Protecting Workers’ Safety and Health

The unofficial end of summer, Labor Day is a holiday for celebrating the economic and social contributions of the American worker. It’s also a good time to think about protecting those workers from occupational hazards. We have many federal safety and health standards to protect workers at more than 8 million U.S. worksites, but accidents at worksites are not uncommon. For example, in an 18-month period from 2006 to 2008, a dozen workers died on construction sites in Las Vegas, Nevada, and in 2013, a tragic explosion at a fertilizer storage and distribution facility in Texas killed and injured 14 people.

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Excerpted from GAO-14-274

Federal and state agencies face many challenges in protecting the safety and health of the 130 million public and private sector workers across the nation. We have recommended a number of ways in which agencies can improve in this area.

Our reports on worker protection:

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Excerpted from GAO-14-286

Our reports provide recommendations that can inform federal and state agency efforts to better keep our nation’s workers safe from workplace injuries and fatalities.



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