Compensation and Working Conditions Summer 1998 8

State and Industry

Fatal Occupational

Injuries, 1992-96

While industry mix explains part of the variation in fatality risk

among States, other factors can play a role.

BY JANICE A. WINDAU

TRACY A. JAC K

GUY A. TO S CA N O

Tracy A. Jack and Guy A.Toscano are economists and Janice A. Windau is an epidemiologist in the Office of Safety, Health and Working

Conditions, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Telephone: (202) 606-6165

E-mail: cfoistaff@bls.gov

Thirty-two thousand workers

were fatally injured in the

United States during the period

1992-96. The following aggregation

shows the 7 States that had fatality

counts of 1,000 or more. These deaths

accounted for about two-fifths of the

Nation’s work related fatalities.1

Number Percent

Total ....................... 31,567 100

California ......... 3,185 10

Texas ................ 2,551 8

Florida .............. 1,756 5

New York ......... 1,642 5

Pennsylvania .... 1,352 4

Illinois .............. 1,261 4

Georgia ............ 1,133 4

With the exception of Georgia, the

7 States also had the largest employment counts. But there are factors

other than employment counts that

influence the number of fatal work

injuries in a State. Some of these include industrial and demographic

composition of the workforce, weather

conditions and geography, and the

availability of emergency medical services.

State fatality rates, 1992-962

One way to compare occupational

fatality risk among States is to compare their fatal work injury rates. State

fatality rates can fluctuate widely from

year-to-year because fatalities at work

are relatively rare events. For this reason, and to lessen the effect of catastrophic events, such as the Oklahoma

City bombing or airline crashes which

can skew the analysis of State-specific

data, 5 years of data were used for this

analysis.

State fatal work injury rates varied

from a low of 2.0 per 100,000 workers in New Hampshire to a high of 22.9

in Alaska over the 1992-96 period.

The District of Columbia and 29 States

had rates above the national rate of 5.1.

The median rate, the rate half the

States were above and half were below, was 5.4. (See table 1.)

To compare fatality risk among the

States, quartile grouping, distributing

States into four groups according to

their fatality rates, was used.3 (See

chart.) States in quartiles 1 and 2, the

States with the lowest fatality rates,

were concentrated in the New England, Mid-Atlantic, Great Lakes, and

Pacific regions. The States with the

highest rates, quartiles 3 and 4, were

concentrated in the Southern, Mountain, and Plains regions.

Industry’s influence on fatality

risk4

States’ different industry mixes can

explain some of the fatality rate variation among them. Nationally, the mining, agriculture, construction, and
9 Compensation and Working Conditions Summer 1998

Table 1. Fatal occupational injury rate per 100,000 civilian workers1 by State and industry division, 1992-96

State Fatality

rate

Private industry Government5

(Federal,

State,

and local)

