Nearly 5000 Killed in the United States Workforce in 2012

Although the United States is still one of the safest places in the world for workers, 4,628 employees were still killed on the job in 2012. North Dakota is ranked the most dangerous state for U.S. workers, with 18 deaths per 100,000 workers.

The AFL-CIO released a report on Friday that analyzed death rates among U.S. workers. These include those who were killed on the job as well as those who suffer from job-related illnesses and diseases. In 2012, 50,000 people also died from occupational illnesses and 3.8 million people reported work-related injuries and illnesses.

"The nation must renew the commitment to protect workers from injury, disease and death and make this a high priority. We must demand that employers meet their responsibilities to protect workers and hold them accountable if they put workers in danger. Only then can the promise of safe jobs for all of America's workers be fulfilled," the AFL-CIO said in their Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect report.

Additionally, many injuries go unreported and the AFL-CIO estimates that the actual injury rate is between 7.6 million to 11.4 million per year. North Dakota was the country's most dangerous state, as their 17.7 deaths per 100,000 workers is five times the national average and one of the highest ever reported. This is mostly due to the booming energy industry, especially in mining and oil extraction - a workplace death rate that is 10 times higher than the national average.

Despite these alarming numbers, the job fatality rate has declined 81%, saving more than 492,000 lives since the Occupational Safety and Health Act was passed in 1970. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Washington, and California are the country's safest states to work in. Nonetheless, the federal government is still working to strengthen the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (which is underfunded and understaffed) so workplace death rates can become as infrequent as possible.

This is imperative in our current economic situation because the cost of job injuries and illnesses is estimated at $250 billion to $330 billion each year. This is just one of the numerous issues the Obama Administration is trying to improve.