Workplace Accidents and Injuries

Fatal and Nonfatal Workplace Accidents and Injuries

No matter how responsible employers are, there are some jobs that are inherently dangerous. Combine that with the fact that human beings are fallible, and one sees that there will always be accidents and injuries in the workplace. However, workplace accidents and injuries encompass a broad range of events, from repetitive motion injuries to life-ending injuries. One of the interesting things to do is to examine the differences in fatal and non-fatal injuries, to try to determine if the risk of severity is linked to overall risk or if the risk of death is somehow almost separate from the risk of overall injury. In order to compare fatal and non-fatal injuries, this paper examines several facets of injuries. The first thing examined is the overall number of injuries per state and whether a state's rank according to fatal injuries is linked to the rate of overall injuries. The second thing examined is what type of accidents are related to fatal and non-fatal injuries. The final factor examined is to look at which occupations are most highly linked to fatal and non-fatal workplace injuries. Examining these three factors should provide a good overview of the similarities and differences between fatal and non-fatal accidents in the workplace.

One of the interesting factors to consider is the number of fatal and non-fatal incidents that occur in the state. Texas had the highest number of fatal injuries, 461, followed by California with 326, Florida with 225, Pennsylvania with 221 and New York with 182 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010, "Number of fatal work injuries, by state, 2010"). It is difficult, if not impossible to compare those statistics to the numbers available for workplace injuries and illnesses, because not all states track or estimate that information, while workplace deaths are recorded. In addition, sample sizes available may not be sufficient to make accurate estimates. Another factor is that some states do not track particular industries. Therefore, the author found it impossible to compare state injury and illness rates with state fatality rates with any degree of accuracy.

Another interesting factor is to examine what type of accidents are considered the most lethal or dangerous. For fatalities, there was a leading cause of death and that cause of death was not even necessarily related to the underlying job description. In 2010, 40% of workplace fatalities were transportation incidents (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010, "Manner in which fatal work injuries occurred, 2010"). Homicides accounted for 11% of deaths, while violent acts and assaults accounted for 18% of deaths (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010, "Manner in which fatal work injuries occurred, 2010"). 16% of deaths came from contact with an object, with 9% being related to being struck by a falling object (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010, "Manner in which fatal work injuries occurred, 2010"). Falls composed 14% of the deaths (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010, "Manner in which fatal work injuries occurred, 2010"). Exposure to harmful substances or environments was linked to 9% of deaths (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010, "Manner in which fatal work injuries occurred, 2010"). Finally, 4% of deaths were linked to fires and explosions (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010, "Manner in which fatal work injuries occurred, 2010"). In contrast, non-fatal work injuries did not necessarily have such dramatic causes. The leading cause of injury requiring days away from wok was not a leading cause of death; it was bodily reaction and exertion 368,240 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010, "Number of nonfatal"). Contact with objects or equipment was a significant risk with 241,160 reported injuries and 208,470 falls, both leading cause of death were prevalent among workplace injuries (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010, "Number of nonfatal"). However, those categories that seemed to lead the number of deaths actually had relatively few incidents including exposure to harmful substance or environments with 42,780, transportation accidents with 38,330, fires and explosions with 1,510, and assaults and violent acts with 23,410 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010, "Number of nonfatal").

Finally, one must examine the jobs that are considered the most dangerous in terms of risk of death and in terms of overall risk of injury. The most fatal work sectors were: construction, transportation and warehousing, agricultural, government, and professional and business services (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010, "Number and rate of fatal occupational industries, by industry sector, 2010"). Specifically, the following five occupations had the highest fatality rates: fishing, logging, pilots and flight engineers, farmers and ranchers, and miners (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010, "Occupations with high fatal work injury rates, 2010"). The occupations where people are most likely to be injured are: laborers and freight, stock, and material movers; landscaping and grounds keeping workers; janitors and cleaners (except maids and housekeepers); maids and housekeepers; and maintenance and repair workers (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011).