os sum 03/01/95 ISSUES 95-6 Outdoor Occupations...Fatal Injuries ISSUES in LABOR STATISTICS ------------------------------------------------------------ U.S. Department of Labor Summary 96-6 Bureau of Labor Statistics March 1995 Outdoor Occupations Exhibit High Rates of Fatal Injuries Rough seas, rugged terrain, and inclement weather are some of the life-threatening hazards facing many workers who perform their jobs outdoors. Natural conditions such as these help explain why fishers and timber cutters and loggers, for example, posted unusually high rates of fatal work injury--rates 25-30 times higher than the national figure of about 5 deadly injuries for every 100,000 workers. Besides fishing and timber cutting, nine other outdoor occupations exceeded the national rate by a wide margin (see chart). That margin varied greatly among the nine, with truck drivers, driver-sales workers, farm workers and managers, construction laborers, and electrical power installers at 4 to 8 times the national fatality rate and cab drivers, structural metal erectors, and aircraft pilots at 10 to 20 times that rate. Only those occupations classified in the 1993 BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries that had at least 30 fatalities and a fatality rate of 20 per 100,000 workers or higher are included. Together, these 11 job categories made up a third of the nearly 6,300 fatalities reported in the 1993 BLS Census. Interestingly, no jobs performed on factory floors were as "deadly," although manufacturing activities commonly result in some of the highest rates of nonfatal injuries and illnesses resulting in workdays lost. The fatality rate for all manufacturing, in fact, was slightly below the national rate. In contrast to manufacturing, workers in agriculture, construction, and transportation are routinely exposed to the rigors of the outdoors, and their elevated rates of both fatal and serious, nonfatal injury appear to reflect this incremental risk. The latter three industry sectors, in fact, employed the vast majority of workers in 10 of the occupations with high rates of fatal injury. Agriculture, forestry, and fishing employed most fishers, timber cutters and loggers, farm operators, and farm workers; construction industries included most structural metal workers, electrical power installers, and construction laborers; and transportation industries engaged most pilots, cab drivers, and truck drivers. The remaining occupation, driver-sales worker was found primarily in wholesale and retail trade. The accompanying table provides some information on the principal ways in which workers in outdoor occupations were fatally injured. Transportation-related incidents were cited as the major deadly event for 6 of the 11 occupations. Other deadly events pointed up the potential dangers of constantly toppling and harvesting trees, working at elevations and around power lines, and chauffering passengers when payment is made in cash. For more information on the "who and how" of deadly injuries at work and a description of the methods and limits of measuring the risk of fatal work injuries, contact the Office of Safety, Health and Working Conditions, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2 Massachusetts Ave. NE, Washington, DC 20212-0001, (202) 606- 6175. Information in this report is available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 606- 7828; TDD phone: (202) 606-5897; TDD message referral phone: 1-800-326-2577. This information is in the public domain and, with appropriate credit, may be reproduced without permission. Occupations with high rates of fatal work injuries per 100,000 workers aged 16 years and older, 1993 ------------------------------------------------------------ Fatalities Major Occupation per 100,000 Number of deadly employed fatalities event ------------------------------------------------------------ Fishers 155 79 Boating mishap Timber cutting jobs 133 124 Struck by tree Airplane pilots 103 104 Air crash Structural metal workers 76 34 Fall Taxicab drivers 50 113 Homicide Electrical power installers, repairers 38 42 Electrocution Farm operators, managers, and supervisors 36 430 Vehicular Construction laborers 33 218 Fall, contact with objects Truck drivers 26 731 Highway crash Driver-sales workers 23 41 Highway crash Farm workers 21 172 Vehicular ------------------------------------------------------------ NOTE: "Fatality rate" is an experimental measure for workers 16 years and older. It is based on fatality counts by occupation for workers 16 years and older from the 1993 BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (the numerator) and occupational employment of civilians 16 years of age and older from the Current Population Survey, 1993 annual averages (the denominator). Also included in the denominator are resident Armed Forces counts by job from Department of Defense records. NOTE: The original issue, including its chart, is available upon request at the BLS telephone number listed above.