The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 58 workers died on the job in Washington in 2011, down sharply from 2010 and the lowest number in 10 years. A call to the BLS office in San Francisco added this detail: the figure of 58 deaths is the lowest since the agency began collecting statewide figures in 1992. The previous low was 75 deaths, in 2000.

This number is not going to zero, because risk cannot be eliminated nor good judgment guaranteed. But risk can be reduced. The safety improvements see over the years, from the wooden railings on buildings under construction to survival suits in the Alaska fishing fleet, have made a difference.