by Brianna Crandall — September 11, 2013—There were a total of 4,383 fatal work injuries recorded in the United States in 2012, down from a revised count of 4,693 fatal work injuries in 2011, according to preliminary results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The CFOI, part of the BLS Occupational Safety and Health Statistics (OSHS) program, uses diverse state, federal, and independent data sources (reviewing over 19,000 unique source documents for 2012) to compile a thorough nationwide count of all fatal work injuries occurring during the calendar year.
The 2012 number represents the second lowest preliminary total since the CFOI was first conducted in 1992. The rate of fatal work injury for U.S. workers in 2012 was 3.2 per 100,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers, down from a rate of 3.5 per 100,000 in 2011. Over the last five years, net increases to the preliminary count have ranged from 84 (2%) in 2011 to 211 (5%) in 2009. Revised 2012 data from CFOI will be released in the late spring of 2014.
Key preliminary findings of the 2012 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries include:
- Fatal injuries to both wage and salary workers and self-employed workers declined in 2012.
- Fatal work injuries in the private construction sector increased 5% to 775 in 2012 from 738 in 2011. Total hours worked in the private construction industry increased 1% in 2012. The increase in fatal occupational injuries in 2012 follows five consecutive years of declining fatal injury counts in the construction sector. Fatal construction injuries are down 37% since 2006.
- Since 2011, CFOI has identified whether fatally injured workers were working as contractors at the time of the fatal incident. In 2012, 708 decedents were identified as contractors, many of whom worked in construction and transportation occupations, followed by tree trimmers and pruners (16), security guards (15), landscaping and groundskeeping workers (14), and others.
- Fatal work injuries declined among non-Hispanic white workers (down 10%) and Hispanic or Latino workers (down 5%) in 2012. Fatal work injuries were higher among non-Hispanic black or African-American workers and non-Hispanic Asian workers.
- Fatal work injuries involving workers under 16 years of age nearly doubled, rising from 10 in 2011 to 19 in 2012—the highest total since 2005. Fatal work injuries in the other age groups declined in 2012. Fatal work injuries among workers 55 years of age and older declined for the second straight year.
- Work-related suicides declined 10% from 2011 totals, but violence accounted for about 17% of all fatal work injuries in 2012.
Further highlights relating to some of the categories used to group the data follow:
Type of incident
- Fatal falls, slips, or trips took the lives of 668 workers in 2012, down slightly from 2011. Falls to a lower level accounted for 544 or about 81% of those fatalities. In 2012, the height of the fall was reported in 437 of the fatal falls to a lower level. Of those cases, about one in four occurred after a fall of 10 feet or less, and another one-fourth occurred from falls of over 30 feet.
Industry
- In the private sector, there were 3,945 fatal work injuries in 2012, down 6% to a new series low. Both goods-producing industries and service-providing industries showed declines.
- Fatal work injuries in the financial activities sector declined 17% in 2012 to 81. The professional and business services sector also reported lower numbers of fatal injuries in 2012, down 10% from 2011.
- Fatal occupational injuries among government workers decreased 13% from 2011 to 438 fatal work injuries, the lowest total since the start of the fatality census. Both state government and local government showed declines (19% and 16%, respectively), although fatal injuries among federal government workers remained about the same.
Occupation
- Fatal work injuries to workers in management occupations declined 8% to 429 in 2012—the lowest level in the series. This decrease was driven primarily by the 19% decline in fatal injuries to farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers from 268 in 2011 to 216 in 2012.
State and metropolitan statistical area (MSA)
- Sixteen states and the District of Columbia reported higher numbers of fatal work injuries in 2012 than in 2011, while 32 states reported lower numbers. Two states reported the same number as in 2011. Contact numbers are listed on the CFOI statistics site for more detailed state results.
- Counts for over 300 MSAs are also available for 2012 from CFOI, and detailed data are available for more than 50 MSAs. The MSAs with the most fatal occupational injuries in 2012 were New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island (NY-NJ-PA) with 178, Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown (TX) with 90, Chicago-Joliet-Naperville (IL-IN-WI) with 81, and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana (CA) with 81.
For more detailed information on each of these categories, see the 2012 tables on the CFOI statistics site.
