Table 2. Fatal occupational Injuries by occupation and major event or exposure, 1996

Fatalities ‘Major event or exposure* (percent)

Occupation’ Faiito
Number | Percent |Highway?| Homicide rend lower | Pate*

level
Total .. 6210 100 21 16 9 9 5
Managerial and professional specialty ..... 699 W 24 2B 3 6 2
Executive, administrative, and managerial 467 8 2 xu 3 7 3
Professional 232 4 Ko 16 3 5 1
Technical, sales, and administrative support .. B15 13 19 4 2 2 2
Technicians and related support occupations 189 3 3 7 2 2 5
Airplane pilots and navigators. 111 2 - - - : 97
Sales occupations... 492 8 19 61 2 2 3
‘Supervisors and proprietors, sales occupations .. 212 3 13 3 1 5
Sales workore, retail and personal services 213 3 15 73 - 1 3
116 2 3 $2 - : 4
Adransweve ‘Support occupations, including clerical 194 2 25 47 - 5 1
Service occupations. 533 9 20 40 1 6 3
Protective service occupations 314 5 21 & - 2 14

Firefighting and fire prevention occupations,

including supervisors ... 39 1 2B - - 13
Police and detectives including supervisors. 174 3 27 47 - 7
‘Guards, including supervisors .. 101 2 9 58 - - "
864 14 10 2 20 6 23
332 5 10 3 " 7 23
244 4 10 2 9 7 20
73 1 12 - 18 7 45
359 6 12 3 13 7 17
262 4 12 2 11 5 30
116 2 4 - 74 4 90
98 2 - og 81 3 101
57 1 7 - - - 97
48 1 - : - - 104
1,044 7 10 4 9 3 8
265 4 15 6 4 9 6
607 10 8 2 6 KJ 12
96 2 9 - 14 42 8
Electricians and apprentices 7 2 4 - 3 J 16
Electrical power installers and repairers .. 6 1 - - - 7 2B
Painters 45 1 - : : 3B 9
60 1 - - - 75 2
38 1 - . W 6 64
Operators, fabricators, and laborers... 2,051 3 32 8 n 8 W
Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors .. 238 4 5 6 19 10 3
Transportation and material moving occupations 1,148 18 50 10 6 2 2
Motor vehicle operators 918 15 61 12 4 2 24
Truck drivers .. 749 12 63 3 5 2 26
Driver-sales workers 3 1 42 eB . : 21
‘Taxicab drivers and chauffeurs 99 2 18 70 ° : 46
Material moving equipment operators 167 3 10 : 16 5 15
Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers 665 "1 10 5 15 16 13
Construction laborers 309 5 9 1 16 a7 39
Laborers, except construction 212 3 13 4 16 8 16
Miltary. 143 2 2 6 6 : "1

‘ Based on the 1990 Occupational Classification System developed by the
Bureau of the Census.
2 The figure shown is the percent of the total fatalities for that occupational

group.

3*Highway” includes deaths to vehicle occupants resulting from traffic incl

dents that occur on the public roadway, shoulder, or surrounding area. It ex-

‘cludes incidents occurring entirely uch as in parking lots and on

farms; incidents involving trains; and deaths to pedestrians or other
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, andW = the number of employed workers. The
‘employment is an annual average of employed civilians 16 years of age and older,

plus resident armed forces, from the BLS Current Population Survey, 1995.
‘There were 26 fatally injured workers under the age of 16 that were not
included in the rate calculations to maintain consistency with the CPS em-
ployment.

‘NOTE: Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown
separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. There
were 64 fatalities for which there was insufficient information to determine an
‘occupation classification. Dashes indicate less than 0.5 percent or data that
are not available or that do not meet publication criteria.

‘SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, in co-
operation wit State and Federal agencies, Conaue of Fatal Oocupasionsl
injuries.

Compensation and Working Conditions September 1996 38



Table 5. Fatal occupational injuries by State and event or exposure, 1995

Total fatalities‘ Event or exposure® (percent of State total for 1995)
Exposure
Contact to
State ‘Assaults harmful | Fires
ofinjury 1994 Transpor-} and coos sub- | and
1995 | tation | violent Falis
(revised) _ volent | and stances | explo-
equip- or sions
ment environ
ments:
6210 4 20 15 10 1 | 3
150 4 2 7 10 5 | 3
78 86 - 5 - - | -
86 55 22 9 - 6| -
91 59 8 16 4 9] -
614 41 30 10 8 7/3
112 43 21 4 "1 9| -
32 at 25 19 - -|-
12 33 - 33 - =| -
16 - 6 - : -|-
376 39 2 10 16 12 | 2
237 46 20 " 13 a | 2
24 29 33 - - 7 | -
53 60 13 8 - a | -
249 3t 17 15 18 13/5
156 at 15 15 " 13/5
54 39 - 31 " aw}.
95 46 15 15 9 Ww} 4
140 59 6 16 4 to | 4
139 37 7 19 13 10 | 3
18 56 - 2 - -|-
86 29 36 18 9 7/6
& 34 7 7 23 6| -
149 38 20 20 9 n |] -
oy 39 12 25 "1 wo} -
128 48 2 13 7 7| 4
125 34 13 23 14 n | 3
34 44 - 18 12 wi} -
54 43 "1 24 7 -| -
51 4 24 16 12 -]-
12 33 - - - -|-
118 35 23 4 12 1 | 6
58 82 9 16 10 9 | -
158 40 16 7 "1 1 | 4
144 "1 63 6 12 6| -
187 46 7 16 n 9] -
28 54 - 2 : - | -
186 51 13 10 10 wz | 4
199 5 Co 8 2 7 | 4
73 53 7 2 "1 5 | -
233 40 16 14 13 9 | 8
10 : : : - -| -
103 a3 14 7 10 13] -
26 35 - a7 15 2 | -
179 a "1 ar 8 10 | 3
415 42 18 14 12 wo | 4
51 49 14 12 10 4] -
16 69 - 25 - ~[ e
132 45 15 12 4 1 | 3
109 4a 13 16 12 9} 6
56 43 7 2 - wi.
W7 43 15 21 5 nu} 3
32 e - 16 : wz] -

+ Includes other events and exposures such as bodily reaction, in addition
to those shown separ
* Basedon the 1992 BLS Occupational Injury and lliness Classification Struc-

tures.
* Includes highway, nonhighway, air, water, and rail fatalities.
* Includes violence by persons, self inflicted injury, and assaults by animais.

43 Compensation and Working Conditions September 1996

NOTE: Percentages may not add to 100 because of rounding and be-
cause of dashes which indicate less than 0.5 percent or data that are not
available or that do not meet publication criteria.

SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, in coop-
‘eration with State and Federal Agencies, Census of Fatal Occupational Inju-
fies.


last year’s fatality rate. Although
the rate for roofers remained the
same as the previous year, their total
number of fatal work injuries
increased slightly.

Industry highlights

The construction industry
accounted for 1 out of every 6 fatal
work injuries that occurred during
1995. (See table 3.) This industry,
along with government and finance,
insurance, and real estate were the
only ones that had increases in fatal
work injuries over their 1994 levels.
Retail trade had the largest decrease
in fatal work injuries; fatalities went
down 16 percent during 1995,
primarily as a result of the drop in
workplace homicides.

Industry divisions with large
numbers of fatalities relative to their
employment include agriculture,
forestry, and fishing; construction;
transportation and public utilities;
and mining.

Worker characteristics

Men accounted for about 91
percent of all fatal work injuries in
1995, but only 54 percent of the
employment total. (See table 4.)
The self-employed and workers 55
years old and over also had high
fatality rates relative to their
employment.

The events responsible for fatal
injuries varied among worker
groups, reflecting their occupations
and other characteristics. While
highway crashes were cited as the
most frequent fatal event for many of
the worker groups, homicides
accounted for the greatest portion of
worker deaths for the self-employed,
women, blacks, Asians and Pacific
Islanders, and Hispanics.

State highlights

In general, States that have the
largest number of persons employed
also reported the largest number of
work-felated fatalities. Three of the
largest States accounted for one-
fourth of the total fatality count:
California (614), Texas (475), and
Florida (376). (See table 5.) A
State’s industry mix also must be
considered when evaluating its
occupational fatality profile, espe-
cially when large numbers of
workers are employed in relatively
dangerous industries, such as
agriculture, mining, and construc-
tion.

Eight States reported changes in
fatalities of 20 or more that also
represented a difference of at least 20
percent compared with 1994’s totals.
Major disasters, such as the Okla-
homa City bombing or an airline
crash, can cause substantial year-to-
year fluctuations in occupational
fatality totals. (See table below.)

State 1994 1998
Indiana 195156
lowa 74 54
Louisiana 187139
Nebraska 3 54
Oklahoma 97 199
Pennsylvania 354 233
South Carolina 83-108
Virginia 4 182

Numeric Percent Contributing
change change factor

39 20 Airline crash in 1994
20 27 Fewer vehicular
incidents
48 26 Fewer transport-related
-29 35 Fewer multiple fatality
incidents
102 105 Federal building
bombing in 1995
121 Bal Airline crash in 1994
20 24 Increase in transport-
related incidents
32 -20 Fewer highway
fatalities

Technical Notes

Definitions

For a fatality to be included in the
census, the decedent must have been
employed (that is working for pay,
compensation, or profit) at the time
of the event, engaged in a legal work
activity, or present at the site of the
incident as a requirement of his or
her job. These criteria are generally
broader than those used by Federal
and State agencies administering
specific laws and regulations.
(Fatalities that occur during a
person’s commute to or from work
are excluded from the census
counts.)

Data presented in this release
include deaths occurring in 1995
that resulted from traumatic occupa-
tional injuries. An injury is defined
as any intentional or unintentional
wound or damage to the body
resulting from acute exposure to
energy, such as heat or electricity, or
kinetic energy from a crash; or from
the absence of such essentials as heat
or oxygen caused by a specific event,
incident, or series of events within a
single workday or shift. Included
are open wounds, intracranial and
internal injuries, heatstroke, hypoth-
ermia, asphyxiation, acute poisoning
resulting from a short-term exposure
limited to the worker’s shift, suicides
and homicides, and work injuries
listed as underlying or contributory
causes of death.

