The number of fatal workplace accidents has been declining for decades, but the total number of deaths among workers is increasing. That is the core message of a recent article by Dan Markiewicz, MS, CIH, CSP, RMP, in ISHN Magazine, in which he argues that grief management is becoming a structural task for occupational safety and health (OSH) professionals.
A Shifting Workforce
Markiewicz points to a demographic shift in the United States since the founding of workplace safety regulator OSHA in 1970. The U.S. workforce has since grown by roughly 90 million workers, and the number of workers over 65 has risen from about 2 million to nearly 11 million. Because mortality risk increases with age, the overall number of deaths among workers is rising as well — even as classic workplace accidents decline. Occupational diseases alone are estimated to claim around 135,000 lives per year in the U.S. These figures are specific to the United States and tied to the OSHA context; they cannot simply be translated to other countries with different demographics and reporting systems. However, the underlying mechanism — an aging workforce and a growing share of deaths from chronic occupational disease rather than acute accidents — is at play in virtually every developed economy.
Grief as an Occupational Risk
The author cites the American Psychological Association’s definition: grief is “the anguish experienced after significant loss,” which may include physical complaints, separation anxiety, confusion and longing, and in severe cases even life-threatening complications. Markiewicz places grief management within the broader Total Worker Health framework: if organizations invest in the full health of their employees, he argues, dealing with loss and grief belongs there too. He also points to emerging areas of concern such as support after miscarriage — relevant under pregnancy accommodation regulations — and the aftermath of deaths from long-term occupational illness, where colleagues sometimes witness someone falling ill and dying over the course of years.
What OSH Professionals Can Do
Concretely, Markiewicz argues that organizations should develop grief response plans before a death occurs, so that managers and colleagues are not forced to improvise in a moment of shock. Preventing workplace deaths remains the primary goal of every OSH professional, but when a death does occur, there is a responsibility to support affected teams and families. Explicitly recognizing grief as an occupational risk — alongside physical and chemical hazards — is, according to the author, a necessary step toward removing the taboo around this subject.
Markiewicz closes his article with a personal note about the unexpected death of his wife Lynda, as an illustration of how abruptly loss can strike and why he believes organizational preparation is not a needless luxury.
For EHS professionals worldwide, the message extends beyond the U.S. figures: an aging workforce and the growing impact of chronic occupational disease are global trends. A grief response plan, regardless of jurisdiction, can make the difference between an organization that supports a team in crisis and one that only learns afterward what should have been done.
Source: A Sign of the Times: The OSH Pro’s Role in Grief Management, September 9, 2026, https://www.ishn.com/articles/115586-a-sign-of-the-times-the-osh-pros-role-in-grief-management
