The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has released data regarding work-related deaths in West Virginia in 2010. The Upper Big Branch mine explosion in April that killed 29 people, almost one-third of the year’s fatalities, heavily affected the numbers.
Altogether, 95 workers were killed during employment in 2010 in West Virginia. This is significantly more than 2009, in which only 59 people lost their lives in on-the-job accidents. Before this year, the state was seeing a gradual decrease in worker deaths and 2009 saw the second-lowest number of deaths in the past two decades.
Not surprisingly, mining was the most dangerous industry for workers last year and the most common cause of death was fire. The construction industry recorded ten deaths. West Virginia work-related deaths involving traffic accidents almost doubled between 2009 and 2010, from eleven to twenty. The vast majority of worker deaths were white men.
The national workplace fatality statistics remained relatively stable between 2010 and 2009, with 4,547 workers losing their lives last year.
If you have lost a loved one in a West Virginia on-the-job accident, don’t hesitate to speak with a WV wrongful death attorney about the incident and about what you may be entitled as a family member.