Montana 4th highest in nation for older workers dying on job

Montana ranks fourth in the nation for the ratio of older workers killed on the job, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal statistics.

In 2015, 16 workers ages 55 and over died in Montana workplace accidents for a rate of 12.58 deaths per 100,000 workers. At least 10 older workers have died each year since 2006.

Nationally, about 35 percent of the fatal workplace accidents involve a worker 55 and older. In Montana, 16 of 36 deaths in 2015 – or 44 percent – involved older workers.

The Department of Labor and Industry says nearly 6.5 percent of Montana’s labor force is age 65 and older, the second highest percentage in the nation. Another 96,000 workers are between the ages of 55 and 64.

Montana had the third-highest worker death rate in 2015, with 7.35 deaths per 100,000 workers. That’s down from 11.49 deaths per 100,000 workers in 2007.