Falling trees, machinery and vehicles

that have slipped into gear, and building

materials, such as steel beams and concrete blocks, are some of the objects that

strike and kill workers each year. In the

1996 BLS nationwide Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 579 fatalities resulted

from objects striking workers, amounting

to almost a tenth of all fatal work injuries

(6,112) counted that year. Since its implementation in 1992, this BLS census has

reported between 550 and 600 deaths a

year linked to workers being hit by objects, primarily those objects falling from

elevations. The number of workers fatally

struck by objects, in fact, reached a 5-year

high of 402 in 1996.

The hazards of harvesting timber put

workers at high risk of serious injury.

Timber cutting and logging occupations

alone accounted for a sixth of all workers

fatally struck by objects (90 out of 579).

Other occupational groupings associated

with this type of fatality included: (See

chart.)

• Farmers, struck while clearing trees

or run over by tractors they had dismounted

• Construction trades and laborers, hit

by falling or swinging lumber, beams, and

concrete

• Truckdriver and material moving

equipment operators, struck by heavy objects being loaded and unloaded

Serious Injuries Befall Workers Struck by Objects

• Mechanics, pinned under falling vehicles and mobile equipment during repair

Lost-worktime incidents

Besides profiling incidents of objects

striking and killing workers, BLS also estimates the number of serious, nonfatal

injuries associated with impacts of this

type that require private industry workers to take off 1 or more workdays. In 1995

(the latest year for which such data are

available), about 270,000 injuries resulted

from workers being hit by object about

an eighth of the total for all types of lostworktime injuries.

Objects that struck and killed workers

often differed from the primary sources

striking and inflicting lost-worktime injuries. (See table.) Trees and logs, for example, accounted for three-tenths of all

Summary 97-13

December 1997

36%

33%

20%

11%

 Occupations of workers fatally struck by objects, 1996

SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, 

National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 1996

0

10

20

30

40

Percent

Operators, fabricators,

 and laborers 

Farming, forestry,

 and fishing 

Precision production,

 craft, and repair

 All other

occupations

Other

 7%

Other

 8%

Timber cutting

 and logging

 16%

Farm operators

 and managers

 9%

Truckdrivers

 8%

Machine operators,

 assemblers, and

 inspectors 7%

 

Construction

laborers 7%

Material moving

 equipment

 operators 7%

Other

 5%

Construction

 trades 8%

Mechanics and

 repairers 7%

Fatality total, struck by

 objects = 579

fatalities resulting from objects striking

workers, compared with 1 percent of all

such cases involving days away from

work. Machinery and vehicles were involved in an eighth each of all incidents

where workers were fatally struck by objects but in only about half that proportion of incidents where workers survived.

The types of machinery and vehicles

striking workers differed, as well. Material handling, agricultural, construction,

logging, and mining machinery were

most often cited in machinery-related fatalities, whereas refrigerators, sawing

machinery, and hydraulic and other jacks

topped the list of sources that produced

lost-worktime injuries tied to objects striking workers. Trucks and tractors accounted for most of the vehicle-related

fatalities, while carts, dollies, and

handtrucks were responsible for most of

U.S. Department of Labor

Bureau of Labor Statistics
All primary sources of injury ................................................ 100 100 4

Containers .................................................................................. 8 16 4

Machinery ................................................................................... 13 7 5

 Material handling machinery .................................................... 5 2 5

Parts and materials ..................................................................... 22 25 4

 Building materials—solid elements .......................................... 12 11 4

Pipes, ducts, tubing ............................................................. 4 2 5

Structural metal materials .................................................... 5 4 4

Wood, lumber ...................................................................... 2 3 3

 Machine, tool, and electric parts (e.g., saw blades) ................ 4 3 4

 Vehicle and mobile equipment parts (e.g., tires) ...................... 3 3 5

Persons, plants, animals, and minerals ...................................... 31 4 4

Trees, logs ........................................................................... 29 1 6

Structures and surfaces .............................................................. 4 6 5

Tools, instruments, and equipment ............................................. 4 22 3

Vehicles ....................................................................................... 13 5 4

Trucks .................................................................................. 6 1 4

Tractors ................................................................................ 2 (5) –

Other sources ( e.g., bullets and metal chips) ............................ 3 7 2

All other and nonclassifiable sources ......................................... (5) 7 –

Fatal and disabling injuries to workers struck by objects, 1995-96

 Percent distribution

 Fatal2

 Disabling3

 injuries injuries

 (n = 579) (n = 270,369)

Source

of

injury1

1

 Identifies the object that directly produced or

 inflicted the injury.

2

 Based on data from the 1996 BLS Census of Fatal

Occupational Injuries, which covered all workers in the

private and public sectors: Wage and salaried, selfemployed, and family members.

3 Based on data from the 1995 BLS Survey of

Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, which covered just

wage and salaried workers in private industries, excluding farms with fewer than 11 employees and private households. Disabling injuries are those that

Median4

workdays

lost from

disabling

 injury3

the nonfatal injuries involving vehicles.

In contrast to incidents involving trees,

machinery, and vehicles, container incidents resulted in proportion-ately more

nonfatal injuries (mostly from contact

with boxes and crates) than fatal ones

(commonly workers struck by falling hay

and other bales or bundles).

Data for this report were derived from

the BLS Census of Fatal Occupational

Injuries and its companion Survey of

Occupational Injuries and

Illnesses. Struck by object includes unintentional injuries

produced by forcible contact or impact

between the injured person and the source

of the injury when the motion producing

the contact, rather than the person, is primarily that of the source of injury. Excluded from this classification are highway and other transportation incidents;

violent acts; and other “impact” injuries,

such as falls, striking against objects, and

being caught in equipment.

For more information on various types

of fatal and lost-worktime injuries, contact the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Office

of Safety, Health and Working Conditions, Room 3180, 2 Massachusetts

Avenue, NE., Washington DC 20212.

Telephone: (202) 606-6175.

Information in this report is available

to sensory-impaired individuals upon

request. Voice phone: (202) 606-7828;

TDD phone: (202) 606-5897; TDD message referral phone: 1-800-326-2577.

This material is in the public domain and,

with appropriate credit, may be reproduced without permission.

 resulted in missed workdays.

4 Median workdays lost is the point at which half the

injuries involved more, and half involved fewer days.

Dashes indicate that medians were not computed.

5

Less than 0.5 percent.

NOTE: Totals for major categories may include data

for subcategories not shown separately. Because of

rounding, percentages may not add to 100 percent.

SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor.