Despite a 50-year-old law requiring employers to provide a safe workplace, more than 5,000 working people are killed on the job every year, and nearly three million suffer a serious injury or illness. Black, Latinx, immigrant, and indigenous workers labor in the most dangerous jobs and suffer the highest injury and fatality rates.

A serious injury or workplace fatality takes an enormous emotional and physical toll on workers, their families, and their communities. In fact, a workplace injury can force workers and their families out of the middle class and into poverty, contributing to growing economic inequality.

Working together with allies, NELP is a leader in creating policy solutions to ensure that workers have safety and health protections, especially in dangerous low-paying jobs where workers of color are disproportionately represented.

We are fighting to ensure robust enforcement of workplace safety and anti-retaliation protections, and to improve workers’ compensation programs for injured workers, both in terms of program design and accessibility. And we are working with partners to educate policymakers and the public about solutions to hold irresponsible employers accountable and to ensure that workers don’t have to sacrifice their lives for a paycheck.