Campaign to Stop Corporate Killing

Every year some 5,000 workers are killed on the job and thousands more die from illnesses caused by occupational exposures. Many of these deaths are determined by state and federal OSHA investigations to be due to employers' reckless disregard for worker safety. But, as documented in a recent New York Times series, prosecutions of recklessly negligent employers are extremely rare. Of the 170,000 workplace deaths since 1982, only 16 convictions involving jail time have resulted. This despite the fact that 1,798 cases involving worker deaths were determined by OSHA to involve "willful" violations by employers--that is, violations in which the employer knew that workers' lives were being put at risk.

Killing a worker is currently considered a misdemeanor under federal law, with a maximum sentence of six months in jail. Even for willful violations, fines are typically under $25,000. Conviction for unlawful aerial harassment of mule deer, in contrast, can bring up to five years in jail and a $250,000 fine. It is time to reconsider our reluctance to employ significant criminal penalties in cases where gross negligence results in the death of a worker...