Colorado experienced a surge in construction deaths in 2015, but transportation-related deaths dropped sharply, pushing workplace fatalities lower than in the previous year, according to a report Monday from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
“Overall it has been going in a good direction,” said Roberta Smith, occupation health manager at CDPHE. “Safety professionals are doing a good job of making sure our workers are safe.”
In 2015, 75 Colorado workers died on the job, down from 84 workplace fatalities in 2014. Transportation-related deaths accounted for the most, at 34, including 22 workers killed on the road, while construction-related deaths rose sharply.
Deaths among construction workers shot up from 13 in 2014 to 21 in 2015, a 62 percent increase that far outstripped the 5.1 percent gain on the state’s construction workforce in 2015 and was the highest total since 2008.
Eight government workers died, while five workers in agriculture and related industries died. The mining industry, including oil and gas, didn’t report any fatalities in the state, according to counts from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Twenty deaths resulted form falls, slips and trips, while nine were caused by contact with objects and equipment. Eight deaths resulted from workplace violence, of which six were self-inflicted.
Males accounted for 95 percent of fatalities, with those age 55 to 64 suffering the most deaths of any age group.
