NIOSH Program Portfolio

Transportation, Warehousing and Utilities

Inputs: Occupational Safety and Health Risks

More than 7 million workers in transportation, warehousing, and utilities industries are at risk for fatal and nonfatal injuries. Occupations within these industries account for 5% of U.S. workers and 15% of workplace fatalities. Workers employed in truck transportation account for 58% of the fatalities in transportation, warehousing, and utilities industries. In addition to being at risk of fatal injuries, workers in these industries are at risk of injury or illness from transportation incidents, overexertion, electrocution, vehicle emissions, and falls.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes detailed information about occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities for all industry sectors.

Fatalities

In 2006, transportation and warehousing industries recorded 832 fatal work injuries, the second highest total among industry sectors. Fewer fatalities were reported in water and rail transportation than in 2005. The 537 fatalities in truck transportation, which accounted for 8% of all occupational fatalities in the U.S., represented a decrease of 6% from 2005.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2006
External Link: http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/cfoi.nr0.htm

Fatal occupational injuries* by private industry (2)† and selected event or exposure, 2006
Transportation, Warehousing and Utilities	Fatalities		Selected event or exposure §
	Number	Percent **	Highway ‡	Homicides	Falls	Struck by object
Transportation and warehousing	832	15	55	4	3	6
Air transportation	51	1	-	-	-	-
Rail transportation	19	§§	-	-	-	-
Water transportation	16	§§	-	-	-	-
Truck transportation	537	9	71	1	3	5
Transit and ground passenger transportation	57	1	37	49	-	-
Support activities for transportation	81	1	20	-	-	22
Couriers and messengers	41	1	66	7	-	7
Warehousing and storage	17	§§	-	-	-	-
Utilities	52	1	17	-	15	12

* Totals include data for industries not shown separately.
† Based on the North American Industry Classification System, 2002.
§ The figure shown is the percentage of the total fatalities for that industry group.
** The figure shown is the percentage of total occupational fatalities.
‡ "Highway" includes deaths to vehicle occupants resulting from traffic incidents that occur on the public roadway, shoulder, or surrounding area. It excludes incidents occurring entirely off the roadway, such as in parking lots and on farms; incidents involving trains; and deaths to pedestrians or other nonpassengers.
§§ Less than or equal to 0.5 percent.

Source: Fatal occupational injuries by industry and selected event or exposure, 2006
External Link: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cfoi.t02.htm
Additional BLS occupational fatality information is available in the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries
External Link: http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/cfoi.toc.htm

Transportation and Warehousing

This industry includes establishments engaged in transportation of passengers and freight via air, water, rail, and ground, as well as warehousing and storage of goods, sightseeing transportation, and various related support activities. This sector accounted for nearly 7 percent of all private industry injury and illness cases in 2006, but made up only 4 percent of employment. Although the rate for the transportation and warehousing sector fell by one-half case in 2006, this sector reported the highest rate among service-providing industry sectors—6.5 cases per 100 full-time workers.

Utilities

This sector comprises establishments that provide electric power, natural gas, water, and sewage removal. This relatively small industry sector accounted for only about one-half of one percent of private industry employment and injury and illness cases in 2006. A 12 percent decrease in the number of injury and illness cases reported among establishments in this sector resulted in a decline in the injury and illnesses rate from 4.6 to 4.1 cases per 100 full-time workers in 2006. Among the three 4-digit NAICS industries in this sector, only water, sewage, and other systems (NAICS 2213) experienced a significant decline in the injury and illnesses rate, falling from 7.6 to 5.2 cases per 100 full-time workers in 2006.

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Source: BLS Workplace Injury and Illness Summary
External link: http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/osh.nr0.htm

Detailed data on nonfatal injuries and illnesses in the Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities sector can be found in the following table:
Number of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses involving days away from work by industry and selected events or exposures leading to injury or illness, 2006
External link: http://stats.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/osh/case/ostb1796.pdf

Additional BLS data on occupational injuries and illnesses can be found here:
http://stats.bls.gov/iif/oshcdnew.htm

NIOSH Program:

Transportation, Warehousing and Utilities

Program Description
Inputs
• Sector Description
• Economic Factors
• Occupational Risks
• National Research Agenda (NORA)
• NIOSH Strategic Goals
• Partners
• NIOSH Contacts
Activities
• NIOSH Research Projects
• NIOSH Funded Research Grants
Outputs
• Publications
• Topic Pages
• Products
• Research to Practice
• Conferences
Outcomes
Review & Evaluation
• Program Review
• National Academies Evaluation



Focus Area: Global Collaborations in Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities