Key Objectives:
- Discuss the role of occupational safety and health in tribal communities.
- Understand how tribes have integrated occupational safety and health into the tribal structure.
- Gain an understanding of tribal workforce data.
Brief Summary:
National data on occupational injuries, illnesses and fatalities among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) workers are scarce and research on worker safety and health in tribal communities is limited. There are approximately 5.4 million AI/AN living across the U.S., with 2.7 million AI/AN employed in the US workforce. California has the largest number of AI/AN workers with 400,000. Alaska and New Mexico have the highest percentages of AI/AN workers, with 17 percent and 13 percent respectively. Tribes engage in a wide range of industry and enterprise to build the economies of their communities and it is critical to ensure worker safety, health and well-being. According to the Current Population Survey, industries with the most AI/AN workers are Services (1.3 million), Healthcare and Social Assistance (353,000) and Wholesale and Retail Trade (366,000). AI/AN workers are 42 percent more likely to be employed in a high-risk occupation (an occupation where the injury and illness rate is more than twice the national average) as compared to non-Hispanic Whites. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 358 AI/AN workers killed on the job during 2005 – 2014, an average of 36 fatalities each year. In 2013, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) launched an initiative to partner with AI/AN communities, tribal-serving organizations, and other stakeholders to provide occupational safety and health support. The main goal of the initiative is to maximize resources to build and strengthen capacity to ensure AI/AN workers make it home safely to their families. This presentation will give an overview of the NIOSH AI/AN Initiative and provide tribal workforce data by state and industry. Finally, we will share examples of how tribes have integrated occupational safety and health into the tribal structure.