WORK-RELATED DEATHS:

The number of deaths in Connecticut due to work-related injuries increased by 50 percent last year, rising from 36 to 54, according to a state report. Connecticut is one of 27 states to have reported an increase in workplace fatalities in 2004, according to the report that was issued by the state Department of Labor. Erin Wilkins, a research analyst for the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health division, said workplace fatalities in Connecticut are relatively few and the number rises or falls dramatically because the sample size is small. “It’s hard to say exactly what caused the number to go up,” she said. “It could be that there was more construction going on in the state that year or there were more new, less-experienced workers on the job.” The numbers show an increase in the number of deaths due to falls, which rose from nine in 2003 to 16, she said. Transportation accidents accounted for 17 of the 54 deaths in Connecticut last year, or about one-third. Nationally, 5,703 workers lost their lives to work-related injuries in 2004, a 2 percent increase over 2003. Texas had the most work-related fatalities in 2004 with 440, Florida had 422 and California reported 416. Rhode Island and Vermont, which each reported seven, had the fewest.

Topics Connecticut