Oct 3, 2014

Occupational deaths fell by 16% in Wisconsin last year, thanks to a big decrease in workplace violence.

Across the state, 96 people died in work-related incidents in 2013, down from 114 the year before, data released Wednesday shows.

That kind of variation from year to year isn't unusual. With a relatively small number of deaths — typically between 90 and 105 annually — percentage changes can be fairly large.

The most recent decrease, however, stands out because of the sharp drop in violent occupational deaths. They had spiked in 2012, more than doubling from the 2011 total, said Rebecca Adams, program policy analyst with the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene.

The lab has a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to conduct the bureau's census of fatal occupational injuries in Wisconsin.

...Work-related deaths declined nationwide, but not as much as in Wisconsin. Across the country, there were 4,405 occupational fatalities last year, down 5% from 4,628 in 2012.

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