Technical information:	(202) 691-6170				USDL 08-1182
Media information:	(202) 691-5902				FOR RELEASE:  10 a.m. EDT
Internet address:  http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfoi1.htm		Wednesday, August 20, 2008

NATIONAL CENSUS OF FATAL OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES IN 2007

	A total of 5,488 fatal work injuries were recorded in the United States in 2007, a decrease of 6 percent from the 
revised total of 5,840 fatal work injuries reported for 2006.  While these results are considered preliminary, this figure 
represents the smallest annual preliminary total since the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program was first 
conducted in 1992.  Final results for 2007 will be released in April 2009. 
	
	Based on these preliminary counts, the rate of fatal injury for U.S. workers in 2007 was 3.7 fatal work injuries per 
100,000 workers, down from the final rate of 4.0 per 100,000 workers in 2006, and the lowest annual fatality rate ever 
reported by the fatality census. 

Key findings of the 2007 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries:

-	The number of fatal falls in 2007 rose to a series high of 835--a 39 percent increase since 1992 when the 
        CFOI program was first conducted.
-	Transportation incidents, which typically account for two-fifths of all workplace fatalities, fell to a series low 
        of 2,234 cases in 2007.
-	Workplace homicides rose 13 percent to 610 in 2007 after reaching a series low of 540 in 2006.
-	The number of fatal workplace injuries among protective service occupations rose 19 percent in 2007 to 337, led by 
        an increase in the number of police officers fatally injured on the job. 
-	Fatal occupational injuries incurred by non-Hispanic Black or African American workers were at the highest level 
        since 1999, but fatal work injuries among Hispanic workers were lower by 8 percent in 2007. 

Profile of 2007 fatal work injuries by type of incident

	Nearly all types of transportation fatalities saw sizable decreases in 2007 relative to 2006, including nonhighway 
incidents (down 15 percent); workers struck by vehicle, mobile equipment (down 10 percent); water vehicle incidents 
(down 28 percent); railway incidents (down 26 percent); and aircraft incidents (down 23 percent).  Highway incidents also 
decreased, but only by 3 percent.

	The 835 fatal falls in 2007 represented a series high for the fatality census.  The increase for falls overall was 
driven primarily by increases in falls on same level (up 21 percent from 2006) and falls from nonmoving vehicles 
(up 17 percent).  Falls from roofs, however, were down 13 percent from the number in 2006.

	Workplace homicides increased by 13 percent in 2007.  Even with the increase, workplace homicides have declined 
44 percent from the high of 1,080 reported in 1994.  Workplace homicides involving police officers and supervisors of 
retail sales workers both saw substantial increases in 2007. 
 
	Two other prominent events were at series lows in 2007.  Fatal work injuries involving electrocutions were down 
14 percent from the next lowest year (2003).  Fatalities resulting from fires and explosions were also at the lowest totals 
ever in the census in 2007.

Profile of fatal work injuries by industry

	Overall, 90 percent of the fatal work injuries involved workers in private industry.  Service-providing industries 
in the private sector recorded 48 percent of all fatal work injuries in 2007, while goods-producing industries recorded 
42 percent.  Another 10 percent of the fatal work injury cases in 2007 involved government workers.  The number of fatal 
work injuries in the private sector decreased 7 percent in 2007, while fatalities among government workers, including 
resident military personnel, increased 2 percent.

	Fatalities declined in the construction industry, but construction continued to incur the most fatalities of any 
industry in the private sector, as it has for the five years since the CFOI program began using the North American Industry 
Classification System (NAICS) to categorize industry.  The percentage decrease in fatalities from 2006 (1,239 to 1,178,
a 5 percent drop) was about the same as the decrease for all fatal work injuries in 2007.  Of the three major subsectors 
within construction, fatalities among workers in construction of buildings actually rose 11 percent from 2006, with most of 
the increase in non-residential construction industries.  The largest construction subsector, specialty trade 
contractors, had 6 percent fewer fatalities in 2007 as compared to 2006.  

	Fatalities among private sector workers in transportation and warehousing sector, which had the second largest 
number of fatalities, decreased 3 percent from the number reported in 2006.  Truck transportation, the largest subsector in 
transportation and warehousing, also had a 3 percent decrease in 2007.  The number of fatal injuries in air, rail, and 
water transportation were also lower. 

	Fatalities were down 13 percent among private sector workers in the agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting 
industry sector in 2007.  Non-highway incidents in agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting decreased 17 percent, and 
incidents of being struck by an object decreased 12 percent, each of which accounts for about one-fifth of fatalities in 
the agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industry.  Fatalities to workers in crop production fell 19 percent while 
fatalities to workers in animal production rose 7 percent.  Fishing and logging, two of the industries with the highest 
fatality rates, had lower numbers of fatalities in 2007.

