Workplace Issues - The Workplace Is More Dangerous For Men

Men are injured and killed on the job at far higher rates than women. This graph shows why. We saw in preceding panels that both fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries and illnesses have declined over the last decades. In this panel we look at the rates of on-thejob injuries by industry and gender. One can see clearly why the workplace, although becoming safer, is still more dangerous for men than it is for women.

The graph shows the percentage of males and females employed in each of the eight major industries of the private sector in 1999. Rates for both fatal and non-fatal on-the-job injuries are plotted against the right scale. The non-fatal injury rate is a rate of injury per 100 full-time employees. Rates for fatal injuries are calculated as cases per 10,000 workers. The result is clear. Men represent a higher percentage of the workforce in the industries that suffer the highest rates of occupational injuries.

The trend is towards a safer workplace, and although men are at greater risk of injury on the job than women, the risk level for both has declined in the 1990s. Is the same thing true if we confine our investigation to violent acts in the workplace? The next panel answers this question.

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. Statistical Abstract of the United States 2001, Tables 596 and 633; Statistical Abstract of the United States 2000, Table 672.