Wyoming has the worst occupational fatality rate in the nation, and a big part of the problem could be that workers aren't buckling up when they hit the road.

From 2003 to 2007, there was a total of 210 workplace fatalities in Wyoming, according to a preliminary report by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Of those, 136 occurred in transportation. More than half of the victims didn't wear seatbelts.

"Why do people drive off the road and roll over in daylight on dry roads?" said Paul Anderson, who heads NIOSH's surveillance program in Alaska.

NIOSH officials on Thursday presented preliminary findings of Wyoming's workplace fatalities to a task force headed by former judge Gary Hartman, a policy analyst to Gov. Dave Freudenthal. At the request of the task force, NIOSH is gathering data that might reveal trends that lead to Wyoming's worst-in-the-nation occupational fatality rate.

Much more data needs to be gathered in order to provide better analysis, Anderson said. But based on the information gathered so far, transportation and seatbelt use appear to be obvious areas of concern.

Right now, information about Wyoming's workplace accidents is splintered among a number of agencies depending upon where an accident occurred and in which industry it took place. Anderson suggested Wyoming needs a centralized database available to policy-makers and the public so they can identify trends and take action where needed.

"We need more details. We really need narratives of accidents," Anderson said.

Representatives of Wyoming's mining, construction, trucking and oil and gas industries all said they support NIOSH continuing its research.

Paul Ulrich of EnCana Oil and Gas USA said the fatality rate and lack of seatbelt use are unacceptable.

"It's embarrassing for Wyoming. It's embarrassing for the oil and gas industry," Ulrich said.

Several members of the task force said the findings underscore the need for a primary seatbelt law - something Wyoming lawmakers have resisted for years.

Another NIOSH report that analyzed the nation's oil and gas industry found that the smaller the company, the greater the risk for worker fatalities.

From 2003 to 2007, there were 526 fatalities in the U.S. oil and gas industry - 40 of those were in Wyoming. During that time, there's been a 40 percent increase in fatalities, which coincides with about a 40 percent increase in drilling activity.

Contact energy reporter Dustin Bleizeffer at 307-577-6069 or dustin.bleizeffer@trib.com. Read his energy blog at tribtown.trib.com/DustinBleizeffer/blog.