Information on work-related fatal
illnesses are not reported in the BLS
census and are excluded from the
attached tables because the latency
period of many occupational
illnesses and the difficulty of linking
illnesses to work makes identifica-
tion of a universe problematic,
Partial information on fatal occupa-
tional illnesses, compiled separately,
is available for 1991-1993 in BLS
Report 891.

Measurement techniques and
limitations

Data for the Census of Fatal
Occupational Injuries are compiled

Compensation and Working Conditions September 1996 40



farm occupations, such as farm
operator and manager, farm supervi-
sor, and farm worker, accounted for
almost 10 percent of the fatal work
injury total. Half of their deaths
occurred in vehicle-related incidents,
both on and off the highway.

Laborers also incurred large
numbers of fatal work injuries. Job-
related fatalities to construction
laborers rose by 25 percent over
1994 totals and resulted mainly from
vehicle-related incidents and falls.
Job-related fatalities to other laborers
also resulted primarily from various
vehicle-related incidents. Workplace
homicide was the main cause of
death among sales supervisors and
proprietors,

Fatality rates. Occupations with
large numbers of worker fatalities
are not always those at highest risk.
For example, truckdrivers had the
highest number of fatal work injuries
in 1995, but several other occupa-
tional groups experienced higher
tisks of fatal work injury. (See
charts 1 and 2.)

The number of workers killed in a
particular group, indicates the
magnitude of the problem for a given
employment group. Rates allow
comparison of fatality risk among
worker groups with varying levels of
exposure. (However, there is more
than one way to calculate fatality
rates that measure the incidence of
fatal work injuries for groups of
workers. An hours-based rate
measures the risk of fatality per
standardized length of exposure; an
employment-based rate measures the
tisk for those employed during a
given period of time. The rates in
chart 2 are employment based.)

Five of the 10 occupations with
the highest fatality totals were also
among the occupations with the
highest rate of fatal work injury:
Airplane pilots, taxicab drivers,
construction laborers, truckdrivers,
and farm occupations. Of the 10
occupations with the highest fatality
rates in 1995, only 1, construction
laborers, showed an increase over

Chart 1. Occupations with large numbers of worker
fatalities and the leading event, 1995

& 100 200 300 ag S00 en 700 a0

NOTE: Leading fatal event for each occupation is shown in parenthases.

Chart 2. The rate of fatal Injuries per 100,000
workers In “high-risk” occupations, 1995

Airplane pilots
{o=ttt)

Structural metal workers
(n=28)

o 2m 0 6 8 100 12

NOTE: The employment-based rates shown were calculated as follows:
(NW) « 100,000, where
N = the number of fatally injured workers in a particular group (for example, roofers) and,
W = the annual average number of workers employed in thal group.
Employment data are irom the 1995 Current Population Survey.

39 Compensation and Working Conditions September 1996



‘Table 4. Fatal occupational injuries and employment by selected worker characteristics, 1995

Fatalities Employment: (ia
Characteristic thousands)’ Most frequent event® Rate?
(percent of total)

‘Number Percent | Number | Percent

6210 100 126,248 100 Highway (21 percent) 5
Employee status:
Wage and salary workers 5,024 Bt 115,610 92 Highway (24) 4
1,186 19 10,638 8 — [Homicide (17VNonhighway(16)| 14
5,676 91 68,556 Lad Highway (19) 8
534 9 57,692 4 ‘Homicide (46) 1
2 : - - Highway (19) .
40 1 2,574 2 “ (18) 2
128 2 3,934 3 “ (26) 3
484 8 12,868 10 * (25) 4
1,395 22 32,880 26 * (21) 4
4,555 25 34,474 27 = (20) 5
1,242 20 24,213 19 “ (22) 5
811 13 14,436 9 « (23) 7
514 8 3,666 3 — | Nonhighway(18\Highway(17) | 14
. 5,061 82 107,533 85 Highway (22) 5
Black .. 689 "1 13,537 "1 Homicide (30) 5
Asian or Pacific Islander .. 161 3 : . Homicide (56) :
American Indian, Aleut, Eskimo .. a7 : - - Highway (22) .
Other or unspecified..... 272 4 - - * (26) -
Hispanic origin

Hispanic’. soon 610 10 11,208 9 Homicide (21) 5

"The employment is an annual average of employed civilians 16 years of
‘age and older, plus resident armed forces, from the BLS Current Population Sur-
vey, 1995.

* “Highway” includes deaths to vehicle occupants resulting from tratfic inci
dents that occur on the public roadway, shoulder, or surrounding area. It ex-
cludes incidents occurring entiraly off the roadway, such as in parking lots and
on farms. "Nonhighway” includes transport-related deaths of vehicle occupants,
that occur or originate entirely off the roadway. Incidents involving trains and
deaths to padestiane or other nonpassengers are excluded from both catogo-

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. The
‘employment is an annual average of employed civilians 16 years of age and
older, plus resident armed forces, from the BLS Current Population Survey, 1995.

‘There were 26 fatally injured workers under the age of 16 that were not
included in the rate calculations to maintain consistency with the CPS em-

ployment.
jeincludes Paid and unpaid family workers, and may Include owners of
businesses, or members of partnerships.

