The widely reported violence that has recently hit the nation's workplaces at Fort Hood and Orlando has brought an important issue to the forefront: workplace safety.

According to preliminary government data, workplace homicides declined 18 percent in 2008. There were 517 workplace homicides last year, the lowest in the 16 years the U.S. Department of Labor has tracked the data. Last year's number of such occurrences represent half the rate seen in the early 1990s (1,044 in 1992; 1,074 in 1993; 1,080 in 1994; and 1,036 in 1995).

Homicides have been perennially among the four most frequent work-related fatal events between 1992 and 2008.

Although the number of work-related homicides has decreased 52 percent from the series high in 1994 to 2008, workplace violence still accounted for 16 percent of all work-related fatal occupational injuries last year.

Meanwhile, nonfatal assaults and violent acts by people accounted for less than 2 percent of all nonfatal injuries and illnesses in private industry in 2007. However, in private industry, there were still 16,840 incidents of this nature resulting in time away from work.

Total Work-Related Deaths
Overall, 5,071 workers died on the job in 2008, down from the 5,657 fatal work injuries reported for 2007's lowest level on record. Ninety percent of the fatal work injuries involved workers in private industry, and 10 percent of the fatal work injury cases in 2008 involved government workers.

On average, 15 workers die every day because of job injuries.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the occupations with the highest fatality rates in 2008 were:

• Fishers and related fishing workers;
• Logging workers;
• Aircraft pilots and flight engineers;
• Structural iron and steel workers;
• Farmers and ranchers;
• Refuse and recyclable material collectors;
• Roofers;
• Electrical power-line installers and repairers;
• Driver/sales workers and truck drivers; and
• Taxi drivers and chauffeurs.

In addition to homicides, highway incidents have been among the four most cited work-related fatal events since 1992.

More than a quarter (26 percent) of all occupational fatalities in 2008 involved workers in transportation and material-moving occupations, though fatalities among these workers declined by 12 percent in 2008. Driver/sales workers and truck drivers, the largest occupation group in this sector, led the decline with 16 percent fewer fatal work injuries in 2008 than in 2007. Tractor-trailer and heavy-truck driver fatalities were lower by 13 percent.

With highway incidents and homicides, falling and being struck by objects both round out the top four most common fatal on-the-job events. The number of fatal workplace falls dropped 13 percent last year to 680 following a series high (847) in 2007. The number of workers dying by being struck by objects or equipment rose by four to 508.

Fatalities were slightly higher in manufacturing (404 in 2008, up from 400 fatalities in 2007). Included in the manufacturing total are the 14 workers who perished in a sugar refinery explosion in Georgia in February 2008.

While the number of fatalities in construction declined 20 percent, from 1,204 cases in 2007 to 969 cases in 2008, workers in construction incurred the most fatalities of any industry in the private sector in 2008.

Common Workplace Dangers
Many of the dangers most associated with occupations in manufacturing and construction are among the U.S. Department of Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) 2009 list of the most frequent workplace safety violations:

The list should come as no surprise to those who follow such figures; these same violations seem to top the list year after year. In fact, the data above shows an almost 30 percent increase from last year's list.

The number of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses reported last year declined to 3.7 million cases, down from 4 million in 2007.

"Preventable workplace injuries and illnesses affect millions of American workers every year, many with lifelong effects," Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis said in response to the report on nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses. "While I am cautiously optimistic that the decreases in injury and illness rates represent change in the right direction, they do not lessen the need for strong enforcement to ensure that safety is a top priority in every workplace."

Resources

Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Summary, 2008
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Aug. 20, 2009

Fatal Occupational Injuries by Event or Exposure, 2007-2008
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Aug. 25, 2009 (last modified)

Number of Fatal Work Injuries, 1992-2008
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Aug. 20, 2009

National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 1996
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Aug. 7, 1997

Number of Nonfatal Occupational Injuries and Illnesses Involving days Away from Work... 2007
Bureau of Labor Statistics, March 2009 (reissued)

National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2008
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Aug. 20, 2009

Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect
AFL-CIO, April 2009

OSHA Reports on Top 10 Safety Violations for 2009
Occupational Safety & Health Administration, Oct. 27, 2009

Workplace Injury and Illness Summary: Workplace Injuries and Illnesses, 2008
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Oct. 29, 2009

U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis Responds to Worker Occupational Injury and Illness Decline...
Occupational Safety & Health Administration, Oct. 29, 2009