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Institute for Workplace Studies-----------------Professor Samuel B. Bacharach

School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies

Cornell University

16 East 34th Street, 4th floor--------------------Stuart Basefsky

New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau

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NATIONAL CENSUS OF FATAL OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES IN 2013 (PRELIMINARY RESULTS) [11 September 2014]

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cfoi.nr0.htm

or

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cfoi.pdf

[full-text, 14 pages]

 

 

A preliminary total of 4,405 fatal work injuries were recorded in the United States in 2013, lower than the revised

count of 4,628 fatal work injuries in 2012, according to results from the Census of Fatal Occupational

Injuries (CFOI) conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The rate of fatal work injury for U.S. workers

in 2013 was 3.2 per 100,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers, compared to a final rate of 3.4 per 100,000 in 2012.

 

Final 2013 data from CFOI will be released in the late spring of 2015. Over the last 5 years, net increases to the

preliminary count have averaged 165 cases, ranging from a low of 84 in 2011 to a high of 245 in 2012. The revised

2011 figure was 2 percent higher than the preliminary total, while the 2012 figure was 6 percent higher.

 

Key preliminary findings of the 2013 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries:

 

-              Fatal work injuries in private industry in 2013 were 6 percent below the 2012 figure. The preliminary

                2013 count of 3,929 fatal injuries in private industry represents the lowest annual total since the

                fatality census was first conducted in 1992.

-              Fatal work injuries among Hispanic or Latino workers were higher in 2013, rising 7 percent.

                The 797 Hispanic or Latino worker deaths in 2013 constituted the highest total since 2008. Fatal work injuries

                were lower among all other major racial/ethnic groups.

-              Since 2011, CFOI has identified whether fatally-injured workers were working as contractors at the time of

                the fatal incident. In 2013, 734 decedents were identified as contractors, above the 715 reported in 2012.

                Workers who were working as contractors at the time of their fatal injury accounted for 17 percent of

                all cases in 2013.

-              Fatal work injuries involving workers under 16 years of age were substantially lower, falling from 19 in 2012

                to 5 in 2013—the lowest total ever reported by the census. Fatal work injuries in most other age groups

                were also lower in 2013, though fatal work injuries among workers 25 to 34 years of age were higher.

-              Work-related suicides were 8 percent higher than in 2012, but workplace homicides were 16 percent lower.

                Overall, violence accounted for 1 out of every 6 fatal work injuries in 2013.

-              The number of fatal work injuries among firefighters was considerably higher in 2013, rising from 18 in

                2012 to 53 in 2013. The large increase resulted from a few major incidents in which multiple fatalities were

                recorded, including the Yarnell Hill wildfires in Arizona which claimed the lives of 19 firefighters.

-              Fatal work injuries among self-employed workers were lower by 16 percent from 1,057 in 2012 to 892 in 2013.

                The preliminary 2013 total represents the lowest annual total since the series began in 1992.

 

Worker characteristics

 

Fatal work injury counts were lower for all major racial/ethnic groups in 2013 except Hispanic or Latino workers.

Compared to final  2012 data, the number of fatal injuries was 6 percent lower among non-Hispanic white workers,

15 percent lower among non-Hispanic black or African-American workers, and 22 percent lower among

non-Hispanic Asian workers.

 

Fatal work injuries among Hispanic or Latino workers were 7 percent higher – 797 in 2013 compared to 748 in 2012.

Of the 797 fatal work injuries incurred by Hispanic or Latino workers, 527 (or 66 percent) involved foreign-born

workers. The fatal injury rate for Hispanic or Latino workers was 3.8 per 100,000 FTE workers, which was higher

than the national rate of 3.2 per 100,000 FTE workers. Overall, there were 845 fatal work injuries involving

foreign-born workers in 2013, of which the greatest share (352 or 42 percent) was born in Mexico.

 

Fatal work injuries involving workers under 16 years of age were down sharply to 5 in 2013 from 19 in 2012,

reaching its lowest annual total since the inception of the fatality census in 1992. There were 4,101 fatal

work injuries among men in 2013 compared with 4,277 in 2012, and fatal injuries among women were lower by 14 percent

in 2013 to 302 from 351 in 2012.

 

Fatal injuries to self-employed workers were 16 percent lower in 2013 – 892 compared to 1,057 in 2012. The

2013 preliminary total for self-employed workers is also a new low for the series, though self-employed workers still

accounted for 20 percent of all fatal work injuries. Fatal injuries among wage and salary workers were lower by

2 percent in 2013.

 

For more detailed information on fatal injuries by worker characteristics, see the worker characteristics table in

the 2013 data section at www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfoi1.htm

 

AND MUCH MORE...including TABLES....

 

 

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