New Hampshire health officials have released a report suggesting there's a decrease in occupational injury and illness rates in the state over the years.
The report finds that from 2000 to 2012, there were 160 work-related fatalities in New Hampshire. There were over 171,000 work-related emergency department hospital discharges for people age 16 and older for the same time period.
But for three years, 2007 through 2010, New Hampshire's rate of a cancer of the lining of the lung associated with asbestos exposure was significantly higher than the national rate. The report said years of ship building and asbestos exposure in New Hampshire may have contributed to the higher incidence rates.
The report says more than 53,000 workers were employed in high mortality risk occupations as of 2012.