* There wore 15 fatalties for which age was not available,

* Persons identified as Hispanic may be of any race. Hispanic employ-
‘ment does not include resident armed forces.

NOTE: Totals may include subcategories not shown separately Per-
centages may not add to totals because of rounding. Dashes indicate less
than 0.5 percent or data that are not available or data that do not meet

criteria.

SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, in
‘cooperation with state anc federal agencies, Census of Fatal Occupational

Compensation and Working Conditions September 1996 42



National Census of
Fatal Occupational
Inj uries, 1995 sy cuv roscANO AND JANICE WINDAU

atal work injuries fell 6 percent in 1995 to 6,210, according to the Bureau’s Cen-

sus of Fatal Occupational Injuries. Much of the decrease resulted from a 35-

percent drop in the number of workers killed in aircraft crashes and a 19-percent
drop in the number of workers killed in firearm-related homicides. Most other types of
job-related fatalities also declined in 1995. Although truckdrivers continued to have the
highest number of fatal work injuries of any occupation, fishers and timber cutters had
the highest risk of fatal injury on the job.

This article, which is based on
BLS fatality census data, describes
the major types of events which
resulted in worker fatalities and
profiles the most dangerous jobs in
1995. The BLS census, which began
collecting data nationally in 1992,
uses diverse data sources to identify,
verify, and profile fatal work
injuries. Key information about
each workplace fatality, such as
occupation and other worker
characteristics and the circumstances
of the event, is obtained by cross-
referencing source documents,
including death certificates, workers’
compensation records, and reports to
Federal and State agencies. This
method assures counts are as
complete and accurate as possible.

Major fatal events

Highway traffic incidents and
homicides led all other events that
Tesulted in fatal work injuries in

Guy Toscano is an economist and Janice
Windau is an epidemiologist in the Office of Safety,
Health and Working Conditions, Bureau of La-
bor Statistics. Telephone (202) 606-6175.

1995. These two events accounted
for over a third of the work injury
deaths that occurred during the year.
Both categories experienced a slight
reduction in fatalities from the
previous year. (See table 1.)

Highway fatalities. Highway traffic
incidents accounted for 21 percent of
the 6,210 fatal work injuries in

1995. Slightly over half of highway
fatality victims were driving or
Tiding in a truck. The following
tabulation summarizes the major
types of vehicles in which the worker
was riding at the time of the fatal
incident."

About half the highway fatalities
resulted from collisions between two
or more vehicles. One-fifth of the
fatalities resulted from a crash with
an object other than a vehicle, such
as a tree, bridge abutment, or utility
pole; another fifth occurred when the
vehicle jackknifed or overturned.
Patterns varied somewhat according
to the type of vehicle involved.
Collisions with other vehicles,
crashes with objects on the side of
the road, and jackknifings and
overturnings contributed about
equally (roughly 30 percent each) to
the deaths of those riding in tractor
trailers. For workers killed while

Total job-related highway fatalities ..

i
ai

8
wwoSssage

Compensation and Working Conditions September 1996 34



The CPS employment data used
to calculate rates are estimates that
are 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 em-
ployed persons. See “Explanatory
Notes and Estimates of Error” in the
January 1996 Employment and
Earnings for an explanation of CPS
sampling and estimation methodol-
ogy, and standard error computa-
tions. The relative standard errors of
the CPS employment estimates can
be used to approximate confidence
ranges for the fatality rates.

FederaV/State agency coverage.
The Census of Fatal Occupational
Injuries includes data for all fatal
work injuries, whether they are
covered by the Occupational Safety
and Health Administration (OSHA)
or other Federal or State agencies or
are outside the scope of regulatory
coverage. Thus, any comparison
between the BLS census counts and
those released by other agencies
should take into account the
different coverage requirements and
definitions being used.

Several Federal and State
agencies have jurisdiction over
workplace safety and health. OSHA
and affiliated agencies in States with

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: BLS would
like to thank the participating States for their
efforts in collecting accurate, comprehensive,
and useful data on fatal work injuries. BLS
also appreciates the efforts of all Federal, State,
local, and private sector agencies that submit-
ted source documents used to identify fatal
work injuries. Among these agencies are the
Occupational Safety and Health Administra-

approved safety programs cover the
largest portion of America’s workers.
However, injuries and illnesses
occurring in several other indus-
tries, such as coal, metal, and
nonmetal mining, and water, rail,
and air transportation, are ex-
cluded from OSHA coverage
because they are covered by other
Federal Agencies, such as the
Mine Safety and Health Adminis-
tration, the U.S. Coast Guard, the
Federal Railroad Administration,
and the Federal Aviation Adminis-
tration. Fatalities occurring in
activities regulated by Federal
Agencies other than OSHA
accounted for about 20 percent of
the fatal work injuries for 1995.

Fatalities occurring among
several other groups of workers are
generally not covered by any Federal
or State agencies. These groups
include self-employed and unpaid
family workers, which accounted for
about 19 percent of the fatalities;
laborers on small farms, accounting
for about 2 percent of the fatalities;
and State and local government
employees in States without OSHA-
approved safety programs, which
account for about 4 percent. (Ap-
proximately one-half of the States
have approved OSHA safety pro-
grams, which cover State and local
government employees.)