Agriculture2 Mining3 Construction3Manufacturing3

Transportation and

public

utilities3

Trade3

Finance,

insurance, real

estate3

Services4

All States6 ........... 5.1 21.9 26.4 14.3 3.7 13.1 3.9 1.5 2.6 3.0

New Hampshire .......... 2.0 – – 5.4 – – 1.2 – 2.3 3.1

Connecticut ................. 2.1 – – – 1.5 6.0 1.8 – 1.1 2.1

Massachusetts ............ 2.3 18.4 – 12.3 1.1 5.5 1.4 – 1.6 2.1

Rhode Island ............... 2.6 – – 15.8 – – 1.4 – 1.6 2.9

New Jersey ................. 3.2 15.7 – 13.2 2.3 7.1 2.6 .9 1.4 2.7

Vermont ...................... 3.2 9.4 – – 2.0 15.0 2.2 – 1.9 2.5

Maryland ..................... 3.3 – – 8.6 4.3 8.9 2.7 .6 1.4 1.2

Maine .......................... 3.4 – – 8.6 3.0 13.2 1.5 – 3.9 3.0

Michigan ...................... 3.5 14.4 – 14.4 2.4 9.9 2.7 1.3 2.1 2.1

Arizona ........................ 3.8 – – 8.5 3.1 10.9 2.1 1.3 2.1 3.2

Delaware ..................... 3.8 – – 11.8 3.8 13.0 1.5 – 2.3 3.0

Minnesota ................... 3.8 21.3 – 11.3 1.8 7.0 3.1 1.0 1.6 1.4

Ohio ............................ 3.8 24.4 – 13.0 3.0 11.6 1.9 1.1 1.5 2.4

Hawaii ......................... 4.0 6.3 – 13.3 – 5.6 2.0 – 3.6 3.2

New York .................... 4.1 24.4 – 13.8 1.9 14.1 4.2 1.1 1.4 2.4

New York City ......... 5.0 – – 19.9 1.7 13.4 7.5 1.8 2.3 2.5

California ..................... 4.3 12.6 – 10.7 2.3 10.9 3.1 1.5 2.7 2.8

Washington ................. 4.3 – – 11.5 5.2 12.0 2.3 1.1 2.6 1.5

Illinois .......................... 4.4 32.4 – 17.6 3.0 10.7 2.3 .8 1.6 2.5

Virginia ........................ 4.4 – – 13.9 3.4 12.6 2.6 .9 1.6 2.0

Wisconsin .................... 4.5 25.9 – 8.8 2.6 10.6 3.0 .7 1.2 3.0

Pennsylvania ............... 4.8 28.7 – 15.1 4.2 12.1 2.3 1.4 2.0 3.0

Iowa ............................ 5.2 22.8 – 19.2 2.9 6.4 3.3 1.7 1.1 2.8

Missouri ....................... 5.2 26.0 – 13.5 2.7 9.4 3.6 1.9 1.9 3.2

North Carolina ............. 5.3 23.0 – 16.3 3.4 14.0 3.2 1.2 1.7 3.6

Oregon ........................ 5.3 10.1 – 16.0 6.4 15.4 2.6 1.8 4.0 3.2

Colorado ..................... 5.4 – – 12.1 2.5 10.7 3.1 1.2 2.9 4.8

Indiana ........................ 5.4 – – 15.4 3.4 14.9 3.5 1.6 2.8 3.8

Florida ......................... 5.5 18.3 – 18.0 4.3 11.6 3.9 2.0 3.8 3.1

South Carolina ............ 5.6 14.1 – 17.7 3.4 14.1 4.2 – 2.9 4.4

Texas .......................... 5.8 14.6 21.3 17.3 4.3 10.9 3.8 1.1 2.8 3.1

Nevada ........................ 6.2 – – 14.0 8.8 17.0 4.4 2.6 3.1 3.9

Tennessee .................. 6.3 52.8 – 24.3 2.5 11.9 3.8 1.1 2.4 3.3

Utah ............................ 6.5 – – 20.3 4.2 15.1 3.4 – 3.9 4.7

District of Columbia ..... 6.6 –––– 20.0 13.0 – 2.2 4.3

Georgia ....................... 6.6 19.5 – 23.8 5.1 13.2 4.8 2.7 3.6 4.0

New Mexico ................ 7.0 – – 16.5 5.5 25.7 2.4 – 4.0 3.0

Kansas ........................ 7.1 30.6 – 22.5 3.7 14.8 3.4 – 2.2 4.6

Nebraska ..................... 7.2 25.7 – 21.7 6.4 20.0 3.5 – 2.1 2.5

Arkansas7 ................... 7.3 –––––––––

North Dakota ............... 7.3 23.4 – 28.1 – 17.6 1.5 – 1.5 4.3

Oklahoma7 .................. 7.4 –––––––––

Alabama7 .................... 7.7 –––––––––

South Dakota .............. 7.8 28.3 – 30.3 3.4 14.1 3.6 – 1.8 4.1

Kentucky ..................... 7.9 – – 18.1 4.3 15.0 2.7 1.3 2.3 3.3

Louisiana ..................... 8.3 – 22.6 21.6 10.6 29.3 4.2 1.8 4.1 4.4

Idaho ........................... 8.9 29.1 – 14.2 8.0 26.0 4.6 – 3.1 4.9

West Virginia ............... 8.9 – 48.4 31.5 8.5 28.7 2.9 – 2.4 2.7

Mississippi ................... 10.2 33.0 – 23.2 8.4 24.0 6.2 4.5 3.5 4.1

Montana ...................... 10.9 35.8 – 25.3 19.4 19.6 3.7 6.7 3.7 5.4

Wyoming ..................... 12.5 21.6 27.2 33.9 12.3 30.1 5.7 – 5.8 6.6

Alaska ......................... 22.9 – – 22.2 – 54.6 – – 38.8 4.5

