North Sea Workwear
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Major Workplace Disasters and Their High Human and Monetary Costs [Infographic]

April 16, 2015
From Chernobyl to the Deepwater Horizon spill to plane crashes and building collapses, disasters often take the lives of workers and have devastating economic consequences.

As the fifth anniversary of the explosion and blowout of the Deepwater Horizon platform approaches on April 20, we're reminded that many disasters – whether plane crashes, building collapses or nuclear meltdowns – kill and injure workers.

Often, warnings that disaster could occur went unheeded, and routine safety inspections and tasks were ignored. In some cases, employee's safety concerns were ignored, such as in the case of the Rana Plaza building collapse, where 1,219 workers ultimately died.

As this infographic from North Sea Workwear shows, these disasters have high human and economic costs, and there are lessons to be learned from all of them.

About the Author

Sandy Smith

Sandy Smith is the former content director of EHS Today, and is currently the EHSQ content & community lead at Intelex Technologies Inc. She has written about occupational safety and health and environmental issues since 1990.

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