The Census of Fatal Occupational
Injuries, part of the BLS safety and
health statistics program, provides

—Endnotes—

tion; the National Transportation Safety
Board; the U.S. Coast Guard; the Mine Safety
and Health Administration; the Department of
Defense; the Employment Standards Admin-
istration, Federal Employees’ Compensation
and Longshore and Harbor Workers’ divisions;
the Department of Energy; the National Asso-
ciation of Chiefs of Police; State vital statis-
tics registrars, coroners, and medical examin-

45 Compensation and Working Conditions September 1996

the most complete count of fatal
work injuries available because its
use of diverse State and Federal data
sources. This is the fourth year that
the fatality census has been con-
ducted in all 50 states and the
District of Columbia. The BLS
fatality census is a Federal/State
cooperative venture in which costs
are shared equally. Additional State-
specific data are available from the
State agencies participating with
BLS in the census program. For a
list of participating agencies and
their telephone numbers, contact the
Office of Safety, Health and Working
Conditions at (202) 606-6175.

Since 1972, this office also has
collected data on nonfatal injuries
and illnesses through its Survey of
Occupational Injuries and Ill-
nesses. This survey profiles
worker and case characteristics of
nonfatal workplace injuries and
illnesses resulting in lost worktime
in addition to presenting frequency
counts and incidence rates by
industry. Copies of the 1994 news
release are available from BLS by
calling 202-606-6304. Incidence
rates for 1995 by industry will be
published in December 1996.
Information on 1995 worker and
case characteristics will be published
in April 1997. For additional
occupational safety and health data,
access the BLS World Wide Web
Internet site: http://www.bls.gov/
oshhome.htm

ers; State departments of health, labor, and in-
dustries, and workers’ compensation agencies;
State and local police departments; and State
farm bureaus.

» A full summary of job-related highway fa-
talities is presented on pp. $7-61 of this issue.

? For more information on how falls are
classified, see Occupational Injury and Iiness
Classification Manual, 1992.



from various Federal, State, and
local administrative sources—
including death certificates, workers’
compensation reports and claims,
reports to various regulatory agen-
cies, medical examiner reports, and
police reports—as well as news
reports. Multiple sources are used
because studies have shown that no
single source captures all job-related
fatalities. Source documents are
matched so that each fatality is
counted only once. To ensure that a
fatality occurred while the decedent
was at work, information is verified
from two or more independent
source documents, or from a source
document and a follow-up question-
naire. Approximately 30 data
elements are collected, coded, and
tabulated, including information
about the worker, the fatal incident,
and the machinery or equipment
involved.

Identification and verification of
work-related fatalities. Because
some State laws and regulations
prohibit enumerators from contact-
ing the next-of-kin, it was not
possible to independently verify
work relationship (whether a fatality
is job related) for 306 fatal work
injuries in 1995; however, the
information on the initiating source
document for these cases was
sufficient to determine that the
incident was likely to be job-related.
Data for these fatalities, which
primarily affected self-employed
workers, are included in the Census
of Fatal Occupational Injuries
counts. An additional 67 fatalities
submitted by States were not
included because the initiating
source document had insufficient
information to determine work
relationship, which could not be
verified by either an independent
source document or a follow-up
questionnaire.

States may identify additional
fatal work injuries after data
collection close-out for a reference
year. In addition, other fatalities
excluded from the published count

because of insufficient information
to determine work relationship may
be subsequently verified as work
related. States have up to 1 year to
update their initial published counts.
This procedure ensures that fatality
data are disseminated as quickly as
possible and that no legitimate case
is excluded from the counts.

Experimental fatality rates. Both
absolute numbers (or frequencies)
and rates are useful when examining
fatal work injuries for research or
prevention efforts. Frequency
indicates “how many” fatal work
injuries occurred; rate indicates the
relative danger.

The relative danger of an occupa-
tion or industry group can be shown
by combining frequency data with
either employment or hours data to
calculate a rate. An hours-based rate
indicates the relative danger using
time of exposure. An employment-
based rate indicates the relative
danger using the number of em-
ployed workers.

Employment-based fatality rates
measure the incidence of fatal injury
for all workers in the group regard-
less of exposure time. However, it
does not take into consideration that
part-time workers may have fewer
fatal work injuries because they
spend less time in the work environ-
ment. An hours-based fatality rate
accounts for different time of
exposure levels among workers.
Hours-based measurements are
especially useful for industry and
occupation comparisons, when the
number of workers can vary greatly
among industry or occupation
groups for a given period.

Work fatality counts from the
Bureau’s Census of Fatal Occupa-
tional Injuries (CFOI) can be
combined with employment or hours
at work data to produce a fatal work
injury rate. Since hours at work and
employment data are not collected by
CFOI, experimental fatality rates
were calculated using estimates of
employed civilian workers (aged 16
and older) from the Current Popula-

tion Survey (CPS). In addition,
resident military figures, derived
from resident and civilian population
data from the Bureau of the Census,
were added to the CPS employment
figures to maintain consistency with
the CFOI fatality data.

The fatality rates in tables 2-4
relate the total number of workplace
deaths in 1995 to the annual average
number of workers facing that risk.
These measurements are develop-
mental and do not reflect the
movement of persons into and out of
the labor force, the length of their
work week or work year, or the effect
of multiple jobholders.

