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Thursday, August 21, 2008
2007 Has Lowest Annual Workplace Fatality Rate Ever Reported
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported yesterday that a total of 5,488 fatal work injuries were recorded in the United States in 2007, a decrease of 6 percent from the 5,840 fatal work injuries reported for 2006. While these results are considered preliminary, this figure represents the smallest annual preliminary total since the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program was first conducted in 1992. Final results for 2007 will be released in April 2009.
Thirty States reported lower numbers of fatal work injuries in 2007 than in 2006, 19 States and the District of Columbia reported higher numbers, and one State was unchanged.
Based on these preliminary counts, the rate of fatal injury for U.S. workers in 2007 was 3.7 fatal work injuries per 100,000 workers, down from the final rate of 4.0 per 100,000 workers in 2006, and the lowest annual fatality rate ever reported by the fatality census.
The four occupations with the highest fatality rates were:
Key findings of the 2007 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries:
Thirty States reported lower numbers of fatal work injuries in 2007 than in 2006, 19 States and the District of Columbia reported higher numbers, and one State was unchanged.
Based on these preliminary counts, the rate of fatal injury for U.S. workers in 2007 was 3.7 fatal work injuries per 100,000 workers, down from the final rate of 4.0 per 100,000 workers in 2006, and the lowest annual fatality rate ever reported by the fatality census.
The four occupations with the highest fatality rates were:
- Fishers and related fishing workers with a fatality rate of 111.8 per 100,000 workers
- Logging workers (86.4)
- Aircraft pilots and flight engineers (66.7)
- Structural iron and steel workers (45.5)
Key findings of the 2007 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries:
- The number of fatal falls in 2007 rose to a series high of 835--a 39 percent increase since 1992 when the CFOI program was first conducted.
- Transportation incidents, which typically account for two-fifths of all workplace fatalities, fell to a series low of 2,234 cases in 2007.
- Workplace homicides rose 13 percent to 610 in 2007 after reaching a series low of 540 in 2006.
- The number of fatal workplace injuries among protective service occupations rose 19 percent in 2007 to 337, led by an increase in the number of police officers fatally injured on the job.
- Fatal occupational injuries incurred by non-Hispanic Black or African American workers were at the highest level since 1999, but fatal work injuries among Hispanic workers were lower by 8 percent in 2007.
Labels: employment, workplace fatalities
posted by Steve Hudgik |
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