	In the trade industry (wholesale and retail), fatal work injuries were down 8 percent from their 2006 level.  While 
most wholesale trade subsectors declined, fatal work injuries in retail grocery stores were up 26 percent (from 57 in 2006 
to 72 in 2007), due largely to an increase in workplace homicides in that industry.

	The preliminary total of 392 fatal work injuries in manufacturing represents the lowest total recorded in the 
five years since the CFOI program began using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).  The 2007 total 
for manufacturing represents a 14 percent decrease from the 2006 count.  

	Fatalities among government workers were up 2 percent from 2006, primarily due to a 14 percent increase in 
workplace fatalities among local government workers.  The increase among local government workers was primarily 
attributable to higher numbers of fatalities in police protection and fire protection (up 32 and 43 percent, respectively).  
Fatal work injury rates were lower for Federal and State workers. 

Profile of fatal work injuries by occupation

	About one-fourth of all occupational fatalities in 2007 involved workers in transportation and material moving 
occupations, though fatalities among these workers declined by 5 percent in 2007.  This decline was largely the result of 
a 6 percent decline in highway incidents, which account for about 50 percent of the fatalities in this occupation.  
Construction and extraction occupations, which accounted for 21 percent of all fatalities, decreased by 10 percent 
from 2006 to 2007 after increasing the previous 3 years.  Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators; 
painters, construction and maintenance; and electricians all saw decreases of 20 percent or more.

	Fatalities among workers employed in protective service occupations rose 19 percent from 2006 to 2007, including 
police officers (up 30 percent), fire fighters (up 17 percent), and security guards (up 11 percent).  Among other 
occupation groups, fatalities incurred by workers in sales and related occupations decreased 2 percent although fatalities 
incurred by supervisors of sales workers increased by 10 percent.  Office and administrative support occupations 
had 50 percent more workplace fatalities in 2007 (from 88 in 2006 to 132 in 2007), due in part to an increase in 
fatal transportation incidents.   

	The four occupations with the highest fatality rates were fishers and related fishing workers with a fatality rate 
of 111.8 per 100,000 workers, logging workers (86.4), aircraft pilots and flight engineers (66.7), and structural iron and 
steel workers (45.5).

Profile of fatal work injuries by demographic characteristics

	While fatal work injuries in general fell 6 percent, those incurred by non-Hispanic Black or African American workers 
increased by 5 percent to 591 in 2007.  This is the highest number reported for Black or African American workers since 1999.
A tripling in the number of fatalities involving Black or African American police officers in local government (from 6 to 18) 
was one of the reasons for the higher number of fatalities.  Fatalities among Hispanic or Latino workers decreased 8 percent 
from 2006 and among White, non-Hispanic workers by 6 percent.

	While fatalities incurred by workers age 65 and older decreased 7 percent, these workers were about 3 times more 
likely than all workers to be killed on the job.  Self-employed workers had a 2 percent drop in fatalities, while their 
wage and salary counterparts fell by 7 percent.  Workplace fatalities incurred by both male and female workers decreased 
6 percent. 

	Of the 5,488 fatal occupational injuries in 2007, 959 were incurred by workers who were born outside of the 
United States.  Of the foreign-born workers who were fatally-injured in the U.S. in 2007, the largest share were born in 
Mexico (44 percent).

Profile of fatal work injuries by State

	 Thirty States reported lower numbers of fatal work injuries in 2007 than in 2006, 19 States and the District of 
Columbia reported higher numbers, and one State was unchanged.

	For more detailed State results, contact the individual State agency responsible for the collection of CFOI data in 
that State.  Although data for Puerto Rico are not included in the national totals for this release, results for 
Puerto Rico are available.  Participating agencies and their telephone numbers are listed in Table 6.

Background of the program

	The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, part of the BLS occupational safety and health statistics program, 
compiles a count of all fatal work injuries occurring in the U.S. in each calendar year.  The program uses diverse State, 
federal, and independent data sources to identify, verify, and describe fatal work injuries.  This assures counts are as 
complete and accurate as possible.  For the 2007 data, over 21,000 unique source documents were reviewed as part of the 
data collection process.

	Another BLS program, the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, presents frequency counts and incidence 
rates by industry and also detailed worker and case characteristics of nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses that 
result in days away from work.  Incidence rates for 2007 by industry will be published in October 2008, and information 
on 2007 worker and case characteristics will be available in November 2008.  For additional data, access the BLS Internet 
site: http://www.bls.gov/iif/.

	For technical information about the CFOI program, please go to the BLS Handbook of Methods on the BLS web site.  
To get to that document, click on Workplace Injuries on the BLS home page, scroll down to IIF Documentation, and then click 
on BLS Handbook of Methods. The technical information and definitions for the CFOI Program are in Chapter 9, Part 2 of the 
BLS Handbook of Methods.