The fatality rates presented in the
tables were calculated as follows:

(N/W) x 100,000,
where:

N= the number of fatally injured
workers
W = the number of employed workers

The ratio N/W is multiplied by
100,000; the rate is expressed as a
whole number and represents the
number of fatal work injuries per
100,000 workers.

There were 6,210 total work fatalities
in 1995 and there were 126,248,000
employed workers (124,900,000
employed civilian workers age 16
and older, and 1,348,000 resident
military personnel).

As “N” must be adjusted to
maintain consistency with “W,” the
26 fatally injured workers under age
16 are not included in the rate
calculation. (Adjustments of “N”
are not reflected in the “Number”
and “Percent” columns of the tables,
which include all fatalities regard-
less of age.)

N = 6,210 - 26 = 6,184
W = 126,248,000
Therefore,
(6,184 / 126,248,000) x 100,000 = 5,
or

5 fatalities per 100,000 workers.

Compensation and Working Conditions September 1996 44



‘Table 3. Fatal occupational injuries and employment by Industry, 1995

Fatalities
sic 1994 (teotance)
Industry
code' | (revised) 1095 Rate?
‘Number | Number | Percent | Number | Percent
Total ... 6,632 | 6.210 100 126,248| 100 5
Private industry ..... 5,959 | 5,438 88 106,522 84 5
Agriculture, forestry and fishing . a52 | 793 13 3515; 3 2
Agricultural production - 01 443 362 6 1,042 1 u
pe a2 72 161 3 1,301 1 12
Agricultural services 07 163 155 3 1,082 1 14
Mining... 180 156 3 1 2
Coal mining. 12 a 43 1 114 . 3
Oil and gas extraction 13 99 7 1 36 - 23
Construction .... 1,028 | 1,048 7 7.153 6 16
General building contractors 15 190 175 3 . - -
Heavy construction, except building 16 246 245 4 - - .
Special trades contractors ... 7 592 613 10 - - -
Manufacturing 789 702 al 20,389 16 3
Food and Kanred products .. 20 79 74 1 1,700 1 4
Lumber and wood products. 24 199 182 3 815 1 2
Transportation and pubilc utilities ............. 949 880 14 7,138 6 12
Local and interurban passenger transportal 4“ 114) 116 2 523 - 2
42 505 462 7 2,323 2 20
a 99 75 1 792 1 9
49 89 1 1 1,094 1 8
271 254 4 4,973 4 5
608 675 ab} 20,999 7 3
54 237 188 3 3,428 3 5
Automotive dealers and service stations: 55 123 122 2 2,087 2 6
Eating and drinking places .... 58 tea. | 164 3 6266] 5 3
Finance, insurance, and real estate ... 113 124 2 7,761 6 2
853 737 12 33,970 a 2
73 255 211 3 5,282 4 4
75 C2) 114 2 1,454 1 8
673 772 12 19,726 16 4
211 299 5 4,790 4 6
114 124 2 5,185 4 2
38 KJ 5 9,751 8 3
9221 N7 110 2 - - -

1 Standard industrial Classification Manual, 1987 Edition.

*The employment is an annual average of employed civilians 16 years of
‘age and older, plus resident armed forces, from the BLS Current Population
Survey, 1995.

"The rate represents the number of fatal occupational injuries per 100,000

‘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.
The employment is an annual average of employed civilians 16 years of age and
older, plus resident armed forces, from the BLS Current tion Survey, 1995.
‘There were 26 fatally injured workers under the age of 16 that were not included
in the rate calculations to maintain consistency with the CPS employment.

41 Compensation and Working Conditions September 1996

“Includes fatalities to workers employed by governmental organizations
of industry.

NOTE: Totals for major categories may include
‘separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. There
wore 69 fatalities for which there was insufficient information to determine @
specific industry classification, though a distinction between private sector
and government was made for each. Dashes indicate less than 0.5 percent
oF data that are not available or that do not meet publication criteria.

‘SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, in coop-
eration with State and Federal agencies, Cenaus of Fatal Occupational Inju-
tes.



‘Number Percent
643 100
573 88
142 22
97 15
62 13
33 5
3 5
2 5
Down stairs or steps 16 2
Fall on same level ..... 50 8
To floor, walkway, or other surface K) 5
‘Onto or against objects 12 2
‘or unspecified ...... 20 3
1995 and accounted for about one- charging from a gun or a metal
seventh of the total. Falls from fragment dislodging from a lathe.
scaffolding or staging resulted in Another eighth of the fatalities
another seventh of the fatal falls to occurred when the worker was struck

workers; and falls from building
girders or other structural steel, falls
from nonmoving vehicles, and falls
to walkways on the same level each
accounted for about 5 percent of the
total.

Workers struck by objects. Nine
percent of fatally injured workers
were struck by objects, such as
falling trees, machinery that had
slipped into gear, and building
materials. Fatalities from these
types of incidents were at their
lowest level since the fatality census
began in 1992. Excluded from this
category are transportation incidents
that occur under normal operation of
the vehicle, such as a worker struck
by a vehicle backing up on a
construction site. The category does,
however, include instances where a
vehicle coasts, rolls, slips into gear,
or falls off a jack.

