Alaska's Culture of Safety Works: Continuing downward trend of workplace deaths sets Alaska on par with national averages.

PositionALASKA TRENDS

The number of workplace fatalities in Alaska hit a new low in 2015, a continuation of the downward trend for on-the-job deaths since statistics were first collected in 1992.

In the early-to-mid-1990s, Alaska had the highest workplace fatality rate in the nation, largely driven by commercial fishing deaths, followed by flight and logging accidents A lot has changed since then--high-fatality industries have become smaller, regulations have changed the way some industries operate, and technology has made some dangerous activities safer.

Logging, for example, which had a large number of fatalities in the early-to-mid-'90s, barely exists in Alaska today. Other changes, such as the quota system in commercial fishing and advancements in flight technology, have made many of these jobs safer. Together, these factors brought Alaska's workplace fatality rate more in line with the nation overall.

Historical Causes of Death Alaska, 1992-2015 Average Transportation 67% Fall/Contact/Caught 10% Violence 9% Other 9% Sources: Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Research and Analysis Section; and US Bureau of Labor Statistics Note: Table made from pie chart. Commercial Fishing Leads Decline

The zero commercial fishing deaths reported in 2015 was a first. In 1992, thirty-five workers died commercial fishing in Alaska, the highest of any year available--although anecdotal figures suggest the numbers were even higher in the...

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