Occupational injury fatal rate

Since its inception in 1971, OSHA has helped to cut workplace fatalities by more than 60% and occupational injury and illness rates by 40%. At the same time, US employment has doubled from 56 million workers at 3.5 million worksites to more than 115 million workers at 7.1 million sites. 

Because of the estimating procedure the National Safety Council statistics may undercount U.S. workplace fatalities. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has also calculated worlq>lace fatality rates since the late 1930s but the scope of their survey has changed so dramatically that one cannot use the BLS data to identify a time trend. Nevertheless, the BLS s most recent data collection effort creates the most reliable source of information on fatal workplace accidents in the United States. 1 The BLS conducted a census of fatal occupational injuries for 1992 using data from death certificates, workers compensation claims, medical examiners records, autopsy reports, motor vehicle accident records, and OSH A and Mine Safety and Health Administration fatal injury reports. The BLS estimated Ae average worker in the United... 

Results for 2012 include 4,693 fatal work injuries, the third lowest since the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) began in 1992. The overall fatal injury rate in 2012 was 3.5 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers. 

Maity individuals who depend on television and radio for information probably believe that working in a chemical plant is a very hazardous occupation and suffers a number of fatahties. This myth is erqrosed by facts from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) chemical plant employees enjoy one of the safer occupations. Yes, according to US BLS for a number of years including 2008 and 2012, it is significantly safer to work within a chemical plant than in a grocery store. See the US Fatal Occupational Injury Rates for 2008 and 2012. (The latest published data was the 2012 data as this chapter was being developed.)... 

Table 1.3 US fatal occupational injury rates for 2008 and 2012 -for a few specific occupations - US Department of Labor -Bureau of labor Statistics...

The rate represents the number of fatal occupational injuries per 100,000 ... 

U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Fatal Occupational Injuries. Total hours worked and rates of fatal occupational injuries by selected worker characteristics 2008, http /Avww.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cfoi rates 2008hb.pdf [accessed 28.09.14]. 

How situational is occupational risk acceptance What variations does society tolerate in risky occupational exposures The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report titled National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2005 states that the rate at which fatal work injuries occurred in 2005 was 4.0 per 100,000 workers. The data in Table 1 gives the fatality rates for the five occupations having the highest fatality rates in 2005. 

HSE research suggests that overall occupational fatality and injury rates in Britain are generally among the lowest in Europe and lower than the United States (HSE, 1997). Fatality rates for the general transport sector are given in Table 3.1. ... 

Since OSHA was created 28 years ago, workplace fatalities have been cut in half. Occupational injury and illness rates have been declining for the past five years. In 1997, injuries dropped to the lowest level since the U.S. began collecting this information. 

The highest rates of fatal occupational injuries in 2010 were found in the agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting industry (26.8 fatalities per 100,000 fulltime equivalent workers) mining (19.8) transportation and warehousing (13.1) and construction (9.5). 

Nevertheless, society accepts continuation of certain operations in which the occupational and environmental risks are high. ITiat is demonstrated by the fatality rate data published annually by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2008) in its National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. The latest data, as shown in Table 6.1, is for the 2010 year. The fatality rate is the rate per 100,000 workers. The national average fatality rate for all private industries in 2010 was 3.5. 

While the occupational fatality rate per 100,000 employees was reduced from 17.0 in 1971 to 4.0 in 2005—a 58 percent decline— the rate has been close to stationary from 2006 through 2010. In those 5 years, the rate has ranged from 19 to 3.6. Several attempts have been made in recent years to develop strategies to reduce the number of fatalities and the fatality rate without substantial progress. Injury frequenqr has also been reduced in the past several years, but the reduction is significantly greater for less costly injuries than for more serious injuries. 

Since its inception four decades ago, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and state plan programs have had a dramatic impact on safety and health in the American workplace. Woikplace fatalities have been reduced by more than 65 percent and occupational injury and illness rates have declined by 67 percent, t while employment in the American workplace has doubled. On-the-job fatalities have been substantially reduced from 38 worker deaths per day in 1972 to... 

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), part of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), in a report prepared by the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA), the US oil and gas extraction industry had during 2003-2008, 648 oil and gas extraction worker fatal injuries on the job, resulting in an occupational fatality rate of 29.1 deaths per 100,000 workers—eight times higher than the rate for all US workers. Two goals set by NORA are to, by the year 2020, reduce the occupational fatality rate by 50% and reduce the rate of non-fatal occupational injuries by 50% for workers in the oil and gas extraction industry. 

Table 9.1 Number of Deaths and Rate of Fatal Occupational Injuries in the Major Industrial Sectors by Industry Sector, 2006...

This chapter provides a summary of the major issues so far. It identifies the hazards posed by railroads, assesses the casualty rates, looks at trends in those rates, makes comparisons with comparable hazards in other industries or elsewhere in society, and reflects on how people react to the hazards. The five major railroad hazards considered are (in no particular order) fatalities to highway users at grade crossings trespasser fatalities, fatalities to train crews in collisions and derailments and during coupling operations occupational injuries to maintenance employees and releases of hazardous materials. 

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