Calif. approves Geico rate reduction

The California Department of Insurance has announced it has approved GEICO's 10.8 percent rate reduction in personal auto insurance policies. The reduction should translate into $65.8 million in overall savings for GEICO customers. Commissioner Steve Poizner also recognized GEICO's early compliance with the Department of Insurance auto rating factor regulations, rewarding good drivers for their behavior.

"I am pleased to announce that GEICO is passing on tremendous savings to its policyholders," said Commissioner Poizner. "As a top auto insurer in California, GEICO is an excellent example that insurers can serve the best interests of its customers and operate profitably at the same time."

Poizner said he ordered the Department of Insurance (CDI) Rate Filing Bureau to process GEICO's rate reductions quickly, so he could approve the reductions and put money back into the pockets of GEICO's 70,000 San Diego policyholders and 436,000 statewide policyholders. Under the reduced rates, GEICO customers will save an average of $150 per policy. The new rates went into effect August 30.

Additionally, GEICO has filed to become 100 percent compliant with CDI's auto rating factor regulations, one year earlier than the mandated deadline. Under those regulations, rates will be based primarily on three factors: driving record, number of miles driven, and years driving experience.

Under old regulations, rates could be influenced by other rating factors, such as marital status, gender, and zip code. GEICO's timely compliance with the auto rating factor regulations will help reward good drivers through lower premiums, instead of penalizing them for where they reside, CDIsaid.

Insurers oppose proposed Calif. workers' comp deductible

Some California insurers are asking the Legislature to reconsider a proposal that they say will dramatically boost workers' compensation temporary disability payments to injured workers.

The American Insurance Association (AIA) submitted comments to the California Department of Insurance (CDI) on August 8, opposing Assembly Bill 338 related to large deductible workers' compensation policies, saying the proposal threatens to harm the marketplace and is unnecessary. Suhr Risk Services of California estimates that the law would increase payments by more than $100 million annually statewide.

"No other state in the union has found it necessary to regulate in this heavy-handed manner," said Steve Suchil, AIA assistant vice president for state affairs. "This proposal will restrict the flexibility of employers and insurers to enter into deductible arrangements. The result will be higher costs for deductible policies which will make this option of coverage less attractive to employers. In the end, if fewer businesses use large deductible policies and decide to self insure the State of California will earn less premium tax income."

Suhr Risk Services said the bill by Assembly Insurance Committee Chair Joe Coto, D-San Jose, attempts to address public and press concerns that many temporary disabled workers have run out of workers' comp disability benefits before recovering and returning to work.

Workers' compensation reforms enacted in 2004 limited temporary partial and total disability payments to 104 weeks following the first disability payment. There are nine categories of exemptions to the two-year cap, allowing payments to some workers for up to five years after the first payment. AB 338 proposes to increase the cap another year to 156 compensable weeks and would change the clock start time from the date of first payment to the date of injury.

John Suhr, Suhr Risk Services partner, said, "The evidence clearly shows that AB 338 would go a long way toward unraveling the hard-won gains the Legislature achieved in 2004."

"Insurers have successfully offered large deductible policies for 13 years without over-reaching regulation," Suchil added. "CDI's proposed regulations will micro-manage routine business transactions that occur between sophisticated sellers and purchasers of workers' compensation insurance. Currently the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Reinsurance Task Force is working on a proposal that would reduce collateral requirements for alien reinsurers. It does not seem fair to increase the already substantial security deposits required of licensed and regulated U.S. insurance companies, while at the same time the CDI is working with the NAIC to reduce collateral requirements for unlicensed, non-U.S. reinsurers."

Suhr noted that a study by the California Workers' Compensation Institute tracking disability payouts under the two-year cap, the five-year cap and total payout found that the three-year cap would increase the total amount of temporary disability paid for accident year claims by 11 percent, from $1.06 billion to $1.194 billion.

He said the state Legislature's reliance on "apocryphal information to set public policy is not a proper approach, especially when it brings about such monumental financial impacts on the workers' compensation system"

Calif. court rules workers' comp costs can be tallied in incentive plans

The California Supreme Court has ruled that incentive compensation plans, calculated on profits, can subtract out costs for workers' compensation costs from profits, even if it discourages employees from reporting workplace injuries.

