WA State's Construction Industry Fatality Declines Bests National Trends

SEATTLE, Aug. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NOTE:  This info involves local data pertaining to a national press release distributed today by AGC of America.  For that press release, click AGC of America's national press release on a new federal report on construction fatality trends.)

"The positive national trends demonstrated in this new report provide the opportunity to review construction safety trends in Washington State, and what we see is that we're performing significantly better than the national average," said Mandi Kime, Safety Director for the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of Washington.  "From our peak construction employment year of 2007 through 2010, we've achieved a 63 percent reduction in the number of construction industry fatalities, even though construction employment fell only 35 percent during that time period. Plus, there have been only two construction workplace fatalities so far in 2011. Washington State has long been a national leader in workplace safety, and these numbers bear that out."

Kime notes the commercial construction industry's solid working relationship with workers and the state's Department of Labor and Industries (L&I).  "We work hard to establish safety regulations that are effective and workable," she said.  "Commercial construction employers in this state are progressive with regard to their approach to jobsite safety, with many establishing safety policies and practices that exceed state requirements."

Statistics (Click links for source material:  L&I for fatality stats; Bureau of Labor Statistics via AGC of America report for employment data):
2007: 19 fatalities
2008: 20 fatalities
2009: 9 fatalities
2010: 7 fatalities
2011: 2 fatalities to date

A 63% decline in fatalities between 2007-2010…Even though construction employment fell only 35% during that time period!

SOURCE Associated General Contractors of Washington