1 The State fatal work injury rate per 100,000 workers was calculated

as follows: 

((N92+N93+N94+N95+N96)/(W92+W93+W94+W95+W96))x100,000

N = number of civilian worker fatalities, age 16 and older, 1992-96

W = number of employed civilians, age 16 and older, 1992-96

The employed worker figures used in the rate calculations are annual

average estimates from the Current Population Survey (CPS), 1992-96. 

The relative danger of an industry group can be indicated by combining

fatality data with employment data to calculate a rate. An

employment-based fatality rate measures the incidence of fatal injury for all

workers in a group regardless of exposure time. The rates are

experimental measures using CPS employment. 2 Excludes forestry and fishing. Includes self-employed and family

workers. 3 Individual State rates exclude self-employed and family workers.

4 Includes forestry and fishing. Individual State rates exclude

self-employed, family workers, and private household workers. 5 Includes workers in governmental organizations regardless of

industry. Excludes military personnel. 6 Includes self-employed, family workers, household workers. 

Excludes military personnel. 7 Industry division rates were not calculated because more than 5

percent of the fatality records were unclassified.

 NOTE: Dashes indicate that a fatality rate was not calculated because

at least one CPS employment estimate was not statistically reliable, or

there were fewer than five work injury fatalities, 1992-96. Dashes also

indicate footnote 7 for selected States. 

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

Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 1992-96
 Compensation and Working Conditions Summer 1998 10

transportation, communications, and

public utilities industrial divisions had

rates at least double the national average of 5.1. All other divisions were

near or below the average. (See table

2.)

Fatality rates by industrial division

are helpful in analyzing fatality risk

for broad industry groups; however,

there can be considerable rate differences among the individual industries

within the division. For example, the

fatality rate for the manufacturing division was 3.7. But, within the division, the logging industry (SIC 2411)

had a fatality rate of 98.7. Among

individual industries, commercial fishing and logging had the highest fatality rates.

States in quartile 1 (those with the

lowest fatality rates) had larger shares

of employment in the lower risk industrial divisions, such as manufacturing; trade; finance, insurance, and real

estate; and services. In New England,

for example, a relatively high concentration of workers were in finance, insurance, education, and electronics

and machinery manufacturing. Both

Michigan and Ohio, with the largest

number of fatal work injuries in

quartile 1, had large concentrations of

workers in automobile manufacturing

and related industries.

In contrast, most of the States in

quartile 4 (those with the highest fatality rates) had larger shares of employment in one or more of the highhazard industries. Alaska, with the

highest fatality rate, had a relatively

high concentration of workers in fishing,5

 logging,6 and air and water transportation.7

 Wyoming, with the second

highest fatality rate, had one-fourth of

its workers in agriculture, mining,

construction, and transportation.

A brief discussion of the industries

with the highest fatality rates follows.

Mining. Workers in this division had

the highest fatality rate, 26.4. Yet, this

division accounted for only 3 percent

of all fatal work injuries, second only

to finance, insurance, and real estate

which had the fewest fatalities.

