I see death as an important part in roleplays if done right. In the roleplay that I GM no character, NPC or even my own, is immune from death. However, this doesn't mean I have characters die at every turn as I've seen GMs do who would kill off characters on a random whim. 

If a certain character (not the RPer) acting stupid for some reason or is endangering themselves, there is a chance that they are going to hurt themselves or if it comes to it, die. Sometimes death occurs for other reasons such as furthering the plot or creating something that the characters have to work through. However if a character dies, I always make sure that the RPer can either make another character to fit into the story or if they are up to it, take the position of one of the NPCs if suddenly having a new character in the story wouldn't make sense. Unless the roleplay clearly states in the beginning that once you die, you cannot come back due to plot (such as a hunger games esque game or something similar)or other reasons, permanently killing off characters isn't always the best move for the health of the roleplay.