The leading cause of on-the-job deaths in Illinois is vehicle accidents.
172 people died on the job in Illinois in 2013, up from the year before. Almost a third of those deaths came from transportation accidents. Laura Johnson is the Executive Director of the Iowa-Illinois Safety council.
"It really doesn't matter where your employee gets hurt does it? It is still a catastrophic event for your organizations. So we really push defensive driver training for our member companies".
She says OSHA doesn't keep track or regulate auto fatalities on the job the way they do with most other workplace injuries.
The second most common way someone died on the job last year was coming in contact with objects, such as getting struck by a piece of equipment. Workplace violence was third place on the list, with homicides accounting for 16 deaths.
