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Oregon construction companies had no workplace fatalities in 2010, according to .

It’s the first time in several years that the industry has had no on-the-job deaths over the course of a year, said Melanie Mesaros, a spokeswoman for Oregon OSHA, a division of the agency.

“This hasn’t happened in the last several years, although I’m not sure exactly when we last had no construction deaths,” Mesaros said. “We know there were fewer people working in that industry because of the economy, but we also want to give credit to employers and employees.”

There were six deaths in the construction sector in 2009, five in 2008, 12 in 2007 and five in 2006.

Across all work sectors covered by Oregon OSHA there were 17 deaths, which is an all-time low for the state and probably also tied to the lack of work, Mesaros said.

Of the deaths, four were in agriculture, forestry or fishing; three were in manufacturing; one was in retail trade, four were in transportation and warehousing; one was in information; one was in administration, support, waste management or remediation; and three were in state or local government.

There were 31 fatalities across all sectors in 2009, 45 in 2008, 35 in 2007 and 37 in 2006.