Index of relative risk for fatal occupational injuries, 1995

All occupations

Farm occupations

Truckdrivers

Electric power installers

Roofers

Construction laborer

Taxicab drivers

Strucutural metal workers
Airplane pilots 19.9

Timber cutters 20.6

Fishers

0 5 10 15 20 25
Index of relative risk

Compensation and Working Conditions Summer 1997 60


Safety and Health

Dangerous Jobs

BY GUY A. TOSCANO

What is the most dangerous occupation in the United States?
Is it truckdriver, fisher, or elephant trainer? The public fre-
quently asks this question, as do the news media and safety
and health professionals. To answer it, BLS used data from
its Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOT) and Sur-
vey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOI).’

How to identify dangerous jobs

There are a number of ways to identify hazardous occu-
pations. And depending on the method used, different oc-
cupations are identified as most hazardous. One method
counts the number of job-related fatalities in a given occu-
pation or other group of workers. This generates a fatality
frequency count for the employment group, which safety
and health professionals often use to indicate the magnitude
of the safety and health problem. For example, truckdrivers
have the largest number of fatalities and accounted for about
12 percent of all the job-related fatalities in 1995. (See table
1.) But this number is influenced not only by the risk work-
ers face in that occupation, but also by the total number of
workers in the occupation.

The second method, fatality rates, takes into account the
differing total numbers among occupations. It is calculated
by dividing the number of job-related fatalities for a group
of workers during a given period by the average number of
workers during that period.” This rate depicts a worker's
risk of incurring a fatal work injury within the employment
group and is expressed as the number of fatalities per a stan-
dard measure. For example, the fatality rate for truckdrivers
is 26.2 deaths per 100,000 workers (table 1), When occu-
pations are ranked by fatality rates, truckdrivers become the
ninth most dangerous occupation.

The fatality rates in table 1 relate the total number of job-
related deaths in 1995 to the annual average number of work-
ers facing that risk for various groups. These measures are
considered experimental because they do not reflect the
movement of persons into and out of the labor force, the

Guy Toscano is an economist in the Office of safety, Health and Work-
ing Conditions, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Telephone (202) 606-6175.

57. Compensation and Working Conditions Summer 1997

length of their work week or work year, or the effect of hold-
ing multiple jobs.

Another method of expressing risk is an index of relative
risk. This measure is calculated for a group of workers as
the ratio of the rate for that group to the rate for all workers.’
The index of relative risk compares the fatality risk of a
group of workers with all workers. For example, the rela-
tive risk for truckdrivers in table 1 is 5.3 which means that
they are roughly five times as likely to have a fatal work
injury as the average worker.

Analysis of dangerous jobs is not complete, however, un-
less data on nonfatal job-related injuries and illnesses are
examined.

Table 2 shows those occupations with the largest number
of nonfatal injuries and illnesses, along with days away from
work to recuperate. This table shows that truckdrivers also
lead the list for the occupations with the largest number of
nonfatal injuries and illnesses. It also shows the chance of
incurring an occupational injury or illness which is expressed
as the total number of workers in the employment group
compared with the number of workers injured in that group.
For example, the chance of a truckdriver having a serious
injury is 1 in 15, meaning that for every 15 truckdrivers 1
will have a serious injury during the year. But laborers and
nursing aides and orderlies have a greater chance of injury
or illness than truckdrivers. (See table 2.)

Median days away from work to recuperate is yet an-
other measure that can be used to evaluate dangerous jobs.
(Median days is an average such that half of those injured
take more than the median days to recuperate while the other
half require fewer days.) The median days to recuperate
from an injury for the 10 occupations listed are highest for-
truckdrivers and carpenters, each showing a median of 8
days to recuperate, compared to all workers who had a me-
dian of 5 days.

Based on the index of relative risk in the chart, truckdriver
is not the most dangerous occupation. This distinction be-
longs to fishers. Commercial fishers are about four times as
likely as truckdrivers to be killed by a fatal work incident
(21.3 and 5.3, respectively).


