August 10, 2007 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Fatal work injuries in 2006

There were 5,703 fatal work injuries in the United States in 2006, down slightly from the revised total of 5,734 fatalities in 2005.

[Chart data—TXT]

Of the 5,703 fatal work injuries in 2006, 5,202 occurred in private industry. Service-providing industries in the private sector accounted for 47 percent (2,693 fatalities), while private goods-producing industries accounted for 44 percent (2,509 fatalities). Government workers accounted for 9 percent (501) of fatalities.

The overall rate of fatal work injuries in 2006 was 3.9 per 100,000 workers, down from a rate of 4.0 per 100,000 in 2005. The rate for the U.S. in 2006 was lower than the rate for any year since the fatality census was first conducted in 1992.

The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, part of the BLS Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities program, provides the most complete count of fatal work injuries available. For more information on fatal work injuries, see "National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2006," (PDF) (TXT) news release USDL 07-1202. Data for 2006 are preliminary. The total for 2001 excludes work-related fatalities that resulted from the September 11 terrorist attacks, which were tabulated separately.