Over three-fifths of the “struck
by” fatalities resulted from the
worker being struck by a falling
object, such as a tree being cut down,
a cinder block falling from a
construction scaffold, or a vehicle
falling off a jack during repair.
Another eighth of the fatalities
resulted from flying objects, such as
when an object becomes dislodged or
is discharged from a machine.
Examples of these types of incidents
include a bullet accidentally dis-

by a rolling object on the floor or
ground level, such as when a tractor
that is being jumpstarted slips into
gear.

Trees and tree branches ac-
counted for one-fourth of the objects
which fatally struck workers, more
than any other single source.
Machines and vehicles together
accounted for about one-third of the
objects, and building materials, such
as lumber, bricks, and pipes,
accounted for about one-eighth.

Almost a third of the fatalities
occurred to workers in a manufactur-
ing industry, half of which were in
logging. Agriculture, forestry, and
fishing and construction each
accounted for almost one-fifth of the
“struck by” fatalities.

Electrocutions. Contact with
electric current accounted for 6
percent of the worker deaths in
1995. While most other major fatal
event categories declined in number
from the 1994 total, job-related

electrocutions remained virtually at
the same level as last year. Two-
fifths of these fatalities resulted from
the worker or the equipment being
used coming in contact with over-
head power lines. The table below
summarizes the type of electric
current involved in the job-related
electrocutions.

The construction industry
accounted for half the fatal contacts
with electric current. Construction
workers came into contact with
electric current while on bucket
trucks, cranes, bulldozers, and
ladders. Several were electrocuted
while in crawl spaces under houses
or in ceilings or while drilling
through paneling.

The services and agriculture,
forestry, and fishing industries each
accounted for about one-tenth of the
job-related electrocutions. Service
workers were typically electrocuted
while installing or repairing ma-
chines, appliances, or other equip-
ment such as neon signs and
billboards. Workers in agriculture,
forestry, and fishing were electro-
cuted when equipment they were
moving, such as irrigation pipes or
grain augers, came into contact with
a power line. Several farmers were
struck by lightning.

Dangerous jobs

Fatality counts. Truckdrivers
continued to have the highest
number of job-related injury fatali-
ties of any single occupation. (See
table 2.) They accounted for 1 out of
every 8 workers killed on the job.
About two-thirds of these fatalities
resulted from highway crashes and
jackknifings. Workers in various

Wiring, transtormers, or other

Lightning...
Underground, buried power lines
Other or unspecified ...

Number Percent
wT 100
139 40

94 27
55 16
17 5
5 1
Ke W

37 Compensation and Working Conditions September 1996



riding in other types of highway
vehicles, collisions between vehicles
accounted for slightly over half of
the fatalities.

About two-fifths of the workers
killed were truckdrivers, with the
rest scattered throughout other
occupational groups, such as sales
workers, farm occupations, police
officers, and executives and manag-
ers. A similar pattern is evident in
the industry of the worker’s em-
ployer. One-fourth of the workers
fatally injured in highway incidents
worked in the trucking and courier
service industry. The remaining
fatalities were widely dispersed
among other industries.

Homicide. Job-related homicides
accounted for 1 of every 6 of the
fatal work injuries that occurred in
1995 and was the second leading
cause of job-related deaths. The
drop in firearm-related workplace
homicides resulted in an overall
decline in job-related homicide from
the 1994 total, despite the bombing
of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal
Building in Oklahoma City, which
accounted for 12 percent of the
homicide total in 1995.

While three times as many male
workers were murdered as female
workers, homicide was the leading
cause of job-related fatality for
women, accounting for nearly half of
women's work injuries. And,
homicides of female workers went
up by about one-third from 1994,
while homicides of male workers
went down by about one-eighth.
Because of their occupations,
homicide was also the leading cause

employed and for blacks, Asian and
Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics.

The table below shows the
circumstances surrounding the 1,024
job-related homicides that occurred
in 1995.

Most of the workplace homicides
resulted from robberies or robbery-
attempts. Typically these robberies
involved store personnel, gas station
attendants, or taxicab drivers being
shot for cash receipts. But several
workers were killed during
carjackings, muggings, and robber-
ies of goods or services, such as
robberies of beer trucks. One-
seventh of the job-related homicide
victims were police officers and
security guards killed in the line of
duty; one-eighth were victims of the
bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah
Federal Building in Oklahoma City
(including some police officers).
One-tenth of workplace homicide
victims were killed by a current or
former work associate, almost double
the number from the previous year.
And several workers, primarily
women, were killed as a result of
domestic disputes that filtered into
the workplace.

