How Many People Get Killed at Work Every Year?

We work to live, and often we live to work. But the staggering facts are that 6,300 people die every day due to occupational accidents or work-related diseases including cancer, heart disease and stroke, according to the United Nations' International Labour Organization. That amounts to 2.3 million deaths a year -- far more annual fatalities than have occurred in any armed conflict since World War II. The statistics have nearly doubled in the last 15 years; there were 1.2 million work-related deaths in 2000.

The ILO lists the three most dangerous industries as agriculture, construction and mining. A worker dies every 15 seconds from a work-related accident or work-related disease. And even when they are not fatal, some 317 million accidents occur every year on the job.

More about workplace dangers:

• The ILO reports that the cost of poor occupational safety standards around the world amounts to about 4% of the global Gross Domestic Product each year.
• In the U.S., the AFL-CIO claims that more than 510,000 lives have been saved since Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1970.
• Statistically, North Dakota has been ranked the most dangerous and deadly place to work in America. In 2015, for the third year in a row, North Dakota was the state with the highest number of work-related fatalities.