Using this method of analysis, one could in fact identify
even more dangerous occupations like elephant trainers who
in some years have had 2 work fatalities. Based on employ-
ment figures of about 600 known elephant trainers in the
United States, this would produce a fatality rate of 333 per
100,000 workers and a relative risk that is 68 times greater
than for the typical worker. Clearly, in this analysis an el-
ephant trainer has the highest risk of a fatal work injury even
though the frequency is low or nonexistent in some years.
The purpose of this example is to illustrate the importance
of viewing frequency counts, fatality rates, and indexes of
relative risk to discern dangerous jobs.

The occupations identified by the frequency risk tech-
niques and a chance of injury can be used to target preven-
tion efforts and may reduce both the number and rates of
fatalities and injuries for those workers at highest risk.

Characteristic of dangerous jobs

Today, the jobs that have the highest fatality rates and
frequency counts are found in outdoor occupations or occu-
pations where workers are not in an office or factory. These
include truckdrivers, farmers, construction laborers, and air-
plane pilots. Most of these workers have one thing in com-
mon: they are affected by severe weather conditions, while
driving on highways, flying airplanes, performing farm
chores, or working on construction sites. Highway crashes
are the primary cause of trucker fatalities, falls are the lead-
ing cause of death for construction laborers, and tractor
rollovers account for 1 of every 3 farm worker fatalities.

Homicide is another serious concern in some job set-
tings. In 1995, homicide accounted for 16 percent of job-
related fatalities. Workers most at risk are those who work

late at night, work alone, and handle money. Taxicab driv-
ers are the most susceptible and have a relative risk about

_ 10times higher than the typical worker. Other occupations

that have a high relative risk of homicide include police and
guards.

For jobs with high numbers of nonfatal injuries and ill-
nesses, overexertion is the leading event. These injuries
result from lifting objects or, in the case of nursing aides
and orderlies, patients. Injuries from overexertion accounted
for about one third of all the nonfatal injuries in 1994; it
took a median of 5 days for those injured to recuperate.

Two occupations appear on both the fatal and nonfatal
lists: truckdrivers and construction laborers. But the leading
event for fatal and nonfatal incidents for each occupation is
different. For truckdrivers, 68 percent of the job-related
fatalities are from highway crashes, whereas overexertion is
the leading nonfatal event, accounting for 29 percent of the
incidents. For construction laborers, the leading fatal events
are falls and vehicular-related incidents such as being struck
by abackhoe. For nonfatal incidents, the leading event is
contact with objects, primarily equipment and tools used on
construction sites.

This difference between the leading cause of a fatal and
nonfatal injury for truckdrivers is important because it sug-
gests different kinds of prevention efforts. For example, to
reduce highway crashes, driver training and proper mainte-
nance of trucks is essential, whereas, to reduce the incidence
of overexertion, proper lifting techniques must be taught
along with proper use of lifting equipment. For construction
laborers, prevention programs for fatal events require aware-
ness of the hazards of falling off buildings, ladders, scaf-
foldings, and other structures while for serious nonfatal in-
juries, prevention would focus on the proper use of tools.

- ENDNOTES -

1 Data on fatal work injuries are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’
Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), 1995. This program, which
has collected occupational fatality data nationwide since 1992, uses di-
verse data sources to identify, verify, and profile fatal work injuries. In-
formation about each workplace fatality (occupation and other worker
characteristics, equipment being used, and circumstances of the event) is
obtained by cross-referencing source documents, such as death certifi-
cates, workers’ compensation records, and reports to Federal and State
agencies. This method assures counts are as complete and accurate as
possible.

The Survey of Occupational Injuries and HInesses (SOI) collects in-
formation from a random sample of about 250,000 establishments repre-
senting most of private industry. Worker characteristics are collected only
for those workers sustaining injuries and illnesses that require days away
from work to recuperate.

Because the scope and methodology of CFOI and SOI are slightly
different, comparison of the fatal and nonfatal data is problematic.

For more information on either CFOI or SOII, access the World Wide
‘Web at http:/stats.bls.gov/oshhome.htm or e-mail (cfoistaff@bls.gov).

2 There is more than one method to calculate fatality rates that mea-
sure the incidence of fatal work injuries for groups of workers. An hours-

based rate measures the risk of fatality per standardized length of expo-
sure; an employment-based rate measures the risk for those employed dur-
ing a given period of time.

