On-the-Job Deaths Decline to a 4-Year Low

There’s a glimmer of good news amid the bad: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of fatal work injuries in the U.S. dropped in 1995 to the lowest level in the four years the figures have been recorded, down 6% from 1994. There were 6,210 workers killed on the job last year, down from 6,632 a year earlier.

BLS economist Guy Toscano attributed the reduced number of deaths to a decline in firearms-related homicides at work sites and a fewer-than-normal number of commercial airline crashes last year.

Toscano said shooting deaths are believed to have declined as crime prevention efforts have improved in stores, gasoline stations and other enterprises that have been magnets for armed robberies in the past. The number of firearms-related deaths declined 19%, from 934 in 1994 to 754 in 1995.

In 1995, 278 workers were killed in airline crashes, down from 426 in the previous year. This figure includes people traveling on business as well as airline employees.

The overall decline would have been even sharper if not for the 120 government workers killed in the Oklahoma City bombing, Toscano said. That single event accounted for 12% of the nation’s job-related homicides for the year.

But death was more likely to come from a familiar face than in the past, the survey found. In 1995, about 10% of workplace murders were committed by colleagues, nearly double the rate of 1994, the bureau said.

The most dangerous occupation in terms of total fatalities was the construction industry, with more than 1,000 workers killed each year in falls, electrocutions and vehicle accidents, according to the survey. Toscano said many workers die each year in accidents involving large earth-moving equipment or forklifts.

The most frequent death site is on the highway, according to the survey. About a fifth of all workers who die on the job are driving from one place to another, and about half of them are riding in trucks when it happens.

Gravity takes its toll as well. Falls account for 10% of all fatalities, with people slipping off roofs, scaffolding or ladders. Another 9% are struck and killed by falling objects, including trees, machinery and building materials.

The department began tallying the numbers nationwide in 1992.