Half the victims of workplace
homicide worked in either a sales
occupation (such as sales clerk, retail
store owner, or cashier) or a service-
related occupation (such as police
officer, security guard, or food
preparer). Taxicab drivers and
various management-related
occupations also reported high
numbers of job-related homicides.
Although job-related homicides in
retail trade dropped by 21 percent
from the previous year, they still

of job-related death for the self- accounted for 41 percent of all
Number Percent
Total job-related homicides. 1,024 100
Robberies and other crimes 727 ”
Work associates ... 113 a
Coworker, former coworker 88 9
Customer, client ...... 25 2
Police killed in the line of 81 8
Security guard killed in the line of duty .. 59 6
Personal acquaintance of the victim .. “4 4
Husband, boyfriend (current or former) 25 2
Wile, girlfriend (current or former) 4 -
Other relative or acquaintance 15 1

workplace homicides in 1995.
Homicides in convenience and other
grocery stores, eating and drinking
places, and gasoline service stations
predominated among retail estab-
lishments. Government workers
accounted for one-fifth of the
homicide victims, twice as many as
the previous year because of the
Oklahoma City bombing.

Falls. Falls accounted for 10 percent
of the fatal work injuries in 1995.
The demographics of those sustain-
ing fatal falls mirrored those of all
workers fatally injured during the
year. They were overwhelmingly
white, male, wage and salary
workers, and most were in their
prime working ages (25 to 54 years
old). One-fourth of the fatal fall
victims, however, were 55 years and
older—double that age group’s share
of the work force.

Not surprisingly, falls accounted
for about one-third of the fatal
injuries to construction workers,
given that working at elevations is
common for several of the construc-
tion trades, such as roofers and
structural metal workers. The
construction industry as a whole
accounted for half of the fatal falls,
compared with a sixth of all fatal
work injuries and about a twentieth
of the total work force. Agriculture,
forestry, and fishing, manufacturing,
and services each accounted for
about one-tenth of the fatal falls to
workers.

The table on the following page
summarizes the types of falls
resulting in fatal work injuries in
1995.

While fatal job-related falls were
down from 1994, falls from or
through roofs rose slightly during
1995, accounting for about one-fifth
of the fatal falls to workers. Work-
ing on roofs poses a variety of fall
hazards. Workers can fall through
an existing roof opening, through
the roof surface itself, through a
skylight, or off the roof edge.”

Fatal injuries due to falls from
ladders also rose slightly during

Compensation and Working Conditions September 1996 36



Table 1. Fatal occupational Injuries by event or exposure, 1992-1995

Fatalities
Event or exposure! 1992 1983 19047 1996
Number Number Number Number Percent
Total .. 6.217 6,331 6,632 6.210 100
‘Transportation Incidents 2,484 2,501 2,762 2,560 a
Highway... 4,158 1,243 1,343 1,329 2t
Coltision between vehicles, mobile equipment 578 657 654 634 10
Moving in same direction .. ees 78 99 120 125 2
Moving in opposite directions, oncoming 201 244 230 244 4
Moving in intersection 107 123 144 97 2
192 190 255 268 4
Noncollision 301 336 373 350 6
Jack-knifed or overturned—no 213 237 274 260 4
Nonhighway (farm, industrial premises) 436 392 408 388 6
208 212 226 210 3
363 282 426 278 4
Worker struck by a vehicle .. 36 5 391 385 6
Water vehicle 109 120 94 a4 1
Railway...... 66 86 at 82 1
Assaults and violent acts 1,281 1,329 1,321 1,262 20
Homicides 1,044 1,074 1,080 1,024 16
Shooting 852 884 934 754 12
Stabbing 90 5 60 67 1
Other, inc 102 5 86 203 3
Setf-inflicted injury ... 205 222 214 215 3
Contact with objects and equipment 1,004 1,045 1,017 915 15
Struck by object... 557 566 590 546 9
Struck by falling object 361 346 372 340 5
‘Struck by flying object 7 82 68 1
Caught in or compressed by equipment or objects .. 316 309 280 255 4
Caught in running equipment or machinery 159 151 147 131 2
Caught in or crushed in collapsing materials 110 138 132 9 2
Falls .. 600 618 665 643, 10
Fall to lower level 507 533 5380 573 9
Fall from ladder 78 76 86 97 2
Fall from roof 108 120 129 142 2
Fall from scaffold 66 71 89 82 1
Fall on same level €2 49 63 50 1
Exposure to harmful substances or environments 605 592 641 598 10
Contact with electric current .. 34 925 348 “7 6
Contact with overhead powerlines 140 115 132 139 2
Contact with temperature extremes .. K<) 38 50 55 1
Exposure to caustic, noxious, or allergenic substances 127 15 133 101 2
Inhalation of substances 83 68 84 J 1
Oxygen deficiency 111 nt 109 94 2
Drowning, subi 738 89 89 74 1
Fires and explosions .... 167 204 202 208 3
Other events or exposures 76 43 24 24 -
* Based on the 1982 BLS Occupational Injury and lines Classification Struc- jlactues the catopory “Body reaction and exorton:
. NOTE: Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown
The BLS news release issued August 3,1995, reported a total of 6,588 fatal ‘NOt add to totals because of

work injuries for calendar year 1994. Since then, an additional 44 job-related
fatalities were identified, bringing the total job-related fatality count for 1984 to
6,632.

35 Compensation and Working Conditions September 1996

tely. Percentages:
indicate les than 08 percon or dala tal we nt avalabe ©
wublication criteria.

eS BURGE Bureau of Labor Statistics,
eration with Stale and Federal agencies,

U.S. Department of Labor, in coop-
‘Gonaue of Fatal Occupational it

|. Dashes.
do not

Inj