SCBIZ Daily Staff

CHARLESTON -- A recently released report by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that South Carolina registered a 20% increase in work-related deaths last year. This includes the nine Charleston firefighters who died in the Sofa Super Store blaze, as well as a spike in highway fatalities and assaults and other violent acts against employees.

Last year, 114 people died on the job, compared with 95 in 2006. Nationally, workplace fatalities were down 6% during the same time, from 5,840 to 5,488.

Of the total S.C. deaths, 45 were transportation-related; 25 were from assaults or other violent acts; 12 involved accidents with equipment and other objects; 15 were falls; 7 related to exposure to harmful substances or environments; and 10 were caused by fires and explosions.

Workplace deaths related to assaults and other violent acts were up, from 19 in 2006 to 25 in 2007, a 32% increase. Work-related highway deaths also spiked between 2006 and 2007, from 35 to 45, a 29% increase.

That might be in part because highway deaths in South Carolina generally are higher than the national average, said Jim Knight, spokesman for the S.C. Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulations.

The department, under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor, is charged with enforcing workplace safety regulations established by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The department does not investigate most highway deaths, nor does it look into those related to assaults and other violent crimes, such as a bank robbery. Its focus is on deaths related to the workplace, caused by contact with objects and equipment, falls or exposure to harmful materials.

Based on just those figures, South Carolina’s work-related fatalities increased about 15%, from 39 to 45, Knight said. Had it not been for the June 18 Sofa Super Store fire that killed nine firefighters, the state would have posted a decline, he said.