A death in the workplace is the ultimate failure of any safety and health program. Death sits at the top of the injury/illness pyramid and is the focus of prevention for every workplace. The latest BLS stats show that 4,547 workers died on the job in 2010; a number that will be revised upward as BLS refines data over the coming year.1
Although avoiding death is the focus of prevention at every workplace, we rarely directly discuss it. It holds such a negative context. “Death has replaced sex as the major taboo topic in western culture,” according to the book, “Grave Words: Notifying Survivors About Sudden, Unexpected Death” (K.V. Iserson, Galen Press, 1999).