The mining division employs about

600,000 workers, which is about 0.5

percent of the Nation’s workers. It is

comprised of companies whose primary activity is to extract minerals

from the earth. Included in the division are metal mining, coal mining,

oil and gas extraction, and mining and

3.8 or below

3.9 through 5.4

5.5 through 7.3

7.4 and above

Quartile Rate

Chart. Quartile grouping of State fatal work injury rates per 100,000 workers

1

2

3

4

Chart . Quartile grouping of State fatal work injury
11 Compensation and Working Conditions Summer 1998

Table 2. Fatal occupational injuries by industry division and selected industries, 1992-96

Industry1

Fatalities

Employment2

(thousands)

Fatality rate3

(per

100,000

workers) Number Percent

Total ............................................................... 31,567 100.0 123,732 5.1

Private industry ................................................... 28,115 89.1 104,004 5.4

Agriculture ....................................................... 3,692 11.7 3,299 21.9

Agricultural production - crops ....................... 1,947 6.2 990 38.3

Agricultural production - livestock .................. 867 2.7 1,243 13.4

Agricultural services ...................................... 782 2.5 1,066 14.6

Mining ............................................................... 843 2.7 639 26.4

Coal mining .................................................... 223 .7 112 39.7

Oil and gas extraction .................................... 434 1.4 353 24.6

Construction .................................................... 4,973 15.8 6,959 14.3

Manufacturing .................................................. 3,745 11.9 20,031 3.7

Food and kindred products ............................ 400 1.3 1,736 4.6

Lumber and wood products ........................... 1,018 3.2 745 27.3

Logging ...................................................... 737 2.3 149 98.7

Transportation and public utilities ................. 4,586 14.5 7,002 13.1

Local and interurban passenger

transportation ........................................... 565 1.8 491 23.0

Trucking and warehousing ............................ 2,413 7.6 2,263 21.3

Transportation by air ...................................... 461 1.5 745 12.4

Electric, gas, and sanitary services ............... 426 1.3 1,110 7.7

Wholesale trade ............................................... 1,299 4.1 4,793 5.4

Retail trade ....................................................... 3,696 11.7 20,580 3.6

Food stores .................................................... 1,039 3.3 3,425 6.0

Automotive dealers and service stations ....... 600 1.9 2,065 5.8

Eating and drinking places ............................ 909 2.9 6,183 2.9

Finance, insurance, and real estate ............... 592 1.9 7,762 1.5

Services ............................................................ 4,331 13.7 32,939 2.6

Business services .......................................... 1,037 3.3 4,992 4.2

Automotive repair, services, and parking ...... 511 1.6 1,508 6.8

Forestry and fishing4 ..................................... 431 1.4 98 87.8

Forestry ..................................................... 61 .2 36 33.7

Fishing, hunting, and trapping ................... 370 1.2 62 119.4

Government5 ........................................................ 3,452 10.9 19,728 3.5

Federal .............................................................. 1,135 3.6 4,825 4.7

State .................................................................. 630 2.0 5,034 2.5

Local .................................................................. 1,649 5.2 9,869 3.3

1 Standard Industrial Classification Manual, 1987. 2 The employment figures are annual average

estimates of employed civilians 16 years of age and

older, from the Current Population Survey (CPS),

1992-1996. The resident military figure, derived from

resident and civilian population data from the Bureau of

the Census, was added to the CPS employment total. 3 The rate represents the number of fatal

occupational injuries per 100,000 employed workers and

was calculated as follows: (N/W) x 100,000, where N =

the number of fatal work injuries, and W = the number of

employed workers, as described in the previous footnote.

 Workers under the age of 16 years were not included in

the rate calculations so consistency with the CPS

employment figures could be maintained.

4 Forestry and fishing was included within the service

industry to match CPS State employment industry

categories. 5 Includes fatalities to workers employed by

governmental organizations regardless of industry.

