Key Sectors Stoke Texas Workplace Deaths

Texas’s top ranking for the most fatal work injuries can be attributed to the state’s “outsized energy, construction and logistics sectors,” according to analysis by insurer Everly Life.
With 58 fatalities last year, Texas is a market where “high-risk tasks meet rapid economic expansion,” fueled by “a boom in small subcontractors, many operating on thin margins, also means uneven compliance with OSHA rules.”
The company recently created a comprehensive analysis of workplace fatalities by state, using 2024 OSHA records “to expose the dangerous reality facing American workers today,” reported the Austin American-Statesman.
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The latest edition of the “Safety Perspectives from the Dallas Region” podcast examines pending litigation regarding the constitutionality of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) administrative law judges.
Hosts John Surma and Frank Davis, of Oglevie Deakins, review the arguments supporting the claim that the current system for handling workplace safety disputes is unconstitutional.
They specifically highlight issues such as the absence of the right to a jury trial, improper appointments of judges, restrictions on the president’s authority to remove judges.
They also discuss the current situation where there are an insufficient number of OSHRC members to adequately review cases.
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Activists from several labor and environmental groups gathered outside the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity’s office on Monday to raise awareness on the state of heat protections and advocate for measures to prevent further deaths from heat exhaustion, reported Michigan Advance.
Frank Houston, senior state policy manager for Michigan at the BlueGreen Alliance said that while Michigan’s own Occupational Safety and Health Office is great and does try to prioritize workers, there are limitations.
Not all employers have good plans in place because they’re not required, Houston said.
“Michigan is one of the top agricultural producers in the country, so we have a role to play in helping to advance heat stress policy,” said Derek Dobies, chief of staff for the Michigan AFL-CIO.
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