On-the-Job Deaths Down 45% From 1980

Workplace deaths in the United States have dropped by nearly half over the last two decades, the government said, crediting new technology, stricter safety regulations and a shift in the economy toward safer service-industry jobs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 5,285 workers died from on-the-job injuries in 1997, the latest year for which figures are available. That is a rate of 4.1 deaths per 100,000 workers--down 45% from 1980, when it was 7.4. Mining was easily the most dangerous sector, with 30 deaths per 100,000 workers over the two decades. Agriculture and forestry followed at 19 per 100,000. The CDC cautioned that its numbers probably underestimate the number of deaths in the workplace because the agency measures them using a nationwide survey of death certificates. The Labor Department issues its own set of statistics on workplace deaths, tracking them with a more comprehensive method that also scours federal regulatory reports and news clippings. Those numbers go back only to 1992 but have shown a similar trend--a steady drop in deaths at work. The CDC issued its workplace injury statistics in advance of Workers Memorial Day, which is Saturday.