Louisiana Work-Related Injuries, Illnesses and Deaths Down in 2008

BATON ROUGE -- The number of work-related injuries, illnesses and deaths in Louisiana dropped in 2008, in some cases to the lowest level in seven years, according to the Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC).

Non-fatal work-related injuries and illnesses in Louisiana's private industry occurred at a rate of 2.8 per 100 full-time workers in 2008, down from the 2007 rate of 2.9. The rate of work-related injuries and illnesses in Louisiana is at the lowest level since the federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration revised its recordkeeping rules in 2002, according to the LWC. The national rate for 2008 was 3.9, down from 4.2 in 2007.

There were 134 work-related fatalities in Louisiana in 2008, according to preliminary 2008 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries data. That number is down from the 2007 total of 139 deaths.

Breakdown of the work-related deaths by industry, include:

- Transportation and warehousing, 39 deaths, with 20 of those deaths in truck transportation.

- Construction, 27 deaths

- Natural resources and mining, 19 deaths

- Government, 13 deaths, with eight of those in local government justice, public order and safety activities.

The Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) for 2008 marks the first time work-related injury and illness data was collected for state and local government. The 3.8 incidence rate for state and local government in Louisiana is lower than the 6.3 nationwide incidence rate for state and local government, but above the Louisiana private industry's 2.8 incidence rate.

The data is collected by the Louisiana Workforce Commission in partnership with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Additional state and national data is available at the BLS Web site's Injuries, Illnesses and Fatalities section at www.bls.gov/iif.