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Fatal Occupational Injuries Associated with Golf Courses and Country Clubs,

2001-2006

by Stephen M. Pegula

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Originally Posted: April 23, 2008

Golf courses are typically thought of as places of recreation and sport. From 2001 to 2006, however, a total of 106 workers

died either at or working for a golf course (henceforth to be referred to as golf-course-related fatalities).1 Although golfcourse-related fatalities accounted for a relatively small percentage of the total number of workplace fatalities from 2001 to

2006, they have trended upward in recent years. As can be seen in the tabulation below, from 2001 to 2003, the average

number of golf-course-related fatalities per year was 15, and from 2004 to 2006, the average number of fatalities was 20:

Year Fatalities

2001 13

2002 21

2003 11

2004 22

2005 24

20062 15

&nsbsp;

Employment at golf courses and country clubs increased by 18 percent from 2001 to 2006, while total employment increased

just 3 percent over the same period.3 Note that employment at golf courses and country clubs varies depending on the time

of year. Employment is highest in the summer months and lowest during the winter months. Not surprisingly, as the following

tabulation shows, golf-course-related occupational fatalities follow a similar pattern, with more fatalities occurring during the

summer months:

Month4 Fatalities

January 7

February 6

March 4

April 9

May 11

June 15

July 10

August 9

September 13

October 7
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Month4 Fatalities

November 6

December 9

Of those killed in golf-course-related occupational injuries, 93 percent were male. Hispanic or Latino workers, who constituted

15 percent of all workplace fatalities from 2001 to 2006, accounted for 33 percent (35 fatalities) of all workers killed in golfcourse-related fatalities. In addition, among all fatalities at golf courses over the period, 35 of the decedents were born

outside of the United States, most frequently (21) in Mexico.

As the following tabulation shows, the most common event5 leading to golf-course-related fatalities during the 2001-06 period

involved nonhighway vehicle accidents--19 overturned vehicle incidents and 14 other nonhighway incidents:

Event Fatalities

Overturned vehicle (nonhighway) 19

Other nonhighway incident (excluding overturned vehicle) 14

Fall to a lower level 8

Highway incident 7

Homicide 6

Trench collapse 6

Struck by falling object 6

Suicide 5

Drowning, submersion 5

Airplane accident 5

In 9 of the 19 cases of golf-course-related occupational fatalities involving nonhighway vehicle overturns, the vehicle that the

decedent overturned was a riding lawnmower. In 3 of these cases, the decedent drowned after his or her vehicle flipped into

a body of water. In 9 cases, a decedent was driving or riding in a golf cart at the time of the fatal incident. Of the 5 aircraft

incidents, 3 of the decedents were killed when their aircraft crashed at a golf course. Of the 6 homicides, 4 occurred during

the commission of a robbery.

Not surprisingly, as the following tabulation demonstrates, the decedents in golf-course-related occupational fatalities were

commonly employed in the golf course and country club industries.6

Industry Fatalities

Golf courses and country clubs 72

Golf course construction7 6

Landscaping, tree and lawn care 5

Similarly, as one might expect, the following tabulation shows that the most common occupation among workers killed in golfcourse-related incidents over the 200106 period was landscaping.8
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Occupation Fatalities

Landscaping occupations 51

Laborers 10

Golf course owner/manager 4

Landscaping occupations accounted for 48 percent of all golf-course-related fatalities over the period, but landscapers

accounted for only 3 percent of all occupational fatalities during that same period.

Finally--and not surprisingly--California and Florida, both renowned as prime golfing destinations, had the highest number of

golf-course-related fatalities:

State Fatalities

California 16

Florida 16

South Carolina 8

Nevada 7

North Carolina 5

Texas 5

Stephen M. Pegula

Economist, Office of Safety, Health, and Working Conditions, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Telephone: (202) 691-6166; E-mail: Pegula.Stephen@bls.gov. Notes

1 Data from 2006 are preliminary. Data from previous years are revised and final. All data are taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics 

Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program. In this analysis, a worker is considered to be working for a golf course if he or she was

employed in particular industries or if the fatality occurred at a golf course or country club. For 2001 and 2002, when the CFOI program used

the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system to define industry, a decedent working in SIC 7992, public golf courses, was included.

Those working in SIC 7997, membership sports and recreation clubs, were included unless the case narrative clearly indicated that the person

was working for another type of sports club--for example, a gun or shooting club. From 2003 to 2006, when the CFOI program used the North

American Industry Classification System (NAICS) to define industry, a decedent working in NAICS 713910, golf courses and country clubs,

was included. In addition, cases with variants of the following terms were examined to determine if they should be included: golf, course,

country club, water hazard, sand trap, bunker, driving range, clubhouse, locker room, pro shop, putting green, flagstick, putter, fairway wood,

teebox, dogleg, and cartpath. Note that fatalities incurred by workers either at or working for miniature golf courses are not included in these

counts.

2 Data from 2006 are preliminary. For more information, see note 1.

3 Employment data are taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW). Data are for NAICS

713910, golf courses and country clubs, and includes both public and private sector workers. For more information, see the QCEW page on

the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/cew/.

4 This is the month the fatal injury was incurred, which may differ from the month when the decedent actually died.

5 The CFOI program uses the Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) to define the event that precipitated the fatal injury

as well as the source of the fatal injury. For more information, see the OIICS page on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshoiics.htm.

6 For data from 2001 and 2002, the CFOI program used the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system to define industry and the Census

Bureau’s occupational coding system to define occupation. For data from 2003 to 2006, the CFOI program used the North American Industry

Classification System (NAICS) to define industry and the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system to define occupation. The CFOI

program considers there to be a break in series due to industry classification differences between the SIC system and NAICS and due to
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occupation classification differences between the Census Bureau’s occupation codes and the SOC occupation codes; CFOI generally

encourages users not to make comparisons over time involving two different classification systems. In this analysis, however, the author

determined that the industry and occupation codes were compatible enough to be combined across coding systems.

7 Although there is not a specific industry code for golf course construction in either the SIC or NAICS coding structures, the CFOI program

tracks the "Actual Industry" in which a person works. This Actual Industry field is a text field that can be used to provide more detail on a

particular case. In these 6 cases, the Actual Industry narrative was "golf course construction" or some variant thereof.

8 See note 6.

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