In Eddy Korkiat Prachasaisoradej v. Ralphs Grocery Co. Inc., Prachasaisoradej, who was a produce manager in a Ralphs store, filed a complaint on behalf of himself and other employees that their earnings in the store's incentive compensation plan figures were illegally reduced when the store subtracted out expenses for cash shortages, damaged or lost merchandise, workers' compensation, tort claims by nonemployees, and other business expenses beyond the employees' control. In the complaint, the employees sought injunctive relief, restoration of lost wages, interest and attorney fees for violating wage-protection rules set forth in the Labor Code. The plaintiff said the expenses subtracted out were 'not caused by the willful or dishonest act(s) or gross negligence of' the individual employees whose compensation was thereby diminished," and therefore should not be calculated expenses.

Ralphs "asserted that incentive compensation, paid over and above the regular wage, and openly contingent on the achievement of profitability goals, as profitability is normally defined, does not constitute an improper charge against, or deduction from, wages in violation of the Labor Code," according to court documents.

The high court ruled that Ralph's ICP Plan "does not resemble, in letter or spirit, the prohibited deduction, setoff, or recapture of expected wages for the purpose of saddling employees with prohibited employer costs ... The plan does not produce, in violation of section 3751, a prohibited direct or indirect deduction or contribution from employee wages to cover the costs of workers' compensation."

Also, the court noted that "under the ICP, all eligible employees' supplementary incentive compensation was equally and collectively premised, at the outset, on store profits, a factor that necessarily considers the employer's expenses as well as its income."

"Ralphs took no unauthorized deductions or contributions, direct or indirect, from the wages so offered or promised," the court concluded.

The court acknowledged that "the plaintiff, joined by amicus curiae Consumer Attorneys of California, contended at length that, insofar as Ralphs' ICP subtracts a store's workers' comp costs from its revenues to determine the profit on which supplementary incentive compensation amounts are based, the Plan violates the policy of the workers' compensation law by encouraging store employees not to report valid injury claims for fear of reducing their pay."

However, "one might equally argue that inclusion of workers' compensation costs in the profit calculation promotes the goals of the workers' compensation system by encouraging employees to maintain a safe workplace, and by discouraging claim abuse," the court said.

Insurance company protecting pricey Idaho homes from wildfire

Idaho's Sun Valley Insurance is doing everything it can to keep claims at bay during wildfire season -- including sending in a fire truck to cover million-dollar homes threatened by a wildfire outside the central Idaho resort town of Ketchum.

"It's well worth it from an insurance standpoint, to keep these things standing," said Jack Dies, owner of Sun Valley Insurance.

A representative for New York-based AIG, Dies said he had insured seven of the threatened homes, which he estimated had a collective value of as much as $35 million. They're located on the western side of the tony mountain town.

"Fires are not totally uncommon here," he said, "but nobody thought we would be in as much danger as we ended up being in."

On Aug. 22, the lightning-caused Castle Rock Fire had grown to 22 square miles. It was one of 13 fires being battled in Idaho at the time that have scorched 1,170 square miles.

About 740 firefighters and fire managers were battling the Castle Rock Fire, said fire spokeswoman Pat Irwin. They included firefighters who rappel into the steep terrain out of helicopters.

She said nine helicopters were assigned to the fire and airtankers were also dropping fire retardant.

Residents of about 100 homes were ordered to evacuate, and residents of about 200 more homes have been advised to leave.

Irwin said a plan to burn out areas ahead of the blaze, depriving it of fuel, has been working. She said the fire was burning about 1.5 miles west of Ketchum, and that no homes had been destroyed and no one injured. Some 30 fire trucks were protecting buildings.

AIG insures about 30 to 40 homes worth at least $1 million each that are being threatened by the Castle Rock Fire, said Dorothy Sarna, the company's national director for risk management services. She said the fire truck the company dispatched to the area was working to protect 10 to 12 of the homes with a protective barrier of fire retardant.

"We have some pretty sophisticated models that tell us where the fire is, and then we pinpoint where our policy holders are," she said in a telephone interview. The company insures about 200 expensive homes in the Ketchum area, she said.

Elsewhere in the state, Nancy Guerrero, fire information officer, said crews were working to clean up hot spots after two days of rain, but expected the fire to pick up again since dry weather was forecast.

"Things are going to start getting hot and heavy again pretty darn soon," she said.

The communities of Warren, Secesh and South Fork remain under a voluntary evacuation.

