October 28, 2004 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Fatal work injuries from accidental gunshot wounds

From 1993 to 2002, 175 workers were killed on the job as the result of an accidental gunshot wound. There were 61,146 workplace fatalities suffered by all workers during this 10-year period.

[Chart data—TXT]

About 27 percent of fatal occupational injuries from accidental gunshot wounds in the 1993-2002 period were sustained by workers in service occupations.

Most of the service workers killed in such incidents were employed in protective service occupations: Police and detectives, including supervisors, accounted for 14 percent of all accidental gunshot wound fatalities; and guards, including supervisors, accounted for 7 percent. 

About 17 percent of occupational fatalities due to accidental gunshot wounds were in farming, forestry, and fishing occupations. About 15 percent were in technical, sales, and administrative support occupations. Another 15 percent were in military occupations.

These data are from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), part of the Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities program. CFOI statistics for military occupations are for resident armed forces. Incidents in countries other than the U.S. are excluded from CFOI data. To learn more about fatal on-the-job accidental gunshot wounds, see "Fatal Occupational Injuries from Accidental Gunshot Wounds, 1993-2002" in Compensation and Working Conditions Online, September 2004.