The North Carolina Department of Labor announced preliminary data which indicates that struck-by incidents caused the most work-related deaths in the state in 2017 with 14 reported fatalities. Falls accounted for 13 deaths. The state reported a total of 40 work-related fatalities in 2017, which was 10 less than were reported in 2016.

Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry said that there will be a national safety stand-down in May to prevent falls in construction and encouraged construction companies to focus on fall prevention efforts and related training during the week of May 7^th– 11^th. The Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Division promotes activities throughout the year to raise awareness and emphasize safety at work, particularly among hazardous industries.

Director of the OSH Division Kevin Beauregard said they are “cautiously optimistic” about the decline in fatalities for 2017 compared to 2016. He said this year they will focus on areas like struck-by incidents and falls, which made up 68 percent of fatalities in the state.

The construction industry alone reported 16 work-related fatalities in 2017, and Beauregard said they would increase compliance activity in counties identified as having high construction activity or multiple fatalities.

Manufacturing also reported a high number of fatalities, increasing to 11 people in 2017, or 9 more fatalities than were reported in 2016.

In good news the service industry reported 0 fatalities in 2017 and had reported 7 in 2016.

Traffic accidents account for half of work-related fatalities but were excluded from this set of figures, and fatalities that were investigated by OSHA were also excluded since those investigations are under federal jurisdiction.

North Carolina reports an average injury and illness rate of 2.5 per 100 full-time workers, below the national average of 2.9 per 100 full-time workers in 2016.

“These are not just statistics on a page, said Commissioner Berry. “We never lose sight of the fact that these are human lives lost at work, and we will continue to do everything that we possibly can to prevent such work-related deaths in the future, but we cannot do it alone.”

Read more from the North Carolina Department of Labor.