Although jobs aren’t as dangerous as they were a century ago, for many of America’s workers, going to work can still be deadly. No one knows this better than TWU members, such as Track Workers and Railroad Carmen, who have seen co-workers killed on the job in recent years.

But many other workers in less dangerous occupations suffer job-related injuries and illnesses that could have been prevented. The most recent edition of the AFL-CIO’s annual Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect shows that an average of 15 workers a day were killed on the job, and each day another 11,000 workers were injured or made ill in 2007. Overall in 2007 (the latest figures available), 5,488 workers died from workplace injuries and 4 million were hurt or made sick by their jobs.

Recent studies have shown that the workplace injury reports may miss as many as two out of three workplace injuries, meaning that the real toll of workplace injuries is much higher than reported. Something to think about on April 28 when we honor those killed and injured on the job and call for improved workplace safety. The theme of this year’s Workers Memorial Day is “Good Jobs. Safe Jobs. Give Workers a Voice for a Change.”