Utah low in on-job safety By Lee Davidson, Deseret Morning News
According to the AFL-CIO report, the safest states in which to work were Massachusetts (with a fatality rate of 1.4 per 100,000 workers), Rhode Island (1.7) and Connecticut (2.4).
The deadliest states in which to work were Alaska (with a fatality rate of 14.6 per 100,000 workers), Wyoming (13.4) and Montana (13.1).
The report said the total number of workplace injuries and illnesses reported in Utah in 2002 was 40,800 — or six for every 100 workers. That was worse than the national rate of 5.3 injuries per 100 workers. That also placed Utah in the bottom half of the states, ranking 26th of 42 states reporting such figures.
The report said Utah has just more than 1 million workers employed at 70,331 different locations. But it said the state has only 19 safety inspectors to cover them, and it would take them an estimated 129 years to visit each place of business just once.