LANSING - Construction industry deaths in Michigan took another turn for the worse in 1999, as 31 workers were killed on the job - two more than in 1998 and one of the highest totals since 1985.

According to figures released by the MIOSHA Construction Safety Division, the "caught between" category killed 11 workers in 1999, falls claimed 10 lives, and electrocutions killed six. The most deadly year for construction workers since 1985 was 34 killed on the job in 1997.

"Work has been good, and that increases the potential for worker injuries and deaths," said Suzy Carter, executive director of the Michigan Construction Trades Safety Institute. "There's also a real push to get things done, and that doesn't help when it comes to safety."

The state agency charged with protecting the good health of Michigan's building trades workers is the Construction Safety Division of MIOSHA. In order to get a handle on helping to protect worker safety and health, the agency developed a Strategic Plan with goals for 1999-2003. The plan generally calls for improved "workplace safety and health for all workers, as evidenced by fewer hazards, reduced exposures, and fewer injuries, illnesses and fatalities."

Specifically, MIOSHA's stated goal is to reduce injuries and illness in at least five high-hazard industries, including construction, by 15 percent through 2003.

To get to that goal, MIOSHA's strategies include maintaining "a strong enforcement presence for employers who do not meet their safety and health responsibilities," including targeting inspections, coordinating consultation, education and training, and using arrangements like "settlement agreements" in industries and occupations that pose the greatest risk to workers.

Carter said beyond that, she expects the construction industry's injury/death rate to decline in the near future for a purely economic reason: contractors, trades and owners now realize that good job site safety brings improved productivity, better on-time performance, and lower workers' compensation costs.

"The bottom-line reasons for change aren't what you'd call 'feel-good reasons;' they're business reasons," Carter said. "Over the long haul, more emphasis on safety is going to help workers, and that's what's really important."

Workers were much less safe on the job before OSHA came into existence in 1970 and MIOSHA was started up in 1974. In the 1960s, an average of 44 construction workers were killed on the job every year.

Using 1998 numbers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of U.S. fatal work injuries fell to 6,026 during 1998, about 3 percent below the previous year and the lowest count since the BLS survey began in 1992. The construction industry reported the largest number of fatal work injuries of any industry in 1998, 1,171.

In 1998, the leading cause of all on-the-job deaths in was highway crashes - 1,431 were killed. The next big killer was on-the-job falls, which totaled 702, nearly the same as worker homicides. Electrocutions accounted for 6 percent of the fatal injuries.