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N.D. (AP) – The AFL-CIO says North Dakota has the highest rate of worker deaths in the nation.

Officials say there were 44 worker deaths in North Dakota in 2011, for a rate of 12.4 deaths per 100,000 workers. That was well above the national rate of 3.5 fatalities per 100,000 workers.

North Dakota union head Tom Ricker tells The Bismarck Tribune that North Dakota’s rate is due partly to the oil boom in the western part of the state. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration says half of the worker fatalities in North Dakota since 2010 have been in oil and gas occupations.