The Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, has issued a preliminary count of fatal work injuries in the U.S. 2009. The data shows a total of 4,340 fatal work injuries, down from a revised total of 5,214 in 2008, continuing a downward trend that began in 2007. Overall, fatal work injuries are down 26 percent since 2006. The 2009 total represents the smallest annual preliminary total since the bureau's Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program was first conducted in 1992.
Based on this preliminary count, the rate of fatal work injury for U.S. workers in 2009 was 3.3 per 100,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers, down from a final rate of 3.7 in 2008. However, counts and rates are likely to increase with the release of final 2009 CFOI results in April 2011. Over the last two years, increases in the published counts based on information received after the publication of preliminary results have averaged 156 fatalities per year or about three percent of the revised totals.
Economic factors played a major role in the fatal work injury decrease in 2009. Total hours worked fell by six percent in 2009 following a one percent decline in 2008, and some industries that have historically accounted for a significant share of fatal work injuries — such as construction — experienced even larger declines in employment or hours worked. In addition, some source documents used by CFOI state partners to identify and verify fatal work injuries were delayed, due at least in part to fiscal constraints at some of the governmental agencies that regularly provide source documentation for the program.
Key preliminary findings Ffrom the 2009 report include:
o Workplace homicides declined one percent in 2009, in contrast to an overall decline of 17 percent for all fatal work injuries. The homicide total for 2009 includes the 13 victims of the November shooting at Fort Hood, Texas. Workplace suicides were down 10 percent in 2009 from the series high of 263 in 2008.
o Though wage and salary workers and self-employed workers experienced similar declines in total hours worked in 2009, fatal work injuries among wage and salary workers in 2009 declined by 20 percent, while fatal injuries among self-employed workers were down three percent.
o The wholesale trade industry was one of the few major private industry sectors reporting higher numbers of fatal work injuries in 2009.
o Fatal work injuries in the private construction sector declined by 16 percent in 2009 following a decline of 19 percent in 2008.
o Fatalities among non-Hispanic black or African-American workers were down 24 percent. This worker group also experienced a slightly larger decline in total hours worked than non-Hispanic white or Hispanic workers.
o The number of fatal workplace injuries in building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations rose six percent, one of the few major occupation groups to record an increase in fatal work injuries in 2009.
o Transportation incidents, which accounted for nearly two-fifths of all the fatal work injuries in 2009, fell 21 percent from the 2,130 fatal work injuries reported in 2008.
Beginning with this 2009 data, the CFOI program began classifying industry using the 2007 version of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS 2007). Industry data from 2003 to 2008 were classified using the NAICS 2002. NAICS 2007 includes revisions across several sectors. The most significant revisions are in the information sector, particularly within telecommunications.
For more information, go to http://www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm. For technical information about and definitions for the CFOI program, go to the BLS Handbook of Methods on the BLS web site http://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/homch9_a1.htm.
This article uses material from the Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics media releases.
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