Friday, August 30, 2013

Death On the Job

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is out with analysis of 2011 data  for deaths on the job. ( Yes 2011, this is government work, afterall)

There were a total of 4,693 fatal work injuries in 2011. Fatally injured workers were employed in over 240 distinct occupations and over 300 unique industries in 2011. Both private sector (4,188 fatal work injuries) and public sector employees (505 fatal work injuries) face daily hazards while on the job.


In 2011, men had a rate eight times the fatal injury rate compared with women and accounted for 92 percent of all deaths at work. The self-employed were over three times more likely than workers in general to be fatally injured while working. A large portion of the self-employed workers killed annually are from high fatal injury rate occupations like farmers, construction workers, motor vehicle operators, and landscapers.

In 2011, the fatal injury rates of fishers (127.3) and loggers (104.0) were approximately 25 times higher than the national fatal occupational injury rate of 3.5 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers. Pilots, farmers, roofers, and drivers/sales workers and truck drivers also had fatal injury rates that exceeded the all-worker rate of 3.5 fatal occupational injuries per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers.

Conversely, healthcare, sales, and education workers consistently have published fatal injury rates below the national average.

The leading event that precipitated fatal work injuries in the United States in 2011 was roadway incidents (1,103 deaths). Falls to a lower level (553) ranked second and struck by object or equipment (476) ranked third as events leading to fatal injuries on the job. Homicide ranked fourth with 468 workers killed on the job.

Robbers were the assailants in 34 percent of the workplace homicides, the largest group of assailants. Co-workers or work associates of the deceased worker accounted for 10 percent of the assailants in homicides. Customers or clients were the assailants in 10 percent of the homicides, followed by relatives of the decedent at 8 percent.8

Although homicides accounted for 9 percent of fatal occupational injuries to men, they accounted for 20 percent to women. Relatives or domestic partners were the assailants in 38 percent of the homicides to women, compared with 2 percent of the workplace homicides involving men.

2 comments:

  1. Now, if we could just get the numbers up in Congress, the Senate and government agencies (you know who you are) and reduce them in the military...

    ReplyDelete
  2. That map is pointless if it is just # of fatalities rather than rates.

    ReplyDelete