Occupational deaths in West Virginia's older workers: 1980-1998.

West Virginia has an average of 69 work-related deaths per year from 1980 through 1998. Seventeen percent of these deaths occurred in workers age 55 or older. The death rate among these workers was 12.5 deaths per 100,000 workers compared to 9.5 for workers ages 16-54. Older workers died from traumatic machinery-related incidents at a rate nearly three times higher than that for younger workers and from homicide at a rate 2.3 times higher than the younger group. With a workforce that is increasingly older, it is important for employers to identify occupations and job activities that place older workers at risk, and to develop appropriate intervention strategies to protect them from injury.