THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Monday, August 12, 1996               TAG: 9608100168
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY         PAGE: 16   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                        LENGTH:   35 lines

'95 STUDY SAYS FEWER WORKERS DIED ON THE JOB

It was safer to go to work in 1995 than in 1994, and 6 percent fewer people died on the job, the government reports.

A total of 6,210 people were killed at work in 1995, an average of 17 per day, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an arm of the Labor Department.

The drop came after increases in 1993 and 1994, according to a report released Thursday.

Analysts credited a 19 percent decline in the number of firearm-related homicides, as well as fewer commercial airline crashes.

But deaths in the construction industry, which accounts for more fatalities than any other, were up, from 1,028 in 1994 to 1,048 last year.

Other statistics released Thursday:

Highway traffic incidents and homicides accounted for more than one-third of all deaths in 1995. More than half the highway victims were in trucks.

The 1,024 on-the-job homicides accounted for 16 percent of all work-related deaths, the second-leading cause behind vehicle deaths. The Oklahoma City bombing was responsible for 12 percent of the job-related homicides last year. Despite the bombing, workplace homicides dropped 5 percent from 1994.

Falls accounted for 10 percent of fatal work injuries, with one-fifth of them from or through roofs.

Also, the National Safety Council, a nonprofit public service organization, said injuries on the job cost society $119.4 billion in 1995. That includes lost wages and productivity, administrative expenses and health care costs.

KEYWORDS: STATISTICS by CNB