the job, according to figures kept by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The 533rd and final death of that year came Dec. 29 when a worker fell from a roof on a residential construction site in the Austin suburb of Hutto.
The deaths were instrumental in once again making Texas the U.S. leader in workplace fatalities for several years running. California, which has 9 million more residents than Texas, had 29 fewer on-the-job deaths. New York, which has 9 million fewer residents than Texas, had slightly more than half as many workplace deaths.
Although Texas' rate of worker deaths is higher than those in the nation's largest states, it remains lower than in several rural states, including Alaska, Montana and Wyoming.
Juan Rodríguez, a spokesman in OSHA's Dallas office, said that although the federal agency tracks workers' deaths in near real time, 2021 is the latest year that full statistics are available because cases must be investigated to make sure they are properly categorized.
How safe are Texas workers?
Rick Levy, the president of the Texas AFL-CIO, said Labor Day is an appropriate time to reflect on the dangers many workers in the state face.
"Coming home at the end of the day should be the expectation for every worker," he said.
Levy said that instead of looking for ways to make the workplaces of Texas safer, state leaders appear to be finding ways to make them more dangerous. During the legislative session that ended in May, lawmakers enacted a law that among other things, prevents local governments from requiring employers to provide water breaks for workers whose jobs are chiefly outdoors.
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Supporters, including Gov. Greg Abbott, said the purpose of House Bill 2127 was to create uniformity for businesses operating in the state.
“We did across-the-board regulatory preemption so that local governments ... are not going to be able to micromanage businesses in the state of Texas, especially driving up the costs for local businesses,” Abbott told the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation in June a few days before he signed the legislation, which ironically takes effect Friday just as Labor Day weekend kicks off.
“We are going to have one regulatory regime across the entire state on massive subject areas that will make the cost of business even lower, the ease of business even better.”
Levy said the measure, which also prohibits cities from requiring that employers provide sick leave, sends a message that Texas is unsympathetic to challenges faced by the working class.
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"The governor and the Legislature continue to not only turn a blind eye to it, but now affirmatively tying the hands of those who actually do want to address it," he said.
Which workers are dying, and why
Rodríguez, the OSHA spokesman, said the federal agency does not keep exact statistics for fatalities caused by heat. But anecdotally, he said about 15 Texas workers so far this summer likely died from a heat-related cause.
"As hot it has been this year, I would not be surprised to see that number go up," Rodríguez said.
The largest category for workplace deaths in 2021 was "transportation incidents," which accounted for almost half with 260. "Falls, slips, trips" caused 88 workplace deaths. "Contact with objects and equipment" and exposure to harmful substances accounted for 110.
About half the workers who died performed jobs in the construction industry.
The number of men who died outnumbered women by more than 11-1. And all but 48 of those who died were 25 or older.
More than half, or 231, of the workers who died from workplace injuries in 2021 were Hispanic. Whites accounted for 213 deaths; 88 Black workers and 18 Asians died on the job.
According to OSHA's Workers' Rights handbook, "workers (have) the right to safe and healthful working conditions."
"It is the duty of employers to provide workplaces that are free of known dangers that could harm their employees," the 28-page pamphlet states.
The agency's website, osha.gov, explains the process for lodging a complaint.
Jarring accounts of workers' deaths
OSHA investigates nearly all private-sector workplace deaths, which must be reported to the federal agency within eight hours after they occurred. It also keeps a state-by-state tally of many of the fatal workplace fatalities that includes what, if any, penalties were assessed to the employers and brief descriptions of the circumstances.
The reports are written in a matter-of-fact style, but the details are often jarring.
"An employee and a coworker walked along a private road away from the construction site," said one report from late 2021. "At the same time, a dump truck began to back down the road and approached the employee and coworker. The employee was struck by the rear bumper and run over by the rear and front tires.
"The employee was dragged approximately 15 feet by the dump truck and was killed by multiple crushing, internal injuries."
The employer was fined more than $3,000.
In the town of Guthrie, about 175 miles southeast of Amarillo, a 15-year-old boy was killed after being trapped under an "illegally modified" Caterpillar loader, according to OSHA.
"An employee was standing in front of compact tract loader with attached hammer post driver at full boom," OSHA reported. "The compact tract loader fell on the employee. The compact tract loader crushed the employee in the head and neck area. The employee was killed."
The employer waited more than eight hours to report the incident to federal authorities. The proposed penalty for five OSHA violations is more than $20,000.
After OSHA investigated Licerio's death, it recommended that the employer be assessed a penalty of more than $14,500 for failing to ensure that the workplace was safe. The company contested the recommendation, and finally agreed to a fine of $9,668.
The man's parents have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the employer and the compacting machine manufacturer claiming their son's death of the result of "negligent, careless and reckless disregard" for his safety.
"Before (Licerio) died, he endured unimaginable, pain, suffering and anguish," Houston attorney Steve Kherkher said in a court filing. "His family is devastated by the loss of their beloved son and father."
The case has not yet gone to trial.
Texas jobs are plentiful, but some come with risk
Levy, the Texas union leader, said the state is home to a diverse range of job opportunities, but many of them are dangerous.
"Texas is blessed with incredible natural resources, has a very broad workforce and is strategically positioned economically," he said. "I think that the mere creating of jobs is critical, but it's not the end of the story.
"The end of the story is what kind of jobs are they? Are they the kind of jobs that you can support your family? Are they the kind of jobs that you have some hope of retiring with dignity someday?"
John C. Moritz covers Texas government and politics for the USA Today Network in Austin. Contact him at jmoritz@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @JohnnieMo.
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Here's why Texas leads the nation in number of workplace deaths
