According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), preliminary reports indicate that a total of 4,340 fatal work injuries occurred in 2009. That number represents a 17 percent decline in workplace fatalities, down from 5,214 in 2008.
Though an encouraging number, the BLS notes that economic factors played a major role in the reduction, as they did in 2008 as well. The recession, job loss and workforce reduction measures by companies all contributed to the decline. Overall, the total number of hours worked fell by 6 percent in 2009 on top of a 1 percent reduction in 2008. In August, the national unemployment rate stood at 9.6 percent according to the BLS.
Construction Industry
The construction industry experienced the most fatal injuries during 2009; however, the number of construction fatalities fell 16 percent, following a 19 percent reduction in 2008. Economic factors again played a major role in this reduction, as total work hours for the construction sector have fallen 17 and 10 percent over the last two years. Since 2006, private sector construction fatalities have fallen by more than one-third.
The construction industry also accounts for half of all fatal falls, which also fell this year. The number of fatal accidents involving falls was down from 700 in 2008 to 617 in 2009.
Fatalities in Trade and Maintenance Industries Up
Despite the overall decline in work hours, there were some industries that reported higher numbers than in prior years. Fatalities in the wholesale trade industry were up 3 percent. Occupations in building and grounds cleaning and maintenance also experienced a rise in fatal accidents, up 6 percent from the previous year.
The data was collected by the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), a division of the BLS Occupational Safety and Health Statistics (OSHS)
program. The BLS expects some of the preliminary numbers to rise when final the CFOI report for 2009 is released in April 2011.
