Download the full AFL-CIO report (PDF)

West Virginia workers are more likely to die on the job than their counterparts in all but two other states, according to a national report released Thursday by the AFL-CIO.

The state's workplace death rate is the third-highest in the nation, with only Alaska and Wyoming ranked worse, according to the labor organization's annual Death on the Job Study.

The report was based on 2006 data, the most recent available to the AFL-CIO. That year, 24 coal miners died on the job in West Virginia, the most in any year since 1981.

AFL-CIO leaders said that the report highlights their growing concern over worker safety during the waning months of the Bush administration, which has slashed inspection funding and halted work on many new safety regulations.

"Our nation's system of rules and enforcement has fallen embarrassingly short of its goal of ensuring workplace safety," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. "America's workers simply can't afford four more years of Bush Administration-style cuts, rollbacks and opposition to new safety protections."

AFL-CIO officials released the study Thursday in anticipation of Workers Memorial Day on Monday, their yearly commemoration of workers who died or were injured on the job.

This year's Memorial Day comes one day after the 30th anniversary on Sunday of the Willow Island Disaster.

Download the full AFL-CIO report (PDF)

West Virginia workers are more likely to die on the job than their counterparts in all but two other states, according to a national report released Thursday by the AFL-CIO.

The state's workplace death rate is the third-highest in the nation, with only Alaska and Wyoming ranked worse, according to the labor organization's annual Death on the Job Study.

The report was based on 2006 data, the most recent available to the AFL-CIO. That year, 24 coal miners died on the job in West Virginia, the most in any year since 1981.

AFL-CIO leaders said that the report highlights their growing concern over worker safety during the waning months of the Bush administration, which has slashed inspection funding and halted work on many new safety regulations.

"Our nation's system of rules and enforcement has fallen embarrassingly short of its goal of ensuring workplace safety," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. "America's workers simply can't afford four more years of Bush Administration-style cuts, rollbacks and opposition to new safety protections."

AFL-CIO officials released the study Thursday in anticipation of Workers Memorial Day on Monday, their yearly commemoration of workers who died or were injured on the job.

This year's Memorial Day comes one day after the 30th anniversary on Sunday of the Willow Island Disaster.

On April 27, 1978, 51 workers died when scaffolding collapsed during construction of a cooling tower at the Pleasants County power plant. It is still considered the worst construction accident in U.S. history.

The AFL-CIO report is based on U.S. Department of Labor statistics for the 2006 calendar year, the latest figures available.

Across the country in 2006, 4.1 million Americans were injured and 5,840 workers were killed on the job. Another 50,000 to 60,000 died because of occupational diseases.

On an average day, 153 U.S. workers lose their lives to workplace accidents and diseases.

Every day, another 11,233 workers are injured. And by some estimates, official figures may underestimate workplace injuries and illnesses by as much as 69 percent.

In West Virginia, 79 workers died and 14,300 were injured or made sick on the job in 2006, according to the federal figured cited by the AFL-CIO.

The state's workplace death rate was more than 10 deaths per 100,000 workers, more than double the national average of 4 deaths per 100,000 workers, the AFL-CIO reported. Alaska was the worst with 13.8 deaths per 100,000 workers, the group said.

To contact staff writer Ken Ward Jr., use e-mail or call 348-1702.