A new study shows Massachusetts saw the biggest increase in fatal workplace injuries in a decade.
Personal injury lawyers John Foy & Associates looked at data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics from 2012 to 2021. In that time frame, cases increased by 107%. However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says more recent data from 2022 shows a 17% percent drop in fatalities between 2021 to 2022.
Economist Bruce Bergman said while there have been more fatalities in the state, there is also higher employment numbers over the time period.
"In general, it's not like we have a fatality crisis in the state of Massachusetts, at least compared to our national data,” Bergman said. “But meanwhile, the overall number was up from 44 in 2012 to 81 in 2022. But like I said before, this number 81 is not that far off from what the 12-year average has been and it's also down from last year."
Bergman said one limitation with the data is it does not collect employment data used to compute the fatality rate. Those numbers come from another sample survey, which leads to variations from year to year.