In Connecticut, Study On Work Related Deaths

A total of 5,702 workers – 46 from Connecticut -- lost their lives to work injuries in this country last year. The Connecticut Department of Labor’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (CONN-OSHA) reports that this is a 15 percent decline from Connecticut’s 2004 total of 54 work-injury deaths. 

“The loss of even one life to a work accident is one loss too many -- and we have lost over 200 workers in the past five years,” states State Labor Commissioner Patricia H. Mayfield. “Last year, 46 people left their homes for a normal workday that suddenly became tragic, preventing them from ever returning home to their families.”

“However, Connecticut does maintain a fatality rate below the national rate, largely due to low employment in high-risk occupations,” explains Mayfield. 

In 2005, Connecticut had a fatality rate of 2.7 for every 100,000 workers while the U.S. rate was 4.0 per 100,000 workers. The ten most dangerous occupations in the nation – which include fishers, loggers, pilots, and steel workers - accounted for 38 percent of work injury fatalities. This is clearly disproportionate to the groups’ five percent share of U.S. employment.

Transportation accidents are the leading cause of work-related fatalities. In 2005, they killed 12 workers in Connecticut, followed by contact with objects and equipment (10) and homicides (9).  Each year, an average of seven workers in Connecticut are killed in falls, with the highest recorded number of fatal falls occurring in 2004 with 16 deaths.

“Thankfully, fatal falls declined in 2005, but remained slightly above the annual average with eight deaths,” notes Mayfield.

Work-related fatal illnesses often occur years after an exposure has occurred and are difficult to link to specific work conditions, according to Erin Wilkins, who compiled the report.  Thus, they are not reported in the census.