On-the-job deaths rise in Nevada

By Alexandra Berzon

Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008 | 12:16 p.m.

Newly released federal statistics show that Nevada saw the sharpest increase in workplace fatalities among states between 2006 and 2007.

Workplace fatalities in the state rose 49 in 2006 to 68 last year, an increase of 38.8 percent, according to numbers released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a unit of the Department of Labor. The increase

occurred even as workplace deaths dropped nationwide.

Seven of the Nevada deaths were from a construction accidents on the Las Vegas Strip, the focus of recent public concern for worker safety. In 2006, one person died in a Strip construction accident. This year, four people have died in Strip construction accidents.

Nationally, a total of 5,488 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2007, a decrease of 6 percent from 2006. That means that 3.7 for every 100,000 workers died, the lowest annual rate ever recorded.

Thirty states reported fatality that were lower in 2007 from the previous year.

But Nevada was a different story. Fatalities in the state included 17 falls, 5 exposures to harmful substances, 10 object encounters, 7 cases of workplace violence, and 28 deaths caused by transportation accidents.

The report did not specify industry deaths for each state. Nationally, the construction industry racked up the most fatalities of any private sector, with 1,178 deaths. That's a five percent decline in fatalities for the

sector between 2006 and 2007.

However, fatalities among workers constructing buildings actually increased 11 percent nationally, according to the federal numbers. Most of those were in commercial buildings.

The Labor statistics are preliminary. Final totals will not be released until April 2009.