On-the-Job Incidents Kill 43 in W.Va. in 2011

CHARLESTON, W.Va. --- The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says on-the-job incidents killed 43 workers in West Virginia in 2011.

The preliminary 2011 total released Thursday is 54.7 percent lower than the total in 2010, when 95 workers were killed on the job. The 2010 total includes 29 miners who were killed in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine.

Nationwide, there were 4,609 workplace fatalities in 2011, down from 4,690 in 2010.

Eighteen West Virginia workers suffered fatal injuries in highway incidents. Eleven workers died after they were struck by an object or equipment.

Other causes included falls and exposure to harmful substances or environments.

All the victims were white, non-Hispanic men. Sixty-three percent of the victims, or 27, were between the ages of 25 to 54, the prime working group.