Across the country, people are skipping meals and falling behind on housing payments while layoffs, automation and diminishing labor protections deepen insecurity. The message many workers hear is simple: You are replaceable.

In that climate, people take dangerous jobs and stay silent about hazards. They skip water breaks in extreme heat, avoid asking for training and keep quiet about faulty equipment because they cannot risk losing a shift. Fear of retaliation has created a chilling effect in some of the most hazardous industries in America.

This is not just economic instability. It is a workplace safety crisis.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) enforcement staff remains at a record low, a reality the agency’s Inspector General warns increases the risk of serious hazards going unchecked. Instead of meeting this moment, the federal government is retreating from its responsibility.

OSHA still has no federal heat standard, even as record temperatures endanger indoor and outdoor workers alike, and there are renewed efforts to weaken the General Duty Clause, the basic requirement that employers provide safe workplaces.

These are not abstract policy debates. They determine whether workers go home alive.

A recent House budget proposal would eliminate the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program, which has helped workers understand hazards and prevent injuries for decades. Cuts also threaten OSHA’s capacity for outreach and enforcement when they are needed most. Without training, fewer workers know their rights. Without outreach, fewer workers speak up. Without enforcement, more workers get injured or killed.

In 2023, according to an AFL-CIO report, more than 5,200 workers were killed on the job, and an estimated 135,000 died from occupational diseases. That works out to about 385 deaths per day. These figures are widely underreported, especially in low-wage industries where retaliation, language barriers and immigration fears keep workers silent.

Agriculture, construction, transportation and warehousing remain among the most dangerous sectors, disproportionately staffed by Black and Latino workers. When people are afraid to speak up, violations multiply and conditions deteriorate. Workers are paying for a system built on silence.

Corporate greed is fueling this crisis. While CEOs collect record bonuses, frontline workers are told to accept low wages and unsafe conditions. Companies cut corners to boost profits, enabled by weak enforcement of workplace safety rules. OSHA has leaned heavily on compliance assistance, a softer approach that favors guidance over accountability.

But worker safety is not optional.

We need urgent action. Congress must fully fund OSHA so it can enforce the law, rebuild staff capacity and restore worker-focused programs such as the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program. OSHA must finalize and implement a strong federal heat standard that reflects the realities workers already face. Policymakers must reject any effort to weaken the General Duty Clause.

The public also has a role to play. We must support worker centers, unions, National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (COSH) groups, and local safety advocates organizing for safer jobs. And we must reject scapegoating workers and immigrants for economic instability. The real threat is unchecked corporate power and political inaction.

Workers are not passive victims. They are experts in their jobs and the hazards they face. When their voices shape policy, workplaces become safer. When they are silenced, the consequences are measured in funerals and hospital bills.

Safe jobs are not a luxury. They are a human right. We cannot build a strong economy on the backs of broken workers. We cannot ask people to choose between paying rent and staying alive. If we truly care about affordability and justice, workplace safety must be central to the national agenda. It is time to put people before profits and act before more lives are lost.

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Jessica E. Martínez is the executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH), a network of local worker health and safety coalitions. This column was produced for Progressive Perspectives, a project of The Progressive magazine, and distributed by Tribune News Service.

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