Study: ND oil worker death rate 6 times US average

By JOSH WOOD, CharlotteObserver.com

WILLISTON, N.D. – North Dakota has the country’s highest death rate for workers in the oil, gas and mining sector, at more than six times the national average, and an even higher rate among construction workers, according to a new report from the nation’s largest labor union.

The AFL-CIO report, compiled from data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, found that North Dakota had a rate of 104 deaths per 100,000 workers in the oil, gas and mining industry in 2012. The national average was 15.9 deaths per 100,000 … more