Oregon worker deaths increased in 2011: report

Portland, OR – A total of 59 workers died on the job in Oregon in 2011, an increase of more than 15 percent from 2010, according to a new report from the Oregon Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program.

Although fatalities increased from 51 the year before, OR-FACE noted that the 2011 total was lower than the annual average from 2007 to 2009, which was 64.

In 2011, the state’s fatality rate was 3.3 per 100,000 workers, slightly lower than the national rate of 3.5. The most common cause of death was transportation incidents, followed by contact with objects or equipment, the report stated. The most fatal industry was logging and forestry, in which 10 deaths occurred.

OR-FACE also noted that 2011 saw the highest percentage of female deaths in the report’s history – 9 percent. In those cases, the causes of death were violence, falls and motor vehicle incidents.