How to Stay Safe at Work
Updated 5/22/26
What’s new… Added Did you know statistics and all links were update.
Union workplaces are more safe than a non-union workplaces, but we have to keep up the good work.
Did you know?
A study of right-to-work laws published in the BMJ Occupational & Environmental Medicine journal found that a 1% decrease in unionization resulted in a 5% increase in occupational fatalities
In Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska, all states with right-to-work laws, there was a notable increase in workplace deaths due to falls, machine hazards, and struck-by hazards.
Union worksites are 19% less likely to have an OSHA violation.
Union workplaces have 34% fewer violations per OSHA inspection than non-union worksites.
Fewer OSHA violations mean a workplace is taking the steps necessary to make that workplace safe.
There are a few reasons for the difference in safety and it all comes down to members and their union contracts.
1) Reporting a safety issue isn’t ‘just cause’ for termination, in other words- you can’t be fired for speaking up!
2) Workers have the power to force the company to actually follow safety rules through their grievance procedure.
3) Union members before you worked hard to make it a safe place to work, now it’s our turn to raise the standards to keep each other safe.
We all deserve a safe workplace and you have the power to help yourself and your coworkers by speaking up when you notice something. Every workplace has a different way of handling safety concerns, but reach out to your union stewards, union representative or fill out a safety reporting form on our site to get the discussion going.
Check out more of our articles on safe workplaces!