State's Work-Related Fatalities Drop 15.2% as National Total Rises

Though the number of work-related fatalities surged to its highest national levels in eight years, occupational deaths dropped 15.2% in Louisiana in 2016. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said 95 Louisiana workers died in 2016, compared to 112 in 2015. Louisiana’s rate of five deaths per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers still outpaced the national average of 3.6, up from 3.4 in 2016, the BLS said. “Any loss of life resulting from a workplace incident is one too many; however, we are encouraged to see fewer such incidences taking place in Louisiana,” Ava Dejoie, execu...