The Cascade Complex of fires, burning about 16 miles east of Cascade, was 11 percent contained as of press time. That fire complex had burned about 256 square miles.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Calif. State Fund names Frank new president

The California State Compensation Insurance Fund has selected Janet Frank to be its new president.

Frank, currently executive vice president of North American Field Operations for CNA Financial, is scheduled to begin working at SCIF in October. SCIF noted it expects Frank to help integrate and improve operations at the organization following the setbacks in late March and early April over unethical practices in its group programs, which led to the firings of former president James Tudor and Renee Koren, vice president in charge of group programs.

Lawrence Mulryan was appointed interim president at that time. And Julie Jenkinson, SCIF spokeswoman, said a search for a permanent president was begun then as well.

"Janet brings an impressive track record of results in the industry and has been recognized for her strategic planning and process improvement capabilities," said Jeanne Cain, State Fund Board chair. "We expect her strong leadership capabilities to help us set the gold standard of service for a company like ours and that her style and experience will assist us greatly in our efforts to reach out to and work cooperatively with all stakeholders in California's workers compensation insurance market, including state legislative and regulatory authorities."

At CNA, Frank is responsible for the company's United States and Canada Field Operations, along with Risk Control and Distribution, which generate more than $6.5 billion in written premium. Prior to joining CNA in 2001, she held executive positions with St. Paul Companies (which acquired USF&G Companies), USF&G and Fireman's Fund. Her expanding responsibilities at St. Paul resulted in her overseeing the underwriting, financial, actuarial and marketing divisions.

"State Fund presents a unique and exciting opportunity for me," Frank said. "It will allow me to continue to serve in a leadership role but with the added element of public service. I will be proud to lead an organization committed to the noble goal of serving as a critical safety net of coverage for California's workers and employers."

Meanwhile, the Department of Insurance's audit of SCIF's operations is continuing. The organization had conducted an internal audit, which has been completed, Jenkinson said, but declined to comment on the results pending an investigation by the California Highway Patrol, California Department of Insurance, and San Francisco District Attorney's Office on allegations of potential misconduct by former State Fund employees.

Insurers say Alaska court decision could lead to uneven rates

A ruling by the Alaska State Supreme Court requiring insurers to re-rate all policies at the very first renewal as if credit information was never considered will have the unintended result of forcing good insurance risks to pay more -- to subsidize higher risk drivers and homeowners, according to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI).

In Alaska Dept. of Commerce, Community & Economic Development, Division of Insurance v. Progressive Casualty Insurance Co., the state's highest court reversed a lower court decision and affirmed the Division of Insurance's interpretation of Alaska's credit scoring law.

Alaska law currently allows insurers to consider credit information in rating and underwriting decisions on new policies, but forbids insurers from failing to renew, or at renewal, underwriting or rating a personal insurance policy, based in whole or in part on a consumer's credit history or insurance score.

In DOI v. Progressive, insurers argued that the statute allowed insurers to consider existing credit information along with other traditional rating and underwriting factors at renewal, so long as a new or updated credit report was not ordered by the insurer (unless permission to do so was offered by the policyholder). The Third District Superior Court ruled against the Insurance Division's "strip out credit on renewal" interpretation last year, siding with insurers' interpretation of the statute.

"Insurers that use credit information do so for only one reason -- to accurately underwrite and price policies so that the policy and price match the risk each policyholder represents. The more accurate the tools insurers use, the more likely it is consumers will pay insurance rates that truly reflect their risk of loss -- and for the 60 to 70 percent of consumers who manage their finances responsibly, the use of credit information saves them money on their home and auto insurance," said PCI NW Regional Manager Kenton Brine. "The decision will lead to like risks being treated differently and people not paying the correct rate based on their risk characteristics."

However, the Supreme Court rejected that argument, noting that Progressive's continued use of credit scores at renewal would violate state statute prohibiting such conduct. The court said the DOI correctly interpreted state law and legislative history in prohibiting Progressive's proposal.

Nation's workers' comp benefits, costs down

U.S. workers' compensation payments for medical care and cash benefits for workers disabled by workplace injuries or diseases declined in 2005, according to a study by the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI). The drop in payments in 2005, the most recent year with data, reflects large declines in California payments, as reforms enacted in 2003 and 2004 took effect.

Nationally, workers' compensation payments for injured workers fell by 1.4 percent to $55.3 billion in 2005. The payments include $26.2 billion to providers of medical care and $29.1 billion in cash wage replacement benefits for injured workers.

