BLS: Workplace fatalities remain stable

Washington – In 2010, 4,547 workers died on the job in the United States – about the same as the previous year, according to preliminary data released Aug. 25 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The preliminary figure shows four more fatalities than the final total in 2009. The rate of fatal work injury also was the same – 3.5 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers.

However, the final tally likely will be higher when BLS releases revised fatality data in the spring of 2012. In the past three years, increases in the number of fatalities have averaged 3 percent, BLS said.

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