NOTE: Totals for industry divisions may include

industries not shown separately. Percentages may not

add to totals because of rounding. During the period

1992-96, there were 376 fatalities (1 percent) with

insufficient information to determine a specific industry

classification, though a distinction between private and

government was made for each. 

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

Statistics, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 1992-96
 Compensation and Working Conditions Summer 1998 12

quarrying of nonmetallic minerals,

such as stone, clay, potash, and borax.

The highest fatality rates occurred in

Texas, Louisiana, and West Virginia.

In Texas and Louisiana, most of the

work fatalities occurred in oil and gas

extraction; in West Virginia they occurred in coal mining.

Workers in this division are exposed to numerous hazards.8

 In the

coal, metal, and nonmetal mining industries, fatal injuries often resulted

from roof or other material collapses

and falling rocks. They also resulted

from working in close quarters with

various types of mine machinery, such

as roof bolters, shuttle cars, and loaders, and from methane gas explosions.

In the oil and gas extraction industries,

fatal injuries often resulted from vehicle- and machinery-related incidents

as well as from fires and explosions.

Agriculture, excluding forestry and

fishing. Workers in this division accounted for 3 percent of employment

but incurred about 12 percent of the

job-related fatalities. Fatal injuries for

these workers occurred at a rate

slightly less than for mining, 21.9.

Four States accounted for 20 percent

of these fatalities: California, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Texas.

This division includes establishments engaged in crop production; the

keeping and feeding of livestock; and

agricultural services, such as crop

dusting, landscaping, and providing

horticultural services. Workers in crop

production grow items such as wheat

and corn, vegetables and melons, and

ornamental plants on farms and in

orchards, greenhouses, and nurseries.

The leading cause of fatal injury to

these workers is tractor rollovers.

Other fatal injuries occur when workers are struck by falling objects such

as bales of hay, or when their clothes

get caught in machinery, such as grain

augers or power takeoff shafts or other

equipment hooked to tractors. For

workers in livestock production, like

those working on cattle ranches or

dairy farms, being gored or kicked by

an animal poses an additional hazard.

Construction. Workers in construction had the third highest rate of fatal

injury, 14.3, and accounted for the

largest number of fatalities. Wyoming, West Virginia, and North and

South Dakota had fatality rates that

were at least twice the division average; nine other States had rates of 20

or more.

The construction division employs

about 7 million workers, which is almost 6 percent of all workers nationwide. It is comprised of three major

business groups: General building

contractors, heavy construction contractors, and special trade contractors.

General building contractors construct

homes, apartment buildings, and commercial offices as well as industrial and

public buildings, such as schools,

arenas, and government offices.

Heavy construction contractors build

and repair highways, bridges, tunnels,

and pipelines. Special trade contractors, who account for a little over half

of construction fatalities, perform electrical, plumbing, roofing, siding, sheet

metal, and other specialty work.

The following tabulation shows the

distribution of fatalities in construction for 1992-96.

 Number Percent

Division ......................... 4,973 100

General building

 contractors ................ 880 18

Heavy construction,

 except building .......... 1,235 25

Highway and

 street construction .. 421 9

Heavy construction,

 except highway ...... 789 16

Bridge, tunnel,

 and elevated

 highway ............... 118 2

Water, sewer, and

 utility lines............ 372 8

Special trade

 contractors ............. 2,833 57

Plumbing, heating,

 air-conditioning ..... 297 6

Electrical work ......... 384 8

Masonry, stonework,

 and plastering ...... 245 5

Roofing, siding, and

 sheet metal work ... 449 9

Miscellaneous

 special trade

 contractors ............ 873 18

Structural steel

 erection ............ 232 5

Falls were the leading cause of

death in this division, accounting for

nearly 30 percent of the construction

fatalities. Primarily, these falls were

from roofs, scaffolds, and ladders.

Other construction hazards include

highway crashes, falling objects (such

as materials being lifted by cranes),

overhead powerlines, passing vehicles,

and construction vehicles backing up.

Transportation, communications, and

public utilities. Workers in this division had the fourth highest rate of fatal injury, 13.1. They accounted for

about 6 percent of the Nation’s total

workforce and 13 percent of job-related fatalities. In general, States with

long stretches of highways and rough

terrain or with large air or water transportation industries had the highest

fatality rates for this major division.

States with fatality rates of 25 or more

included Alaska, Wyoming, Louisiana, West Virginia, Idaho, and New

Mexico.

Industries in this division transport

passengers, mail, and freight by road,

rail, air, and water and provide communications and utility services. Most

often, workers in the transportation

industries were fatally injured in incidents that related to their particular

mode of transport (highway vehicle

crashes and overturnings, capsizing

water vessels, aircraft crashes). Other

hazards included geographical and

meteorological features, such as mountainous terrain and severe weather conditions. Fatalities in communications

and public utilities resulted from contact with overhead powerlines or other

electrically-charged equipment, bucketlift failures while repairing utility

lines, and being struck by vehicles

while collecting refuse.

Logging. Nationally, workers in the

logging industry had a fatality rate of

98.7. Most of the States in which this

industry is prominent—Alabama,

Louisiana, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, and Alaska—had overall fatality rates well above the national rate

of 5.1.

Fatalities

Construction
13 Compensation and Working Conditions Summer 1998

Most of the workers who were fatally injured were struck by falling

trees or branches or by rolling logs.

But each year, several workers were

killed in vehicle-related incidents,

such as crashes on public roadways or

logging roads, or after being struck by

logging equipment, such as loaders,

skidders, or bulldozers.

Commercial fishing. With a fatality

rate of 119.4, commercial fishing is

considered the most dangerous industry. Alaska accounted for one-third of

all fatal work injuries in commercial

fishing.

Most fishing fatalities resulted from

capsized water vessels or from falls

from boats. Falls from boats were particularly hazardous in colder areas,

where hypothermia affects even good

swimmers. A growing number of fatalities occurred from fishers drowning while diving for sea cucumbers or

while untangling nets or lines that had

been snagged in the boat’s propellers.

Unstable boats, slippery decks cluttered with fishing equipment, and winter harvests posed additional hazards

for fishers. These hazards were further magnified in recent years because

depleted fish stocks forced fishing vessels to travel further offshore into

rougher, more dangerous waters.

Other factors influencing fatality

rates

State employment counts and the

industry mix of a State explain only

part of the variation in State fatality

rates. Many of the quartile 1 and 2

States (those with the lowest fatality

rates) did have workers in one or more

of the high-hazard industries. For

example, Washington, Oregon, and

many of the New England States are

noted for their logging and fishing

industries. Another explanation for

this variance may be that the employment data used in the rate calculation

is based on the workers’ State of residence.9

 When computing national

rates, it does not matter whether the

fatally injured worker lived in the State

where the injury occurred. However,

it does matter when calculating State

rates, especially if a large number of

workers were out of State residents.

For example, it has been estimated that

about one-third of the workers in the

Alaskan commercial fishing industry

are residents of other States.10 This

may result in an overstated fatality rate

for Alaska because one-third of the

industry’s workers who were at risk of

being fatally injured were excluded

from the denominator of the State’s

fatality rate because they were not residents of Alaska. This explanation

may also be relevant for Wyoming’s

high fatality rate in the transportation

industry. A large number of nonresident, interstate truck drivers travel

Wyoming’s highways and contribute

to the State’s fatality numbers; but, because they are nonresidents, they are

not included in the denominator for

calculating the State’s fatality rate.

Geography and weather conditions

can contribute to differences in State

fatality rates. For example, a fisher

falling off a boat in Florida may have

a better chance of survival than one

who falls into the icy Alaskan waters.

Severe weather conditions and mountainous terrain also contribute to fatalities resulting from aircraft and

highway crashes, falls, and being

struck by wind blown objects.