California payments fell by 12.2 percent; a change made up of a 16 percent decline in medical payments and an 8.6 percent decline in cash payments. "The reduced spending for benefits and medical care reflects the initial stages of cost containment measures that were put in place in 2003 and 2004 reforms to the California system," according to NASI member Christine Baker, who directs the California Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation, a nonpartisan labor-management group that advises state policymakers.

Because it is a large state -- accounting for nearly 20 percent of national benefit payments in 2005 -- California altered national trends. Outside California, total workers' compensation payments rose by 1.7 percent, an increase driven by a 4.1 percent increase in payments to medical providers. Cash payments to injured workers outside California showed a small decline of 0.3 percent.

The costs to employers for workers' compensation are what they pay each year. For employers who buy insurance, costs are premiums they pay to insurance companies plus benefits they pay under deductible arrangements in their insurance policies. For employers who insure their own workers, costs are the benefits they pay plus administrative costs. In 2005, employers paid a total of $88.8 billion nationwide for workers' compensation. A sharp drop in California employers' costs of 9.8 percent held down the national increase in employer costs to 2.3 percent. Outside California, employer costs for workers' compensation rose by 6.5 percent.

The new report tracks trends since 1989 in workers' compensation benefits and employer costs relative to total wages of workers covered by the program. Relative to wages, cash benefits in 2005 were the lowest in 17 years at $0.56 per $100 of wages.

Nationally, total benefits (cash plus medical) and employer costs fell relative to wages in 2005. Cash and medical benefits combined were $1.06 per $100 of covered wages in 2005, a drop of $0.07 from 2004, while employer costs were $1.70 per $100 of wages in 2005, down $0.05 from 2004.

Outside California, benefits per $100 of wages fell by a smaller amount ($0.03) and employer costs per $100 of wages rose slightly by two cents. According to John F. Burton Jr., chair of the panel that oversees the study, "The relative stability of benefits outside the Golden State reflects a rough balance between the declining frequency of workplace injuries and higher expenditures for medical benefits."

The report, "Workers' Compensation: Benefits, Coverage and Costs, 2005," is the tenth in a NASI series that provides national data that covers all types of employers. The study provides estimates of workers' compensation cash and medical payments for each state, the District of Colombia, and federal programs. To order a copy of the report, visit www.nasi.org/publications2763/
publications_show.htm?doc_id=516615&name.

Swett & Crawford helps provide housing

Insurance companies may be known for helping to restore and rebuild homes after catastrophes or accidents, but Atlanta-based Swett & Crawford may soon be known as an insurance company that helps build homes before a claim has even been made. Working with the city of Seattle and Habitat for Humanity Seattle/South King County, the broker broke ground on a three bedroom, one and a half bath home in central Seattle for Gidey Tesfai's family.

The new home is a land trust ownership opportunity that helps to make home ownership a reality for low-income families. Habitat homes are built using primarily volunteer labor and sold at cost at no profit and with no interest to working families.

"Each year, Swett & Crawford will build a Habitat home in the city that is the recipient of the Office of the Year Award," said Mike Hamby, the branch manager for the company's Seattle office. "Our office here in Seattle was honored to achieve that distinction in 2006. ... We're especially pleased to give back to our community by building something that will have a lasting and positive effect."

Once completed, Tesfai, his wife, their 10-year-old son and eight-year-old daughter will occupy the home. For more information, visit www.seattle-habitat.org.

Credit scoring use still an issue for officials, consumer groups

The recent release in late July of a long-awaited Federal Trade Commission (FTC) study on the use of credit scoring for underwriting and rating purposes did nothing to put to rest the controversy over its use by insurance companies. The study did support insurers' contention that there is a valid connection between how well a person manages finances and how likely it is that they will be involved in an accident. However, instead of putting out the fire, it seeemd to energize some officials and consumer groups.

Consumer groups cry foul play
Consumer groups were quick to express their concerns with the results of the study. The Center for Economic Justice and other consumer groups cried foul play, saying that African American and Hispanic minorities were indeed negatively affected by the use of credit scoring, whether intentionally or not. Birny Birnbaum, executive director for the Center for Economic Justice, said that a study by the Missouri Department of Insurance found that a consumer's race was the factor most predictive of an insurance score. And despite relying on data hand picked by insurers, the recent report by the Federal Trade Commission found that insurance scoring was a proxy for race.

