Although the Labor Department has just reported that homicide is the second leading cause of death in the workplace, with a growing number occurring during robberies, their own figures show that secondhand tobacco smoke kills far more workers than all workplace homicides, including attacks by co-workers.
"Workers are much more likely to be killed by smoking co-workers than by robbers or disgruntled employees," says John Banzhaf, Executive Director of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH).
The Labor Department's own Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) "estimates that there will be between 2,094 and 13,000 deaths from heart disease per year among nonsmoking American workers exposed to ETS [Environmental Tobacco Smoke] in the workplace." These are in addition to hundreds of lung cancer deaths from the same cause.
In contrast, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says that about 20% of the estimated 6,588 workers killed last year died as a result of violence -- a total of 1318 -- of which only 91 were killed by co-workers, customers, or clients.
This is far less than even the lowest estimate of the number of American workers who are killed each year by involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke in their workplaces.
Moreover, even if only one-third of the average estimated number of deaths from workplace tobacco smoke occurs on the job, that number is almost twice the number of workers who die in the workplace as a result of all forms of violence.
Ironically, says Banzhaf, OSHA has been considering for more than a year a rule which would prevent all these deaths simply by prohibiting workplace smoking, or limiting it to separately ventilated rooms. Such restrictions are already in effect in five states, and are saving hundreds of lives at virtually no cost to the employers.
"Would we hesitate for a moment to adopt a rule which would, at no cost, eliminate the far smaller number of annual workplace homicides?," he asks.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, August 4, 1995
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CALL: John Banzhaf (202) 659-4310