Highest risk of falls in construction
April 18, 2000
Workers in the construction industry faced the highest risk for fatal workplace falls in 1997. The incidence rate for fatal workplace falls in the construction industry was 4.9 cases per 100,000 workers, about 10 times the overall rate of 0.5.
Workers in agriculture, forestry, and fishing experienced the second highest risk for fatal falls at 1.8, and mining workers, the third highest at 0.8.
The risk of fatal falls increased in construction, and in agriculture, forestry, and fishing between 1992 and 1997. During this period, the incidence rate for fatal falls increased from 4.2 to 4.9 in construction, and from 1.4 to 1.8 in agriculture, forestry, and fishing. The overall rate held steady at 0.5 cases per 100,000 workers.
These data are products of the BLS Safety and Health Statistics program. Learn more in "Workplace Falls" (PDF 86K), by Timothy Webster in the Spring 2000 issue of Compensation and Working Conditions.
SUGGESTED CITATION
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Editor's Desk, Highest risk of falls in construction on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2000/apr/wk3/art02.htm (visited June 19, 2013).
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