newsminer.com

ANCHORAGE -- Federal reports show that Alaska leads the nation in the rate of worker deaths and was fourth-highest for work-related injury and illness.

The last time Alaska was worst in the nation was in 2001.

The good news is that the rate of work-related deaths is declining in Alaska, said Peg Seminario, director of occupational safety and health for the AFL-CIO in Washington D.C.

In 2006, Alaska had 45 workplace deaths. The fatality rate was 13.8 deaths per 100,000 workers. That was a sharp increase from 2005, when there were 29 deaths and the fatality rate was 8.2 deaths per 100,000 workers.

However, the rate was higher in 2001 when it was 22.6 deaths per 100,000 workers in Alaska - the worst statistic by far in any state. Sixty-four people died that year.

The rate of injuries and illnesses has improved since 2001, when at least 8.5 workers out of every 100,000 were injured or sick, according to a sampling of 2,600 Alaska businesses.

Nationwide, the number of workplace fatalities went up in 2006 from the prior year, from 5,734 to 5,840 deaths, Seminario said.

The AFL-CIO in Washington, D.C. on Thursday published the report titled "Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect."

Officials say Alaska, Wyoming and Montana rank high on the list because the states traditionally have high employment in natural resources, such as logging, mining and oil and gas drilling.

Nancy Hill, a research analyst for the Alaska Department of Labor, said there are reasons for why Alaska tops the list: weather, fishing and flying.

Gray Mitchell, state director of labor standards and safety, said he believes recent improvements in Alaska's statistics are due in part to safety initiatives by the state, the Coast Guard, federal highway officials and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Most workplace fatalities in Alaska involve transportation or fishing, Mitchell said.

Officials can point to some recent examples.

Federal investigators suspect poor weather contributed to the April 15 helicopter crash, which killed an Era Helicopters pilot and three state employees. A 14-year-old boy survived the crash, which occurred during a routine trip to service telecommunications towers along the Glenn Highway.

In December, foul weather hampered the search for four people traveling from Cordova to an Anchorage hospital in a LifeGuard helicopter. The body of the flight nurse and some wreckage appeared on the north shore of Passage Canal near Whittier. The search for the remaining victims was suspended a week later.

Federal officials are still investigating the Alaska Ranger sinking in the Bering Sea. Five died. Hearings on the disaster wrapped up this week. Coast Guard officials have said it is still unclear why the fishing vessel sank.