December 01, 2005 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Workplace fatalities among Asian workers

For Asian workers, the leading type of fatal event in the workplace, accounting for more than half of all fatal work injuries from 1999 to 2003, was an assault or violent act.

[Chart data—TXT]

The fatal work injuries suffered by Asians were atypical when compared with the rest of the population. Only 15 percent of the fatal work injuries to non-Asian workers were the result of an assault or violent act.

The most common event causing a fatal workplace injury among non-Asian workers was a transportation event. Transportation incidents accounted for only 24 percent of Asian workplace fatal injuries during the 1999-2003 period, compared with 43 percent of all fatal workplace injuries to non-Asian workers.

Data from the BLS Injuries, Illnesses and Fatalities program provide a wide range of information about workplace fatalities. Additional information is available from "Fatal occupational injuries among Asian workers," by Jessica R. Sincavage, Monthly Labor Review, October 2005.