Another factor that may affect a

State fatality rate is the availability of

emergency medical services. Most

States with high fatality rates are primarily rural. Some of the workers fatally injured in rural areas might have

survived if emergency medical services

had been more readily available. In

some areas, transportation to trauma

centers by medivac helicopter units

with trained medical personnel is not

available.

The composition of the workforce

may also affect fatality rates among

the States. Workers aged 65 and over

and workers who are self-employed

are at increased risk of dying from job

related injuries.1 1 Therefore, States

with large numbers of older or selfemployed workers may have higher

fatality rates.

The safety and health climate of the

State can help reduce the risk of fatal

work injuries. The issuance and enforcement of workplace safety standards along with worker training can

affect this climate. States have devoted

various resources to assist in this effort. Some States have occupational

safety and health plans that have been

approved by the U.S. Occupational

Safety and Health Administration; others have divisions within the State

Health Department that are devoted

specifically to occupational issues; and

some have universities that are actively

researching ways to improve occupational safety. State laws and other actions not specifically targeted to address worker fatalities can also affect

worker safety. Measures, such as

stricter enforcement of speed limits

and seat belt laws, taken to prevent

highway fatalities may also assist in

preventing worker fatalities—20 percent of which result from highway traffic incidents.

Summary

State fatality rates are one way to

compare fatality risk, but analysis of

frequency counts is important. Both

Ohio and Michigan were in the lowest State fatality rate quartile; each had

only one industry division with a fatality rate above the national average.

Yet they would have been in the highest quartile if States had been arranged

in quartiles by number of fatal work

injuries. Almost 1,800 workers lost

their lives in the two States during

1992-96.

Comparisons among States are

problematic because many factors influence occupational fatality counts

and rates. Each State has to evaluate

its circumstances, keeping in mind its

unique industry mix, geographical features, and the composition of its workforce. States can use this information

along with fatality census data to monitor occupational injury deaths, target

workplace hazards, conduct Statebased research, develop appropriate

safety standards, and disseminate educational materials to its workers.
 Compensation and Working Conditions Summer 1998 14

Technical note

Fatality data. Data on fatal work injuries are from the Bureau of Labor

Statistics’ Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), 1992-96. This

program, which has collected occupational fatality data nationwide since

1992, uses diverse data sources to identify, verify, and profile fatal work injuries. Information about each workplace fatality (occupation and other

worker characteristics, industry of

employer, and equipment involved and

other circumstances of the event) is

obtained by cross-referencing source

documents, such as death certificates,

workers’ compensation records, news

accounts, and reports to Federal and

State agencies. This method assures

counts are as complete and accurate

as possible.

The industry and occupation reported in the fatality data refer to the

job held by the worker when the fatal

injury occurred. Fatalities are counted

according to the State where the fatal

injury occurred.

Experimental fatality rates. Fatality rates are used to compare the risk

of incurring a fatal work injury among

worker groups with varying employment or exposure levels. There is more

than one method to calculate a fatality rate. An hours-based rate measures

the risk of fatality per standardized

length of exposure; an employmentbased rate measures the risk for those

employed during a given period of

time, regardless of exposure hours.

Hours-based measurements are especially useful for comparing worker

groups with varying exposure hours,

such as when a large proportion of

workers in an industry work part-time.

Fatal work injury rates included in

this article are employment based and

are considered experimental measures.

They provide the number of fatal work

injuries per 100,000 workers for 1992-

96 and were calculated as follows:

 [(N92 + N93 + N94 + N95 + N96) /

(W92 + W93 + W94 + W95 + W96)] x

100,000; where

 N = number of civilian worker

fatalities, age 16 and older, 1992-96,

and

W = annual average number of

employed civilians, age 16 and older,

1992-96.

Because the CFOI program does

not collect employment or hours of exposure data, annual average estimates

from the Current Population Survey

(CPS) for 1992-96 are used in the denominator “W.” The rates do not reflect the movement of persons in and

out of the labor force, the length of

their work week or work year, or the

effect of multiple jobholders.

