WikiLeaks, rightly or wrongly, collected a large list of documents about how the U.S. conducts the war in Afghanistan. Imagine our surprise when we found out that a similar effort has been made to cull information about workplace fatalities throughout the United States each week.

They keyed us into a farm accident that happened in Orleans County when one worker operated a vehicle and unknowingly struck another. It would have been buried in the local news report or perhaps gotten a few inches in the local papers. The problem is that there are more people getting hurt and injured, or worse, on the job than many people realize.

The weekly report is one source of sobering information, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics offers another look. There they publish annual reports (two years back in order to collect data) about both fatalities and injuries and conditions that made workers unable to return to the jobsite.

And the numbers from the BLS are sobering. In 2008, there were 5,071 deaths, though that's smaller than the more than 5,600 the year before. It works out to just under 100 deaths per week. But in New York State, you could estimate that 330 people die each year because of a lack of workplace safety based on the state's population. That's six people, or just under once per day that someone loses their life on the job.

One of the few bright spots for families dealing with that tragedy is that there are workers' compensation benefits for families or survivors, especially in the construction fields which rank among New York City's more dangerous occupations. 

But families should be aware about some of the restrictions on these payments that can help them move forward. If you need assistance with a workers' compensation benefits claim or death benefits claim, call or contact us at Markhoff & Mittman for a consultation.