Providence among nation’s safest metros

PROVIDENCE – When it comes to violent crimes, workplace deaths, fatal crashes and natural disasters, the Providence metro area is one of the safest in the country, according to a ranking by Forbes.com.
The Providence-New Bedford-Fall River metropolitan area came in sixth, behind No. 1 Minneapolis-St. Paul, Bloomington, Minn.-Wis., and well ahead of No. 40 on the list, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Fla.
The ranking used the FBI’s 2008 uniform crime report, the 2008 workplace death rates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2008 traffic death rates from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and a natural disaster risk ranking from the green living Web site SustainLane.com.
New England fared well in the ranking, with the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy metro area appearing No. 4 on the list.
The Providence area ranked sixth-best in violent crime among the country’s 40 largest metro areas, No. 7 in workplace fatality rates, 11th in traffic death rates and 28th in natural disaster risk, according to Forbes.com.