"Insurance scoring represents 21st century redlining and the end of insurance as insurers develop ever more-detailed rating schemes based more on economic status, credit scores, education, occupation, prior liability limits -- than the risk of loss and should be prohibited," Birnbaum said in an opinion piece he wrote for Insurance Journal, Aug. 6, 2007.

But not all consumer advocates agree and some have even mellowed a bit on the issue.

Robert Hunter, who follows the insurance industry for the Consumer Federation of America, says the issue is far from dead. He concedes it's less widely debated today than a few years ago when more than 40 states were debating the issue every year. That's partly because about half of the states have adopted a 2003 model law proposed by the National Conference of Insurance Legislators, or NCOIL.

The model law prohibits companies from "solely" using credit information to set rates. Proponents of stiffer legislation say the model law doesn't do much because insurers prefer to also consider other, non-credit data anyway. The "solely" has taken the sting out for many legislators who had qualms about banning its use completely, according to Hunter.

"I think the NCOIL model really snuffed out a lot of the activity," Hunter said. "It gave the legislators a way to look like they were doing something without offending the insurance companies."

However, some states have added some restrictions. In Washington and most recently Delaware, insurance companies can apply credit models to only new customers.

In 2002, Maryland became the first state to ban insurance scoring for homeowners' premiums. Hawaii doesn't allow scoring for homeowners insurance either, and regulators in California and Massachusetts don't let companies consider credit when setting auto insurance rates.

Win/Win Attitude
Still insurance representatives agree -state battle is less "onerous" than it used to be.

"Over the last three or four years, this issue has kind of calmed down," said Sam Sorich, a vice president with Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, an insurer trade group. "More and more consumers now understand that their credit will be considered. There's a growing acceptance of it. Frankly, most people are helped by the fact an insurance company is using credit."

Some of the FTC report's major conclusions support Sorich and other insurance representatives on the positive aspects of credit scores. Among these findings:

• Insurance scores are effective predictors of risk under automobile policies. They are predictive of the number of claims consumers file and the total cost of those claims. The use of scores is therefore likely to make the price of insurance better match the risk of loss posed by the consumer. Thus, on average, higher-risk consumers will pay higher premiums and lower-risk consumers will pay lower premiums.


• Use of credit-based insurance scores may result in benefits for consumers. For example, scores permit insurance companies to evaluate risk with greater accuracy, which may make them more willing to offer insurance to higher-risk consumers for whom they would otherwise not be able to determine an appropriate premium. Scores also may make the process of granting and pricing insurance quicker and cheaper, cost savings that may be passed on to consumers in the form of lower premiums.


• Credit-based insurance scores appear to have little effect as a "proxy" for membership in racial and ethnic groups in decisions related to insurance. The relationship between scores and claims risk remains strong when controls for race, ethnicity, and neighborhood income are included in statistical models of risk.

In spite of these conclusions, Congressional leaders want to hear the supporting theories, opinions, and critical remarks for themselves.

A Congressional hearing on the FTC study and the use of credit scores at the state level that was scheduled in July, but was cancelled by U.S. Representative Melvin L. Watt, D-N.C., chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. No alternative date has been selected to hold the hearing, but it is clear that Rep. Watts will hold the hearing and expects to hear from a wide array of interested parties.

Reports from the Associated Press contributed to this article.

Feds release data on drunken driving fatalities

Texas led the nation with 1,354 drunken driving fatalities in 2006 and was among the states to record the largest increase in such deaths, federal transportation officials said.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released in late August data showing drunken driving deaths increased in 22 states and fell in 26 states in 2006.

The NHTSA reported that in total 17,602 people were killed in the United States in alcohol-related motor vehicle traffic crashes, essentially unchanged fromthe 17,590 alcohol-related fatalities in 2005.

There were 13,470 deaths nationwide in 2006 involving drivers and motorcycle operators with blood alcohol levels of 0.08 or higher, which is the legal limit for adults throughout the country. That number was down slightly from 2005, when 13,582 people died in crashes involving legally drunk drivers.

Texas' 2006 total was an increase of 34 from 2005, putting it even with Arizona and Kansas for the biggest jump. However, Utah, Kansas and Iowa had the largest percentage increases compared with 2005.

