WILLISTON, N.D. (AP) - An Occupational Safety and Health Administration official says the death of an oil worker in North Dakota is being investigated.
Eric Brooks with the agency’s office in Bismarck says Black Gold Testing employee Zach Buckles was found unresponsive on a well pad site around five miles south of Williston on Monday. The 20-year-old man is from Glasgow, Mont.
The death occurred on a Continental Resources site where Black Gold Testing is working as a contractor.
Brooks says about half of workplace fatalities investigated by his office involve the state’s booming oil industry.
North Dakota had the highest workplace fatality rate in the nation in 2011 according to a report released by the AFL-CIO. The report shows there were 12.4 fatalities per 100,000 employees in the state that year.
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