Dying on the Job in Mississippi: Lack of Adequate Protection for Injured Workers Hurts Families and Communities

Introduction

Every day, more than a million workers in Mississippi head to work to support their families and communities. They work in industries such as shipbuilding, catfish and poultry processing, steel mills, retail, construction, agriculture, healthcare, auto manufacturing, and furniture and wood products manufacturing. Many of these jobs can be dangerous—where job hazards cause serious injuries. In fact, Mississippi workers face one of the highest on-the-job fatality rates of any state in the nation. Furthermore, Mississippi workers suffer hundreds of severe injuries every year and face a workers’ compensation system where benefits are so low that injured workers and their families are at risk of falling into poverty.

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