PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Henry Herrera
Telephone: +1-301-801-0608
Email: info@saveservices.org
UN Workplace Policies Ignore Men Despite Highest Death Rates
May 7, 2026 — Globally, men experience occupational mortality rates that are three times higher than women. The International Labor Organization reports 51.4 male deaths per 100,000 working-age adults, compared to 17.2 for women, a disparity sustained across industries and regions alike (1). Men are overrepresented in high-risk, physically demanding jobs with greater exposure to fatal accidents such as falls, machinery, and vehicles.
Of the nearly 3 million workers who die each year from work-related causes, fatal occupational injuries—the accidents most often associated with workplace danger—represent only approximately 11% of total work-related deaths. The majority are attributable to occupational diseases, including circulatory diseases, malignant neoplasms, and respiratory diseases caused by workplace exposures (1). Across both categories, men bear a disproportionate share of the burden.
Why are the workers most likely to die on the job not the focus of targeted global safety efforts?
This pattern is consistent across countries and sectors. In the United Kingdom, men accounted for 95% of all worker fatalities in 2024/25 (2). In the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries reported that women accounted for only 8.1% of the 5,070 workplace fatalities recorded in 2024—meaning men accounted for nearly 92% of U.S. workplace deaths (3).
No United Nations–sponsored initiative since 2015 has been identified that specifically targets workplace safety risks affecting men. Major programs such as the ILO’s Safety + Health for All apply broad, non-gender-specific universal frameworks (4).
When gender is addressed in UN and ILO initiatives, the focus is on issues such as workplace harassment, pay inequality, and economic participation. These initiatives include targeted frameworks such as ILO Convention No. 190 and the Equal Pay International Coalition (5)(6), both of which are designed to address workplace challenges affecting women.
ILO strategies, including its Global Strategy on Occupational Safety and Health 2024–2030, focus on system-wide improvements, prevention, and safer working conditions for all, but do not include targeted interventions for men in high-risk occupations (7).
The gap is clear. The workers facing the highest risk of death are not the focus of targeted global safety initiatives—leaving the primary at-risk population without dedicated support.
The ICMB calls on the United Nations and the International Labor Organization to align workplace safety policies with real-world risk data and develop targeted initiatives for high-risk populations, including men in hazardous occupations.
The International Council for Men and Boys is a non-governmental organization working to end the 12 sex disparities that affect men and boys worldwide. The ICMB is a leader of the emerging global movement to address these disparities. https://www.menandboys.net/
Links:
- https://www.ilo.org/resource/news/nearly-3-million-people-die-work-related-accidents-and-diseases
- https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/gender/overview.htm
- https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cfoi.nr0.htm
- https://www.ilo.org/topics-and-sectors/safety-and-health-work/safety-health-all
- https://normlex.ilo.org/dyn/nrmlx_en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C190
- https://www.equalpayinternationalcoalition.org/
- https://www.ilo.org/resource/policy/global-strategy-occupational-safety-and-health
A review of publicly available United Nations materials on workplace safety, occupational risk, and labor protections analyzed for this release may be accessed here: https://grok.com/share/c2hhcmQtMi1jb3B5_3fae0abc-2f8b-4d56-9022-b6323b392c6d
The ICMB analysis of the United Nations is available here: https://www.menandboys.net/un-2/