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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (April 18, 2014)
Worker Fatal Incidents and Total Fatalities by Month and Season in Oregon, 2011 Source: “Occupational Fatalities in Oregon Annual Report, 2011.” Oregon Occupational Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (OR-FACE) Program. Worker Fatal Incidents and Total Fatalities by Day in Oregon, 2011 Worker Fatal Incidents and Total Fatalities by Time of Incident, 2011 Memorial for Workers I write these words of honor, for those who gave their lives; And for their families, their husbands and their wives. For those whose lives were spent, doing what they must; Working for a living like every one of us. Their time cut short, by things that didn’t have to be; To make the workplace safer, for people like you and me. To make sure their stories will never go un- told; To always keep their memories from ever growing cold. We must remember the price they all had to pay; When we honor the men and women on Workers Memorial Day. M IKE B AIRD M ACHINISTS L ODGE 21 L A C ROSSE , W ISCONSIN Federal data shows 4,383 job-related deaths in U.S. in 2012 A total of 4,383 fatal work injuries were recorded in the United States in 2012. That’s down from 4,693 fatali- ties in 2011, according to preliminary data from the Census of Fatal Occupa- tional Injuries (CFOI) conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The 2012 total represents the sec- ond lowest preliminary total since CFOI was first conducted in 1992. Key findings of the 2012: • Fatal work injuries in the private construction sector increased 5 percent to 775 in 2012, from 738 in 2011. Total hours worked in the private construc- tion industry increased 1 percent in 2012. The increase in fatalities follows five consecutive years of declining fa- tal injury counts in the construction sector. Fatal construction injuries are down 37 percent since 2006. • 708 decedents were identified as contractors, many of whom worked in construction and transportation occu- pations. • Fatal work injuries declined among non-Hispanic white workers (down 10 percent) and Hispanic or Latino workers (down 5 percent) in APRIL 18, 2014 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS 2012. Fatal work injuries were higher among non-Hispanic black or African- American workers and non-Hispanic Asian workers. • Fatal work injuries involving workers under 16 years of age nearly doubled, rising from 10 in 2011 to 19 in 2012 — the highest total since 2005. Fatal work injuries in the other age groups declined in 2012. Fatal work in- juries among workers 55 years of age and older declined for the second straight year. • Work-related suicides declined 10 percent from 2011 totals, but violence accounted for about 17 percent of all fatal work injuries in 2012. • Fatal work injuries in the private mining sector rose in 2012, led by an increase in fatal injuries to workers in oil and gas extraction industries. Fatal- ities rose 23 percent to 138, reaching a new high. • Fatal work injuries involving men fell from 4,308 in 2011 to 4,045 in 2012 — the lowest total since the in- ception of the fatality census in 1992. • Transportation incidents ac- counted for more than two out of every five fatal work injuries. Of the 1,789 transportation-related fatal injuries, about 58 percent (1,044 cases) were roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicles. Non-roadway incidents, such as a tractor overturn in a farm field, accounted for another 13 percent of the fatalities. • Fatal falls, slips, or trips took the lives of 668 workers in 2012. Falls to a lower level accounted for 544, or about 81 percent of those fatalities. The height of the fall was reported in 437 of the fatal falls to a lower level. Of those cases, about one in four occurred after a fall of 10 feet or less. Another one-fourth of the fatal fall cases oc- curred from falls of over 30 feet. • The number of workers fatally in- jured after being struck by objects or equipment increased by 7 percent (to 509). This includes 233 workers struck by falling objects or equipment and 199 struck by powered vehicles or mo- bile equipment not in normal opera- tion. Revised 2012 data from CFOI will be released in this Spring. PAGE 11
