Workplace fatalities drop 15 percent in Virginia

The number of workplace fatalities in Virginia fell 15 percent last year, from 165 to 141 - the lowest level since 1995 - the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry reported Monday.

The drop dovetailed with a national decline: The number of fatal work injuries in the United States fell 6 percent, to 5,488, in 2007, according to a preliminary estimate released in August by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That was the lowest level in the nation since 1992.

E. Scott Geller, a workplace safety researcher who is a psychology professor at Virginia Tech, said the decline in the state could have several causes, including the number of employees or amount of time spent on the road.

Even so, he said: "I am convinced that companies are doing better.... Workers are feeling empowered when it comes to safety, and empowered means there are things they can do to reduce injuries."

In Virginia, the occupation that accounted for the greatest share of fatalities was truck and tractor-trailer driving, with 21, or 15 percent of the total, according to the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry. The number of deaths relating to falls rose 39 percent, to 25 in the state.

Officials from the department said they could not speculate on the reason for the overall decline.

Ninety-three percent of the people who died were male, the state said. Two-thirds were white.

At least two people died last year in local port-related accidents.

In July 2007, Vernon L. White Jr. was crushed by a cargo container at Portsmouth Marine Terminal as it was lowered to the ground by a crane.

In November, Jonathan A. Richardson was struck and killed by a truck as he was directing traffic at Norfolk International Terminals. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration earlier this year fined a Virginia Port Authority division $9,100 for two "serious" violations of U.S. safety standards in the accident.

Philip Walzer, (757) 222-3864, phil.walzer@pilotonline.com