"Texas has run a first close and second with California for years," said Susan Bragg, victim services director for the North Texas chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. "It's because traditionally Texas hasn't been known as a strong enforcer of DWI laws. We have a lot of highways. We have a lot of drivers."

Results nationwide
The overall number of deaths involving drivers and motorcycle operators with any amount of alcohol in their blood was 17,602 last year. That was up from 17,590 in 2005, said Heather Ann Hopkins, spokeswoman for the national highway administration.

"The number of people who died on the nation's roads actually fell last year," U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said at a news conference in Arlington, Va., a Washington suburb. "However the trend did not extend to alcohol-related crashes."

Transportation officials announced the new figures as they unveiled an $11 million nationwide advertising campaign as part of a Labor Day weekend campaign called "Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest."

"This crackdown is very, very, very important because it's the penalties that are imposed when someone chooses to ignore the law that really have the ability to make changes," Peters said.

Florida, Missouri and Pennsylvania had the greatest decreases in numbers of drunken driving deaths last year, while the District of Columbia, Alaska and Delaware had the largest percentage decreases compared with 2005.

The District of Columbia had the smallest actual number of drunken driving deaths with a total of 12.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Fatal workplace injuries drop slightly in 2006

The Department of Labor's BLS National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries for 2006 reported that 5,703 people died from on-the-job injuries in 2006 compared with 5,734 in 2005. The rate of fatal work injuries in 2006 was 3.9 per 100,000 workers, down from a rate of 4.0 per 100,000 in 2005, BLS reported.

The overall fatal work injury rate for the U.S. in 2006 was lower than the rate for any year since the fatality census was first conducted in 1992.

Fatal highway incidents remained the number one cause of on-the-job deaths claiming 1,329 lives, accounting for nearly one out of four fatal work injuries. While fatal highway incidents remained the most frequent type of fatal work-related event, the number of highway incidents fell 8 percent in 2006. The number of fatal highway incidents in 2006 was the lowest annual total since 1993.

Falls ranked second, increasing 5 percent in 2006, claiming 809 lives. The 809 fatal falls in 2006 was the third highest total since 1992, when the fatality census began. Fatal falls from roofs increased from 160 fatalities in 2005 to 184 in 2006, a rise of 15 percent.

Being struck by objects ranked third, with 583 fatalities, although the number of workers who were fatally injured from being struck by objects was lower in 2006, after increasing for the last three years. The 583 fatalities resulting from being struck by objects in 2006 represented a 4 percent decline from the 2005 total.

Workplace homicides ranked fourth claiming the lives of 516 workers, with more than 80 percent of those workers being shot. However, the number of workplace homicides in 2006 was a series low and reflected a decline of over 50 percent from the high reported in 1994, the Census reported.

Fatalities involving fires and explosions increased by 26 percent in 2006, rising from 159 in 2005 to 201 in 2006. Fatalities resulting from exposure to harmful substances or environments were also higher in 2006, led by a 12 percent increase in exposure to caustic, noxious, or allergenic substances.

Other key findings
Coal mining industry fatalities more than doubled in 2006, due to the Sago Mine disaster and other multiple-fatality coal mining incidents.

Fatalities among workers under 25 years of age fell 9 percent, and the rate of fatal injury among these workers was down significantly.

The 937 fatal work injuries involving Hispanic or Latino workers in 2006 was a series high, but the overall fatality rate for Hispanic or Latino workers was lower than in 2005.

Fatalities among self-employed workers declined 11 percent and reached a series low in 2006.

Aircraft-related fatalities were up 44 percent, led by a number of multiple-fatality events including the August 2006 Comair crash.

Reducing fatalities
"Business and labor must continue to work together with government to reach the ultimate goal of zero fatalities," said Michael W. Thompson, president of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE). "The BLS report noted that 5,703 people lost their lives on-the-job in 2006. The report indicated the number one activity in the workplace that led to fatalities was again transportation incidents."

In all, 27 states reported higher fatality numbers in 2006, while 23 states and Washington, D.C., recorded lower totals, ASSE reported. Texas had the highest number of worker fatalities with 486 followed by California with 448 and Florida with 355. The 12 states recording an increase in fatalities by 20 percent or more were Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont and West Virginia.

"We applaud those states that continue to see a drop in worker accidents and fatalities, such as Alabama, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, South Carolina, Wisconsin and Wyoming and the District of Columbia which recorded declines of 20 percent or more," Thompson added.