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Workplace Fatalities Down in 2006

August 30th, 2007 Posted by Amelia

Fatal accidents are lower than at any time since 1992, according to a new report issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics entitled Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2006. Across all market segments, workplace fatalities decreased to 3.9 per 100,000 employees, or less than 4/10 of one percent. This was down from 4.0 per 100,000 in 2005, and is the lowest rate of workplace fatalities reported since the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) began keeping records.

In all, 5,703 people were killed at work in 2006, compared to 5,734 in 2005. The preliminary report will be updated in April 2008.

In a 17-page report released in July, the BLS notes that the number of fatal work injuries among those under 25 years old decreased 9%. In 2005, 568 young workers died. In 2006 that number was just 516.

Fatal injuries were also down among Hispanic workers, from 4.9 per 100,000 to 4.7 per 100,000. However, that still leaves the fatality rates for Hispanic workers well above that of the general population. In addition, the total number of fatalities among Hisptanic workers increased, because the number of Hispanic workers increased. There were 937 fatalities among Hispanic workers, the highest number on record.

Fatalities among self-employed workers were down 11% to an all-time low.

There were some notable exceptions to the downward trend. Fatalities among coal miners more than doubled in 2006, due in part to three tragic accidents during the year. Those included a January 2006 explosion in the Sago Mine in Sago, West Virginia that trapped 13 miners for nearly two days killing 12 of them. That same month, a fire at the Aracoma Alma Mine in Melville, West Virginia poured smoke into the miner’s escape route, killing two people. In May 2006, a methane explosion at the Darby Mine No. 1 in Kentucky killed five coalminers.

Deaths from fires and explosions were up 26%, from 159 to 210. So were deaths from exposure to chemical or hazardous materials, up 12% from 126 to 153 in 2006.

Aircraft fatalities were up 44%, in part due to the Comair crash in August 2006. In that tragedy, an airliner crashed after taking off from the wrong runway at Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky. The crash resulted in 49 deaths, with only the co-pilot surviving. The accident revealed that the accident occurred due to an unlit general aviation strip that was too short for the larger commercial aircraft.

Overall, 215 died in aircraft-related workplace accidents in 2006. The number of airplane deaths varies wildly, from 426 in 1994 to 149 in 2005.

If flying was more hazardous in 2006, driving was safer. Highway fatalities remain the most common cause of death in the workplace, accounting for 25% of all fatal injuries. Still, the number of highway fatalities fell 8% to 1,329 in 2006. Non-highway deaths (those that occur on farms or industrial property) were about the same, while pedestrian fatalities in the workplace also diminished.

In recent years, homicides in the workplace have become an increasing concern. However, the most recent figures show a record low in those numbers, as well. The rate of workplace homicides in 2006 was just 50% of the rate in 1994, the year with the most murders in the workplace. The number of workplace homicides decreased to 516 in 2006.

The number of workers fatally injured by falling objects continued a 3-year downward trend, with the 583 fatalities representing a 4% decline from 2005.

“We believe our initiatives are working. However, even one fatality is one too many. To end fatalities, injuries and illnesses on the job, nothing is more effective than prevention. We remain committed to helping all employers protect their most valuable resource — their employees.”