Minnesota OSHA has updated the Fatality and Serious Injury Investigation Summary for 2012. You can find it here.
Seventy Minnesota workers never went home last year. According to the US Census on Fatal Occupational Injuries, Minnesota had a preliminary 70 workplace fatalities in 2012. According to the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, here is additional information on those fatalities, (directly quoted from the site):
Industries
- Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting had the highest number of fatalities, with 20 cases. Most of the fatalities were caused by either transportation incidents or contact with objects and equipment.
- Trade, transportation and utilities recorded the second-highest number of worker fatalities, with 15 cases, an increase from 10 cases in 2011.
- The number of fatalities in manufacturing increased from three in 2011 to nine fatalities in 2012 [this includes five at Accent Signs].
Types of incidents
- Transportation incidents accounted for 28 fatalities, the most for any incident type; about a third in the agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting industry sector.
- Contact with objects and equipment was the second most frequent fatal work-injury event in 2012, with 14 fatalities.
- There were 11 fatalities resulting from violence in 2012, compared with five fatalities in 2011. Nine of the fatalities were homicide by shooting [five were from one workplace shooting incident].
Worker characteristics
- Men accounted for 65 of the 70 fatally injured workers in 2012.
- Workers age 55 and older accounted for 25 fatalities, with 12 of these fatalities in the agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting industry sector.
- Self-employed workers accounted for 21 fatalities, including 16 fatalities to workers in agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting and three in construction. There were 25 fatalities to self-employed workers in 2011.