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Fatalities from Montana workplace injuries rise after drop during pandemic, report says – Daily Montanan [1]

['Keila Szpaller', 'More From Author', '- December']

Date: 2022-12-19  

Montana counted 40 fatal work-related injuries in 2021, the highest number since at least 2012 and a return to the pre-pandemic level, according to the Department of Labor and Industry.

“In 2020 the number of fatalities was naturally lower as more Montanans were working from home,” said Employment Standards Division Administrator Eric Strauss in a statement Monday from the department.

The number of related deaths in 2020 was 29, according to the report, called “Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.” It was 38 and 2019 and 28 and 2018.

Transportation incidents were the No. 1 cause of the occupational fatalities, affecting 23 people, or 58 percent of the total.

Nine of the deaths were people in the 55- to 64-year-old age range, the report said. The 65 years and older and 35- to 44-year-old categories each experienced seven fatalities.

The report also noted 36 of the fatal injuries took place among private industry employees, and four occurred among government workers.

In a news release about the data, the Department of Labor and Industry said the census is conducted nationwide and part of a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics safety and health program. It said the data is used to “fulfill a commitment to increasing safety in the workplace.”

The department could not be immediately reached via email Monday about whether safety has increased in Montana.

Of the transportation deaths, the report said incidents could involve aircraft, trains and vehicles. The incidents could be vehicle collisions, cars versus pedestrians, or wrecks such as a jack-knife.

In 2021, the Montana Highway Patrol reported 192 motor vehicle crash fatalities, and of those, 40 were work related, or roughly 21 percent, the department said in the news release. The report said vehicles include cars, fire trucks, off-road terrain vehicles and tractors, among others.

Falls, slips and trips were the No. 2 cause of fatalities, with six deaths, and “violence and other injuries by persons or animals” accounted for five deaths at No. 3, the report said.

The department said the “violence” category includes intentional injuries, such as an attack or assault from another person or animal, including three that were likely caused by a farm animal.

“One of the other two was in leisure and hospitality, and the last didn’t meet publication criteria,” the department said in an email.

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[1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2022/12/19/fatalities-from-montana-workplace-injuries-rise-after-drop-during-pandemic-report-says/

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