Construction deaths declined at a faster rate in Utah between 2008 and 2011 than in any other state, according to new rankings from the Association of General Contractors of America.
Derived from an analysis of federal safety data, the AGC’s ranking compared the number of construction deaths for each state with available data and Washington, D.C. in 2008 to the number of deaths in 2011 and ranked each state based on how much those numbers fell.
Utah took the top spot with an improvement of 52 percent. In 2008, 14.2 workers per 100,000 died in Utah. In 2011 the number dropped to 6.8 per 100,000. The improvement means Utah climbed from no. 36 to no. 8 in the ranking of lowest fatality rates.
Washington state took second place in the improvement rankings with a 45-percent improvement in its construction death rate. In 2008, 7.7 construction workers per 100,000 died in Washington. In 2011 that number dropped to 4.2. As of 2011, Washington has the lowest construction death rate in the country.
Rounding out the top five, Kentucky took the no. 3 spot with a 37-percent improvement from 13.4 to 8.4, Arizona was no. 4 with a 34-percent improvement from 7.3 to 4.8 and Mississippi was no. 5 with a 32-percent improvement from 18.8 to 12.8.
The AGC also ranked the construction industry’s injury rate. Washington D.C. took the top spot in those rankings with an impressive improvement of 80 percent from 8.7 injured workers per 100,000 to only 1.7. Illinois took the no. 2 spot with an improvement of 65 percent from 6.8 to 2.4 while Hawaii and Michigan tied for no. 3 with an improvement of 64 percent.
You can view the top 10 lists for both the lowest death rates and injury rates below.