‘An employment-based fatality rate measures the incidence of a fatal
injury for all workers in a group, regardless of exposure time. It does not
account for fewer fatalities among part-time workers than for full-time
workers because of their reduced hours exposed to the work environment.
Anhour-based fatality rate accounts for different exposure durations among
workers. Hours-based measurements are especially useful in industry and
occupational comparisons in which the number of workers af risk can
vary among industry or occupational groups for a particular period. Fa-
tality counts from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries can be com-
bined with information on employment or hours at work to produce a
fatal work injury rate. Because neither hours at work nor number of per-
sons employed are collected in the BLS census, the fatality rates in this
report were calculated using the employment estimates from the Current
Population Survey (CPS)-a household survey. The CPS annual average
employment estimates are based on the number of workers employed dur-
ing the week of the 12th each month.

> Reporton the American Workforce, U.S. Department of Labor, 1994,
pp. 95-138.

Compensation and Working Conditions Summer 1997 58


Table 1. Occupations with largest number of fatalities, rates, relative risk, 1995

Occupation Fatality |Employment Index of Leading fatal event
count | (in 1,000's) | rate’ relative risk (percent)

Total 6,210 126,248 49 1.0

Truckdriver 749 2,861 26.2 5.3 Highway crashes (68)

Farm occupations 879 2,282 253 5.1 | Vehicular (50)

Construction laborers: 309 780 39.5 84 Vehicular(28); Falls (27)

‘Supervisors, proprietors, sales 212 4,480 47 1.0 Homicide (63)

Nonconstruction laborers 212 1,337 15.8 3.2 Vehicular (36)

Police, detectives, and supervisors 474 1,051 16.6 3.4 | Homicide (47); Highway (28)

Electricians 17 736 15.9 3.2 Electrocutions (59)

Cashiers 116 2,727 43 2 Homicide (92)

Airplane pilots 111 114 97.4 19.9 Airplane crashes (98)

Guards 401 899 12 2.3 | Homicide (58)

‘Taxicab drivers 99 213 46.5 9.5 Homicide (70)

Timber cutters 98 97 101.0 20.6 ‘Struck by object (81)

Carpenters 96 1,255 7.6 1.6 Falls (43)

Groundkeepers and gardeners 7 832 9.3 19 Vehicular (31)

Welders and cutters 72 604 12.0 24 Falis (22); Fires (18)

Roofers 60 205 29.3 5.9 | Falls (75)

Fishers 48 45 104.4 21.3 | Drowning (81)

‘Auto mechanics 47 819 57 14.4 | Highway (21); Homicide (13)

‘Structural metal workers 38 59 64.4 13.4 Falls (66)

Electric Power Instali/rprs 35 126 27.8 5.7 Electrocutions (60)

‘Excludes fatalities involving workers under 16 years of age because they are not covered by CPS.
Rate = ((Fatal work injuries/Employment) X 100,000 workers). Employment based on 1995 CPS.
Fatality rate fora given group

Index of Relative Risk =

ity rate for all workers:
SOURCE: US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 1995.

Table 2. Occupations with largest number of injuries and illness

with days away from work to recuperate, 1994

Occupation nonfatal Employment] gays to | Chance of Leading nonfatal event
¢ (in 1,000's) rate injury {in percent)
(in 1,000's)
‘All occupations 2,252.6 92,973 5 +41
Occupations 726.5 14,636 6 1:20 Overexertion (27)
Truckdrivers 163.8 2,438 8 115, Overexertion
Nonconstruction laborers 1473 1,137 5 1:08 Contact with object (35)
Nursing aides and orderlies 101.8 1,359 5 1:13 Overexertion (59)
Janitors and cleaners 60.6 1,407 6 1:23 Overexertion
Construction laborers 55.7 674 6 112 ‘Contact with object (39)
Assemblers 53.0 1,167 6 1:22 | Contact with object (31)
Carpenters 37.4 869 8 1:23 Contact with object (38)
Stock handlers and baggers 37.2 4,121 5 1:30 | Overexertion (37)
Cooks 36.3 1,838 5 151 Contact with object (33)
Cashiers 35.6 2,626 6 1:74 Overexertion (27)
Chance of Occupational Injury or lliness = Employment ‘SOURCE: US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Total nonfatal cases Statistics, Survey of Occupational Injuries and Ilinesses, 1994.
Employment based on 1994 CPS.

59 Compensation and Working Conditions Summer 1997