The number of fatal workplace injuries in 2010 was slightly lower than the number in 2009, according to the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, which the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released on August 25.
A preliminary total of 4,547 fatal work injuries was recorded in 2010, a minor decrease from 4,551 fatal injuries recorded in 2009. The rate of fatal work injuries for U.S. workers in 2010 was 3.5 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers, the same as the final rate for 2009.
Some of the notable findings:
- Fatal work injuries in the private construction sector fell by 10 percent from 2009; they’re down nearly 40 percent since 2006.
- Workplace homicides fell seven percent in 2010 to the lowest total ever recorded by the fatality census. Workplace homicides involving women, however, increased by 13 percent.
- Fatal work injuries in the private mining industry rose from 99 in 2009 to 172 in 2010. The fatal work injury rate for mining increased from 12.4 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers in 2009 to 19.9 in 2010. The multiple-fatality incidents at the Upper Big Branch Mine and the Deepwater Horizon oil rig are included in those figures.
- Work-related fatalities resulting from fires more than doubled from 53 in 2009 to 109 in 2010, the highest count since 2003.
- Fatal work injuries among non-Hispanic black or African-American workers declined by nine percent in 2010 while fatalities among non-Hispanic white workers were higher by two percent. Fatal work injuries involving Hispanic or Latino workers were down four percent in 2010.
- The number of fatal workplace injuries among police officers increased by 40 percent, from 96 in 2009 to 134 in 2010.
In response to the fatal injuries report, U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis said safety must continue to be emphasized. “When the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) was passed in 1970, the National Safety Council estimated that 14,000 workers died each year on the job. Now, with a workforce that has doubled in size, the annual number of fatalities has dropped significantly. But it’s not enough. We cannot relent from our enforcement of laws that keep our nation’s workers safe.”