Oregon reported 2018 workplace deaths and though fatalities were the same as 2017 the number of fatalities is still higher than deaths recorded in the past five years. Administrator for Oregon OSHA, Michael Wood, says the state has made progress in reducing fatalities but there are still “far too many workers who die from things we know how to prevent”.

According to the Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) there were 35 people who died at work in 2018, the same as reported in 2017. In 2014 there were 31 fatalities, there were 27 in 2015 and 29 in 2016. The average fatality fate over the past five years is 31 deaths annually. The numbers from 2018 are only preliminary and will not be finalized until 2020.

The agriculture, forestry and fishing industry saw nine worker deaths, seven of whom worked in logging. Transportation and warehousing, including truck transportation, had seven deaths. There were five reported deaths in the wholesale trade industry.

Fatalities are down compared to previous decades, but the downward trend of recent years may have bottomed out. The fatality rate in 2002 was 3.3 workers per 100,000 workers while it was 1.6 in 2016. In 1987 it was 7.1 deaths per 100,000 workers so it has decreased significantly. Compensable fatality statistics come from records of death claim benefits paid by Oregon’s comp insurers in the calendar year.

The Workplace Fatalities in Oregon (WFO) program is another was to measure workplace fatalities in the state, though it is a relatively new collection of data. The first preliminary report was released in 2017. It tracks on-the-job deaths regardless of workers’ compensation status, while the DCBS records deaths covered by Oregon’s workers’ comp system only. The WFO program reported 61 on-the-job deaths in 2017 and estimates approximately 51 on-the-job deaths annually between 2012 and 2014. Beyond employees who are covered by Oregon’s comp system, their data includes deaths involving self-employed individuals, Portland police and fire employees, federal workers and deaths that occur in Oregon for individuals with out-of-state employers.

“The recent numbers are troubling,” Wood said. “They demand our full attention as we look to the future and renew our commitment to pinpointing and eliminating workplace hazards. And these are not mere statistics. These are individual stories of lives cut short. We can – and we must – do better.”

Read more from Oregon OSHA.