Workplace fatalities

When organizations focus on the root causes of worker injuries, it is helpful to analyze the manner in which workplace fatalities occur (see Figure 1-4). Although the emphasis of this book is the prevention of chemical-related accidents, the data in Figure 1-4 show that safety programs need to include training to prevent injuries resulting from transportation, assaults, mechanical and chemical exposures, and fires and explosions. 

Figure 1-4 The manner in which workplace fatalities occurred in 1998. The total number of workplace fatalities was 6026. Source News, USDL 99-208 (Washington, DC US Department of Labor, Aug. 4,1999).

Based on workplace fatalities (Figure 1-4) and assuming you are responsible for a safety program of an organization, what would you emphasize ... 

Data on fatal work injuries are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), 1995. This program, which has collected occupational fatality data nationwide since 1992, uses diverse data sources to identify, verify, and profile fatal work injuries. Information about each workplace fatality (occupation and other worker characteristics, equipment being used, and circumstances of the event) is obtained by cross-referencing source documents, such as death certificates, workers compensation records, and reports to Federal and State agencies. This method assures counts are as complete and accurate as possible. 

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. 

Arncrican College of Occupational and Environntcntal Medicine (ACOEM) (2004, September/Ociober). Workplace fatalities increase slightly in 2003, ACOEM Science and Policy Review Report, pp. 4-5. ACOEM, Elk Grove Village. IL. 

When workers are killed, are injured or become ill, there are substantial costs beyond those borne by employers. A variety of approaches can be used to estimate these costs. For example, Viscusi and Aldy (2003) provided estimates of the monetary value of each life lost. OSHA updated these estimates (to account for inflation) to 2010 dollars, yielding a value of 8.7 million for each life lost. Multiplying this value by the 4,547 workplace deaths reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2010, OSHA estimates the annual cost of known workplace fatalities to be nearly 40 billion. 

OSHA also examined fatality rates and found that California, Hawaii and Washington, with their mandatory injury and illness prevention program requirements, had workplace fatality rates as much as 31 percent below the national average in 2009. 

The Occupational Safety and Healthy Administration (OSHA) was created in 1970 with a mission of attempting to reduce the number and severity of accidents by making equipment and procedures safer by mandatory means. Since 1971, workplace fatalities have... 

And statistics, unfortunately, bear this out. Motor vehicle crashes are consislenlly the number one cause of workplace fatalities. Every day in 2009, more than two workers died on the highway, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

An AED is an electronic device designed to deliver an electric shock to a victim of sudden cardiac arrest. Ventricular fibrillation may be restored to normal rhythm up to 60 percent of the time if treated promptly with an AED, a procedure called defibril-lation. The American Heart Association (AHA) estimates that approximately 890 deaths from coronary heart disease occur outside of the hospital or emergency room every day. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in 2001 and 2002, there were reported 6628 workplace fatalities 1216 from heart attack, 354 from electric shock, and 267 from asphyxia. The AHA and OSHA have estimated that up to 60 percent of these victims might have been saved if automated external defibrillators (AEDs) were immediately available. Chances of survival from sudden cardiac death diminish by 7 to 10 percent for each minute without immediate CPR or defibrillation. After 10 minutes, resuscitation rarely succeeds. See Figure A.7 for an AED provided in a wall-mounted case. 

Any situation, process, materiaL or condition that, on the basis of applicable data, can cause a fire or explosion or provide a ready fuel supply to augment the spread or intensity of a fire or explosion and that poses a threat to life, property, continued business operation, or the enviromnent. The relative degree of hazard can be evaluated and appropriate safeguards provided. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Charts, 1992-2007, fires and explosions accounted for 3 percent of workplace fatalities in 2007. See also Fire Safety, Workplace. 

With an annual budget of about 300 million, OSHA is about five percent the size of the Enviroiunental Protection Agency (Salwen 1993). The federal government has six times more fish and game inspectors than health and safety inspectors (Ball 1992). As demonstrated in the Inq)erial Food Product s fire, OSHA frequently steps in only after a disaster. One might believe the limited federal commitment to worker health and safety would lead to a vast and expanding frequency of workplace accidents and diseases. As shown in Figure 1.1 the frequency of workplace deaths as measured by National Safety Council statistics has declined dramatically over the last 64 years. In 1928, for every 1(X),(XX) workers there were 15.8 workplace fatalities. By 1992 the rate of fatalities had fallen by about 80 percent to 3.3 per... 

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... 

States faced a 5 in 100,000 chance of dying on the job in 1992. Although higher than the National Safety Council estimate the BLS figure of a 5/100,000 fatality rate still implies workers faced greater hazards at home than at work. More interestingly, the BLS also found that 40 percent of all workplace fatalities were caused by transportation accidents (45 percent of the fatal transportation accidents were highway accidents), and 20 percent of workplace fatalities were caused by assaults and other violent acts (85 percent homicides and 15 percent suicides). Neither transportation accidents nor assaults are likely to be reduced much by OSHA inspections for workplace health and safety violations. 

Because the ultimate cause of an illness is difficult to determine the BLS excluded diseases in their count of workplace fatalities (Toscano and Windau 1993). 

National Safety Council Log frequency of workplace fatalities... 

Because of the difficulty of disputing or exaggerating serious injuries or fatalities workers or their families have little reason to file false claims for WC benefits. Workplace fatalities should be relatively free from mismeasurement and, therefore, should most accurately mirror real changes in safety. The diverging impact of WC benefits on fatal and nonfatal injuries may then simply reflect the difference between real and reported workplace accidents and diseases. Higher benefits improve workplace safety reducing both fatal and nonfatal injuries, but reported nonfatal injuries rise as some workers file false or exaggerated claims for WC benefits and others file previously unreported claims because it is now financially worthwhile. ... 

With workplace fatalities relatively rare, any measure of total injuries is primarily a measure of nonfatal injuries. 

Falls from height are one of the biggest causes of workplace fatalities and major injuries. 

Victorian DOL 1990, Workplace Fatalities lS>85-89, Melbourne Department of Labour... 

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. 

Of the 210 identified workplace fatalities, 77 (37%) definitely or probably had design-related issues involved. Design contributes to at least 30% of work-related serious non-fatal injuries. (6)... 

It ymi nocTi to io[iort workplace fatality, lios[>il.iIi, .ifi(.uw, oi, in Imminent danger situation il<-.iM- tonl.n I out loll f ttte number immediately ... 

Accident prevention efforts and injury prevention efforts used together have been shown to be effective safety management techniques. From the formation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in 1970 until 2000, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows a 58% reduction in workplace fatalities (Bird et al., 2003). The overall trend has been one of decline in fatalities. The strategies of engineering and leadership combine to form what is meant by safety today. 

Safety Number of process safety incidents Distribution incidents reportable to the Department of Transportation Lost workday incidence and workplace fatalities reportable to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Product safety Process in place to prioritize chemicals according to potential risk Summary of process available to public Fatalities Lost-time ii ury frequency... 

It is not unusual for companies to report that up to one-third of their workplace fatalities are caused by road transportation accidents. 

United Kingdom Health and Safety Executive. 2013. Costs to Britain of Workplace Fatalities and self-reported injuries and ill health 2011/2013. Health and Safety Executive, U.K. http //www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/pdf/cost-to-britain.pdf, downloaded February 14,2014. 

---