Deaths in construction increased 9 percent in 2014
In 2014, 4,821 people were killed on the job, up 5 percent from the 4,585 reported in 2013 and the highest number since 2008, when 5,214 were killed, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Driving the numbers in part were deaths in private construction, which grew 9 percent to 899 - the largest number of construction deaths since 2008, when construction employment started its recessionary plunge. Since its low point in January 2011, construction employment had risen 16 percent by December 2014 and is up 23 percent as of March.