Workplace Issues - Dying At Work

In the year 2000 an average of 16 people a day were killed while working in the United States. As startling as this figure may seem, it represents an improvement over prior years. The graph presents total occupational fatalities as well as the totals for the three categories that account together for three-fourths of these deaths.

Occupational Fatalities in 2000

Fatalities resulting from on-the-job injuries are classified into seven categories. In 2000, a total of 5,915 people died as a result of injuries suffered on the job. The pie chart to the left shows a percentage breakdown of these fatalities by category.

The category with the most fatalities is Transportation. This has been the case for many years. The category includes all deaths resulting from vehicular accidents both on and off the highway, involving also water vehicles, railroad cars, and aircraft. The occupations most at risk for these sorts of deaths are transportation workers (truck drivers in particular), agricultural workers, those working in the services sector, and construction workers.

Overall, industrial workers most at risk are laboring in construction; they suffer 19.5% of all occupational fatalities. Not surprisingly, far more men than women are killed on the job — far more men than women are employed in the most dangerous occupations.

The distribution of fatal injuries by occupational category and by type of accident has not changed much over the last decade. But the total number of fatalities has dropped from 1.7 per million workers in 1993 to 1.4 per million workers in 2000. One category that has seen slightly more decline than the others is that of Assaults and Violent Acts. These acts include homicides (most of which are associated with robberies), suicides, and assaults by animals¹. In 1993, assaults and acts of violence accounted for 21% of occupational fatalities (1,311). In 2000, they accounted for 16% of on-the-job fatalities (929).

On-the-job fatalities are declining both in real terms and on a per-worker basis.² Is the same true for non-fatal injuries suffered on the job? We will try to answer the question in the next panel.

Source: National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2000, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, available online at http://stats.bls.gov/oshhome.htm.