The Wyoming Department of Work Force Services says the number of workplace fatalities decreased by four from 2010 to 2011.
David Bullard of the Research and Planning section of the department says for the fourth consecutive year the number of workplace deaths in Wyoming was below the average of 34 per year and in 2011 the number was 29. But Bullard says this is far from a trend.
“No I wouldn’t say that. I mean we saw a slight decrease in 2011, but the random nature of these accidents makes it so we can’t rule out that it’s something random going on.”
Bullard says the deaths occurred in familiar areas.
“More than half of them are transportation incidents. And if we look at industries, we see a number of them in natural resources and mining. That includes agriculture, oil and gas and other mining. We saw a number in trade, transportation and utilities.”
For many years Wyoming has been among the national leaders in per capita workplace deaths. The Department will release a report on workplace injuries next month.
