A newly released, sweeping report by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) confirms that of all the hazards U.S. construction workers face, falls account for the most fatalities.

The NIOSH study found that 17,140 construction workers were killed on the job from 1980 to 1995. Of those, nearly 26 percent - 4,456 of those killed - were victims of falls. Motor vehicle accidents caused 2,840 deaths (16.5 percent) and electrocutions caused 2,293 fatalities (13.3 percent). Another 1,261 construction workers were killed by falling objects.

"The data," said NIOSH, "will help researchers and policy makers identify high-risk occupations and industries for focusing injury prevention efforts, and will help efforts to assess trends over time to determine where risks may be growing."

For all industries, the states with the highest occupational injury fatality rates per 100,000 workers were Alaska (24.3), Wyoming (16.7), Montana (12.4), Idaho (10.7), West Virginia (10.4), and Mississippi (10.1). In that category, Michigan was ranked among the safest at No. 10, with 3.7 deaths per 100,000 workers. Connecticut was No. 1, at 1.7.

Of all industries, construction's fatality rate was the highest. From 1980 to 1995, 15.3 workers were killed per 100,000. The U.S. construction industry's fatality rate ranged from a low of 885 in 1993 to a high of 1,271 in 1980, according to NIOSH.