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Showing posts from January, 2018

‘Tragic trend’: On-the-job deaths at highest level since 2008, BLS reports

Washington — A total of 5,190 workers died from on-the-job injuries in 2016 – a 7 percent increase from 2015 and the highest number of fatalities since 5,214 workers died in 2008, according to data released Dec. 19 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The data also shows that the overall rate of fatal workplace injuries climbed to 3.6 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers in 2016 from 3.4 per 100,000 FTE in 2015. Also notable: Transportation-related fatalities – which increased slightly to 2,083 – accounted for 40 percent of all fatal work-related injuries in 2016. Among workers 55 and older, 1,848 deaths occurred – the highest total among this demographic since the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries began in 1992. Drivers/sales workers and truck drivers experienced 918 fatal injuries, the most of any occupation, while logging workers had the highest rate of fatal injuries, at 135.9 per 100,000 FTE. The number of fatalities among loggers increased to 91 in 2016 from 67 in 2015.