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