Seven died on the job in RI last year

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Seven Rhode Islanders died on the job in 2009, one more than in 2008 but among the lowest totals since the government started keeping records.

The victims of all seven workplace fatalities were white, non-Hispanics and three of them were age 65 or older, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Monday.

Four of the deaths were caused by "contact with objects and equipment," while the other three were "caught in or compressed by equipment or objects," the agency said.

The seven deaths was tied for the fourth-lowest total in Rhode Island since the government began keeping records in 1992. The fewest ever was in 2007, when five people died on the job, while the highest was 18 in 2003.

The number of workplace fatalities in Massachusetts was also the fourth-lowest on record at 59, down from 68 in 2008 and 75 in 2007.

Across New England, there were 134 fatal work injuries in 2009, the lowest in 17 years of records and down from 143 in 2008. Nationwide, 4,340 workers died on the job, with transportation accidents the leading top of death.

A total of 93 percent of American workplace fatalities in 2009 were men. Their share was more than 80 percent in New England.

tnesi@wpri.com