On-the-Job Fatalities Drop to Record Low

Only 31 employees covered by Oregon's workers' compensation system died on the job last year, the lowest number since the state starting tracking the statistic in 1943, the state Department of Consumer and Business Services reported Monday. Fatalities in 2005 were significantly below the 46 deaths in 2004 and the average of 55 deaths per year in the 1990s, the department said in a press release. During the 1980s, Oregon averaged 81 deaths per year. The previous record low of 34 was set in 2001. "While we are pleased that more workers are returning home safely to their families at the end ...