May 3, 2002—Federal agency employees are at greater risk to die from an occupational injury or illness than workers in “high-risk” private industries, including manufacturing, poultry slaughtering and processing, industrial machinery, and equipment production, according to a report released by Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW).
The report, “Workplace Safety in the Federal Government: Record of Failure, Legacy of Waste,” found that federal workplace injuries and deaths cost US taxpayers at least $2 billion a year in medical and compensation costs alone. CAGW is using the report to ask Congress to hold oversight hearings to find out why the federal government “fails dismally to safeguard federal employees on the job.”
Among the report’s findings based on data from the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics and Occupational Safety and Health Administration are:
- The occupational injury rate for the Government Printing Office was four times higher than the commercial printing trade services industry in both 1999 and 2000.
- The US Postal Service accounts for 28 percent of the federal government workers covered by the government’s Federal Employment Compensation Act (FECA), but represents 33 percent of the $2 billion FECA spends annually to compensate victims and their families for workplace illnesses, injuries, and deaths.
For more information, including the full text of the report, contact CAGW.
