Democratic members of Congress have introduced legislation to reduce the number of American workers killed or injured on the job each year. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Patty Murray of Washington proposed a measure in the Senate, and Representatives Lynn Woolsey of California and Phil Hare of Illinois introduced an identical bill in the House.

The action came a day after the AFL-CIO released an annual report showing that in 2005, the most recent year for which data were available, over 5,700 workers in the United States were killed on the job. That's an average of 16 per day, with another 4.2 million injured.

Supporters say the Protecting America's Workers Act would boost workplace safety by strengthening and expanding the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act.

It would:

• Apply federal safety standards to workers not currently covered, including municipal employees and some private sector workers,
• Increase penalties against employers for repeated and willful violations of the law, including making felony charges available when an employer's repeated and willful violation leads to a worker's death or serious injury,
• Protect workers who blow the whistle on unsafe working conditions,
• Enhance the public's right to know about safety violations, and
• Make clear that employers must provide necessary protective gear for workers.

Woolsey, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protection, noted that thousands of lives have been saved since passage of the OSH Act in 1970. But she said too many people continue to die on the job. "This administration has a dismal record on health and safety. OSHA has fallen down on its job and turned its back on workers." She says that with the new measure "we can make OSHA mean something again."