The CPS reports workers’ occupation and industry according to their

primary job, which may differ from the

job held when fatally injured. Because

the CPS is a survey of households,

workers are counted in their State of

residence, which may differ from the

State in which the fatal injury occurred. Although this is not important when considering national data,

it may have a significant impact in

States with a large proportion of workers residing in another State.

National industry rates included in

this article may differ from those appearing in other reports because they

were adjusted to be consistent with

State fatality rates. For example, nationally, forestry and fishing are usually included in the agriculture division, but are included in the services

division in this article. State rates are

calculated in this manner to be consistent with the CPS State employment

data.

A State fatality rate was not calculated for an industry division if one of

the following conditions existed:

• More than 5 percent of the State’s

1992-96 fatalities were classified

as “industry unknown”;

• There were fewer than five work

injury fatalities in the industry

in that State during 1992-96; or

• The CPS State industry employment estimate was not statistically reliable for one or more of

the 5 years.

Agriculture and mining employment

data were not available for all years

for some States. This may affect State

industry rankings by fatality rate.

The CPS employment data used to

calculate rates are estimates based

upon a sample of persons employed

rather than a complete count. Therefore, the employment estimates and

fatality rates have sampling errors;

that is, they may differ from figures

that would have been obtained if it had

been possible to take a complete census of employed persons. See “Explanatory Notes and Estimates of Error” in the January 1996 Employment

and Earnings for an explanation of

CPS sampling and estimation methodology, and standard error computations. The relative standard errors of

the CPS employment estimates can be

used to approximate confidence ranges

for the fatality rates.

Additional information. For more

information on the Census of Fatal

Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program, access the BLS Internet site at

http://stats.bls.gov/oshfat1.htm or Email cfoistaff@bls.gov with your request. Additional State fatality data

may be available from the individual

State agencies participating in the

CFOI program. A list of these agencies and their phone numbers is included in the 1996 News Release,

USDL: 97-266, which is available on

the BLS Internet site.
15 Compensation and Working Conditions Summer 1998

—ENDNOTES—

1

 “National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 1996,” USDL: 97-266, August 7, 1997. 2

 State fatality rates represent the number of

fatal occupational injuries per 100,000 employed

workers for the period 1992-96. 3

 The number of States in each group or

quartile varied slightly to keep States with identical fatality rates in the same group. 4

 Industry is classified according to the Standard Industrial Classification Manual, 1987. 5

 The fishing industry is usually reported in

the agriculture, forestry, and fishing division in

analyses of national fatality data. However, it is

being included in the services division for this article to be consistent with its treatment in the employment data used to calculate State fatality rates. 6

 For a discussion of the logging industry, see

Elizabeth Dietz, “Wages in Forestry and Logging,”

Compensation and Working Conditions, Spring,

1997, pp. 51-53. 7

 For additional information on hazards encountered by loggers, fishers, and aircraft pilots,

see Mick Hans, “Will Safety Improve in the Three

Most Perilous Professions?” Safety + Health,

August 1995, pp. 52-57. 8

 See David McDermott, “Workplace Injuries and Illnesses in the Extractive Industries,”

Compensation and Working Conditions, Winter

1997, pp. 57-61, for a discussion of mining’s risk

of nonfatal injuries and illnesses.

9

 See the discussion of fatality rates in the

Technical note included in this article. 10 See Richard D. Kennedy and Jennifer M.

Lincoln, “Epidemiology of Fatal Injury in the U.S.

Commercial Fishing Industry,” Safety and Health

in Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, Government Institutes, Inc., Rockville, MD (1997), pp.

557-570. 11 See John Ruser, “Denominator Choice in

the Calculation of Workplace Fatality Rates,”

American Journal of Industrial Medicine, February 1998, pp. 151-156, and Martin E. Personick

and Janice A. Windau, “Self-employed Individuals Fatally Injured at Work,” Monthly Labor Review, August 1995, pp. 24-30.