Dead-end jobs.

• Position: Deaths in North Carolina's workplaces - Tar Heel Tattler

Nearly as many North Carolinians were slain on the job last year as died in machine accidents.

A study by the N.C. Department of Labor and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that assaults and violence accounted for 33 -- 19.5% -- of the state's 169 workplace fatalities. Accidents involving objects or equipment killed 35 others.

Six of the 33 were convenience-store employees slain in robberies. That wasn't the only place where duty proved hazardous. Four others worked in grocery stores, two in banks and two at restaurants. The study also cites the on-the-job slayings of a pawnshop clerk, a carwash attendant, a teacher and a pizza deliveryman. Only one homicide involved quarrelsome co-workers.

In addition to the 169 fatalities, 53 people succumbed to illnesses while on the job.

The...