Study: Fatal occupational injuries among Asian workers
There is a one in four chance that a victim of grocery store robbery-related murder will be Asian, and a foreign born Asian at that.
In her report on Asian worker fatalities in the October 2005 issue of the Monthly Labor Review, Jessica Sincavage notes that between 1999 and 2003, 775 workers of Asian descent suffered fatal work fatalities, which equals 3 percent of all work fataltites in the given time frame. More than half of Asian worker fatalities were the result of an assault or violent act, far higher than for all fatalities (10%).
Who are the Asians who die at work? Indians, 23%; Koreans, 18%; and Vietnamese, 14%, are the three largest nationalities.
she writes:
"During the 5-year period between 1999 and 2003,775 people of Asian descent suffered a fatal work injury; this is equal to 3 percent of all fatal work injuries during this period; more than half of the fatalities resulted from an assault or violent act
According to Census 2000, Asian-Americans accounted for 3.6 percent of the U.S. population; this percentage is likely to rise as more Asians continue to immigrate. In 2000, 76 percent of the foreign-born Asian population had immigrated to the United States in the past two decades. Part of this increase was because of the growth of the foreign-born Asian population from 1990 to 2000. In 2000, 43 percent of the foreign-born Asian population had just immigrated into the United States within the past 10 years.
As the Asian-American population continues to grow, so does the need to understand the distinct societal and economic issues this group faces, especially in the workplace. Worker safety is one area that can be studied. Understanding the dangers that threaten their safety in the workplace and how the Asian labor force experience differs from other workers is an important beginning."