Mapping the lives and deaths of workers: An emerging way to tell the story of occupational health and safety

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Today’s post was shared by Gelman on Workplace Injuries and comes from scienceblogs.com

You can’t get more of a big-picture perspective on a problem than by using a map of the globe. I also think being able to quantify a tragic problem like “occupational death, illness or disaster” makes it more real to more people, in addition to those who experience it, or work with it every day, like employees of the firm do.

The Global Worker Watch project and the Center for Construction Research and Training’s Fatality Map leads to more attention to these tragedies, according to a research analyst at the Center for Construction Research and Training.

“‘(The maps) help bring life to the data instead of just looking at the numbers,’ West told me. ‘The visual aspect and the ability to interact help draw some attention to the problem,'” said Gavin West, the research analyst.

I know the map has motivated me to consider some future blog posts using some of the raw data, and I encourage you to read and explore the information yourself to both honor those who were killed or hurt at work and also obtain information about workplace conditions both close to home and at various spots on the globe.

When Bethany Boggess first debuted her online mapping project, she didn’t expect it to attract so much attention. But within just six months of its launch, people from all over the world are sending in reports and helping her build a dynamic picture of the lives and deaths of workers.

The project is called the Global Worker Watch and it’s quite literally a living map of worker fatalities and catastrophes from around the globe. When you go to the site, you’ll see a world map speckled with blue dots, each representing a reported occupational death, illness or disaster. Here are just a few I randomly clicked on: In March in Pakistan, four workers died and 18 were injured when a gas cylinder exploded at a gas company. Also in March in Gujarat, India, two workers died of silicosis, an occupational disease caused by the inhalation of silica dust. Three workers have died in the mines of Coahuila, Mexico, since January. In February, a worker at an Iron County mine site in Utah died after getting trapped on a conveyer belt. Just a few days ago, a worker in the United Kingdom died after falling from an electricity tower. And in May, police in Cambodia opened fire during a labor protest, killing four people.

“Obviously, I’m only capturing the tip of the iceberg,” said Boggess, a 26-year-old epidemiology student at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Austin. “But if I’m just one person and I can do this in six…

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The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

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