Study: Idaho ninth most dangerous for workers
Eye-catching headline aside, this isn’t going where you might think.
Fatal workplace injuries have risen slightly in the U.S. with 2018 fatalities (the most recent data available) up 2 percent over the prior year, according to OSHA figures. But if you go back 50 years to the birth of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, whose mission includes collecting such statistics, workplaces look a lot safer these days.
Business insurance firm AdvisorSmith scoured U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, ranking states by work-related fatality and injury rates. In the study results announced Oct. 20, Idaho ranked in the bottom 10 for safety, or ninth most dangerous per worker capita:
Idaho had a fatality rate of 5.4 per 100,000 workers, compared with the national average of 3.4 deaths per 100,00 workers. In 2018 that meant 45 workplace fatalities statewide.
The number spread from “most dangerous” to “safest” was broad. The state with the lowest workplace fatality rate — Delaware — had only 1.5 fatalities per 100,000 workers, while the state with the highest — Wyoming — had 11.1 fatalities per 100,000 workers.
So what’s behind these numbers?
First, according to insurers and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, workplace injuries tend to rise along with expansions of the economy and labor force. Second, consider the industries comprising each state’s economy.
Industries contributing to Idaho’s numbers include agriculture, timber, and mining. If you look at the five most dangerous states for workers in this study — you’ll note a similar theme. Wyoming (most dangerous), Alaska (second), and North (third) and South (fifth) Dakota, and West Virginia (fourth) all have economies heavily dependent on resource extraction industries similar to ours.
Anyone familiar with these industries — which supply the nation with essential resources — knows their workers face more risks than, say, this writer sitting at a keyboard.
Workplace injuries among office workers are near zero.
That point is well illustrated when looking at the top five, or safest states for workers, whose economies focus on services such as banking, healthcare, education, pharmaceuticals, professional service and retail:
Delaware had the best record, followed in order by Rhode Island, New Jersey and California. Washington was the fifth safest, and a bit of an anomaly. While like Idaho, Washington’s economy includes a strong share of timber and agriculture, the heavily populated western part of the state’s economy heavily emphasizes services such as retail and technology.
But industry share isn’t all that impacts worker safety. While federal regulations govern the nation, each state is free to enact its own additional safety rules and workers’ compensation rates, which can impact how employers approach safety measures.
So has history. Rankings aside, thanks to improved practices and modern equipment today’s miners and wood industry workers are safer than their predecessors 10, 20, and certainly 50 years ago.
Timber and mining are an integral part of Idaho history and identity. Idaho’s is one of the largest silver mining districts in the nation — silver, gold and other critical minerals produced here are necessary for everyday products from computers, phones, cars and toothpaste to such national security concerns as military equipment and airplanes.
Demand for wood products has increased as well. Beyond booming construction and toilet paper, wood is also a key element of the emerging biofuels and clean-burning resource industries.
To read the study and references see https://advisorsmith.com/data/most-dangerous-and-safest-states-for-workers.
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Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at Sholeh@cdapress.com.