Although falls continue to be a concern, those just-released Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) figures on 2011 U.S. fatal occupational injuries show that fatal work injuries in the construction industry declined to 721 in 2011 from 774 in 2010 -- a decrease of 7 percent.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) will again focus its annual mine roof control program on efforts to improve mine rib control during the 2012 Preventive Roof Rib Outreach Program, known as PROP. For the second consecutive year, in 2011, fatal rib roll accidents in underground coal mines outnumbered more typical fatal roof fall accidents.

According to recently finalized revisions to the 2010 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) counts,  fatal work injuries in the U.S. in 2010 totaled 4,690 -- up from the preliminary count of 4,547 reported in August 2011.

A coal mine employee killed while removing a fuel tank/counter weight from a Caterpillar end loader died because proper work procedures were not followed, according to an investigation just concluded by the Mine Safety and Health Admininstration (MSHA).

According to figures released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, work-related fatalities claimed 4,547 lives in 2010, compared with 4,551 fatal work injuries in 2009.