National Traumatic Occupational Fatality (NTOF) Surveillance System
The NTOF Surveillance System was developed in the 1980s by NIOSH to fill gaps in the knowledge of work-related injury deaths in the United States. Data was first being collected for calendar year 1980. NTOF supports descriptive and analytical epidemiologic uses of the data, such as describing the nature and magnitude of occupational injuries and fatal injury trends, identifying risk factors, testing hypothesis, and setting safety research priorities.
For a case to be included in NTOF, the death certificate must meet three criteria: (1) the decedent must be aged 16 or older; (2) the external cause of death is classified as E800–E999 (ICD–9 [WHO 1977]); and (3) the Injury at Work item on the death certificate is marked positive by the certifier. The NTOF data system contains 30 variables useful for describing characteristics of victims, as well as injury circumstances. Data elements include coded characteristics such as age, gender, race, occupation, and cause of death. In addition, narrative text for industry, occupation, causes of death, and injury characteristics are entered and maintained for focused research studies.
For this Chartbook, fatality rates are computed using NTOF data as numerators and BLS CPS data to estimate employed groups. As noted above, the BLS CPS is a sample survey of the civilian noninstitutional population. The employment data used for rate calculations are based on the number of workers rather than hours of work (or full-time equivalents). Fatality rates were calculated as average annual deaths per 100,000 workers. Rates were not calculated for cells with fewer than three cases because of the instability of rates based on small numbers. Frequencies and rates are presented only for the civilian workforce because denominator data are not easily obtainable for military personnel.
For further information, contact
Surveillance and Field Investigations Branch
Division of Safety Research
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
1095 Willowdale Road, MS–1808
Morgantown, WV 26505
Telephone: 304–285–6009
www.cdc.gov/niosh/injury/traumadata.html
