There are fluctuations in any statistics that you collect, whether you’re looking at three years of data or 100 years. You can still see the big picture, though, which helps to determine if the statistics are trending in a positive or negative direction — or if they’re remaining neutral. With workplace fatalities, the truth is that they’re staying fairly consistent, at least when looking at overall fatalities.
Keep in mind that this does not consider the number of workers in Ohio, so it’s not a fatality rate, but just the raw data. In some cases, rates offer a better perspective on the true trend. If there was a surge in employment and workplace deaths stayed exactly the same, for instance, that would actually be a lower rate and indicate that the workplace was safer, even with the same amount of lives lost.
In any case, here are the total fatalities among workers in Ohio for a number of recent years:
- 2009: 137 fatalities
- 2010: 161 fatalities
- 2011: 155 fatalities
- 2012: 161 fatalities
- 2013: 149 fatalities
- 2014: 185 fatalities
- 2015: 202 fatalities
- 2016: 164 fatalities
- 2017: 174 fatalities
- 2018: 158 fatalities
As you can see, there was a slight spike in 2014/2015, but things have since fallen back toward the average, and the number of deaths in 2018 was very close to the number seen nearly a decade earlier.
Losing a loved one on the job is often shocking, jarring and very difficult on numerous levels. While financial compensation won’t take away some of these difficulties, it can reduce the stress at this time, and it’s important to know your options. If you need help obtaining the compensation you need to protect your family’s future after your loved one is killed on the job, an experienced attorney may help.