Internet: www.bls.gov/ro5/  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
GENERAL INFORMATION: (312) 353-1880 Tuesday, December 2, 2008
MEDIA CONTACT: Paul LaPorte 
(312) 353-1138  

 

Workplace Fatalities in Wisconsin for 2007

 
Fatal work injuries in Wisconsin totaled 103 for 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Regional Commissioner Jay A. Mousa noted that the 2007 fatality count increased by 12 from last year.  Please note that the 2007 results are preliminary; final results will be released in April 2009.  The most frequent types of fatal workplace events in the State were highway crashes (29), workers being struck by objects (12), and falls to a lower level (11).  Taken together, these three events 1/ accounted for just over one-half of the work-related fatalities in Wisconsin in 2007.

    
The most frequent on-the-job fatality in the State was from highway crashes (officially titled highway incidents and includes non-collision incidents) in 2007, with 29 deaths comprising 28 percent of total fatalities in Wisconsin.  The previous year, 17 crashes accounted for 19 percent of the State’s fatality count.  (See table A.)  Nationally, 24 percent of workplace deaths resulted from highway crashes, making it the most frequent fatal event.

 
Workers being struck by objects resulted in 12 on-the-job fatalities in Wisconsin in 2007, 6 fewer than this group’s high recorded the previous year.  Object strikes accounted for 12 percent of workplace fatalities in Wisconsin in 2007 and 20 percent a year ago.  Nationally, being struck by objects accounted for 9 percent of workplace fatalities in 2007.

 
Eleven fatal injuries by falling to a lower level occurred in the State in 2007, decreasing by 2 cases over the year.  Falls to a lower level represented 11 percent of workplace fatalities in Wisconsin and 13 percent of work related fatalities nationally.


Other work-related fatal injuries in Wisconsin included homicides (9); nonhighway transportation incidents (excluding rail, air, and water) (7); workers caught in or compressed by equipment or objects (6); exposure to caustic, noxious, or allergenic substances (6); and aircraft incidents (6). 

Table A. Fatal occupational injuries in Wisconsin by selected event groups, 1992-2007
Year Total fatalities Highway crashes Struck by object Falls to lower level
Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

1992

 135 21 12 16 16 7 5

1993

 138 22 6 8 16 8 6

1994

 109 26 13 14 24 10 9

1995

 117 29 5 6 25 5 4

1996

 108 27 6 7 25 14 13

1997

 114 25 5 6 22 14 12

1998

 97 29 6 6 30 6 6

1999

 105 34 12 13 32 8 8

2000

 107 27 7 8 25 7 7

2001

 110 35 8 9 32 12 11

2002

 91 24 8 7 26 7 8

2003

 103 22 17 17 21 16 16

2004

 94 20 13 12 21 10 11

2005

 125 33 13 16 26 20 16

2006

 91 17 19 18 20 13 14

2007

 103 29 28 12 12 11 11

NOTE: Totals for 2007 are preliminary.

 

Nationwide, a total of 5,488 fatal work injuries were reported in 2007, a decrease of 6 percent from the revised total of 5,840 reported in 2006.  While these results are preliminary, this figure represents the lowest annual total since the series began in 1992.  (See table B.)  Highway crashes in 2007 accounted for nearly one out of every four fatal work injuries and continued to lead all other events in the frequency of on-the-job fatalities.  Still, the 2007 count of 1,311 fatal highway crashes was the lowest annual total since 1993.  The 2007 total of 733 fatal falls to a lower level was the third highest since the fatality census began, but was slightly lower than the 738 recorded in 2006.  The number of workers (504) who were fatally injured from being struck by objects or equipment in 2007 was at the lowest level since the fatality census began and represented a 14-percent decline from the 2006 total. Two other events were also at series lows in 2007—fatal work injuries involving electrocutions (212) and fatalities resulting from fires and explosions (151).

 
Workplace homicides increased by 13 percent to 610 in 2007 from the series low of 540 that was reported in 2006.  Even after the increase, workplace homicides have declined 44 percent from the high of 1,080 reported in 1994.


Key characteristics of workplace fatalities in Wisconsin in 2007:

(Detailed data tables are available at www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/tgs/2007/iiffi55.htm.)

-- Men accounted for 90 percent of the work-related fatalities (93) in the State.  Transportation incidents (which includes highway, nonhighway, pedestrian, air, water, and rail) accounted for about two-fifths of these fatal injuries, while contact with objects and equipment accounted for another one-fifth.  Among women, 5 of the 10 deaths resulted from transportation incidents.

 
-- In Wisconsin, 89 percent of work related fatalities were among white, non-Hispanics.

 
-- Workers 25-54 years old—the prime working age group—accounted for nearly 50 percent of the State’s work-related fatalities in 2007; 43 percent were 55 years or older.  Nationally, workers 55 and over made up 27 percent of those fatally injured on the job.

 
-- Wage and salary workers represented 66 percent of Wisconsin’s workplace fatalities in 2007; the rest were self-employed.


-- The agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting industry sector had the largest number of fatalities (20), followed by construction (19) and manufacturing (13).  Transportation incidents (8) were the most frequent fatal event in agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting.  In the construction sector, transportation incidents and exposure to harmful substances and environments (6 each) were the most common fatal work injuries.  Contact with objects and equipment accounted for 6 of the 13 fatal events in the manufacturing sector.


-- Workers in the transportation and material moving occupational group suffered 23 work-related fatalities, the highest in the State in 2007.  This was followed closely by the management occupational group (21), 14 of which were managers of farms and ranches. Construction and extraction occupations had 12 fatalities, 4 of which were transportation incidents.


Table B. Fatal occupational injuries in the United States by selected event groups, 1992-2007
Year Total fatalities Highway crashes Falls to lower level Struck by object
Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

1992

 6,217 1,158 19 507 8 557 9

1993

 6,331 1,242 20 534 8 565 9

1994

 6,632 1,343 20 580 9 591 9

1995

 6,275 1,346 21 578 9 547 9

1996

 6,202 1,346 22 610 10 582 9

1997

 6,238 1,393 22 653 10 579 9

1998

 6,055 1,442 24 625 10 520 9

1999

 6,054 1,496 25 634 10 585 10

2000

 5,920 1,365 23 659 11 571 10

2001(1)

 5,915 1,409 24 700 12 553 9

2002

 5,534 1,373 25 638 12 505 9

2003

 5,575 1,353 24 604 11 531 10

2004

 5,764 1,398 24 738 13 602 10

2005

 5,734 1,437 25 664 12 607 11

2006(2)

 5,840 1,356 23 738 13 589 10

2007

 5,488 1,311 24 733 13 504 9

NOTE: 2007 data are preliminary
(1) Totals for 2001 exclude fatalities due to the events of September 11, 2001 which claimed the lives of 2,886 persons in work status.
(2) The BLS news release issued August 9, 2007, reported a total of 5,703 fatal work injuries for calendar year 2006. Since then, an additional 137 job-related fatalities were identified, bringing the total job-related fatality count for 2006 to 5,840.

Additional Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries data are available on the BLS Internet site at www.bls.gov/iif/.  For personal assistance or further information on the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries program, as well as other Bureau programs, contact the Midwest Information Office at (312) 353-1880, menu option 0, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. CT.  Information on the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries and other programs and surveys are available on our Web site at www.bls.gov/ro5/.

1/ Fatal events are categorized into several major groupings including transportation incidents, assaults and violent acts, and falls, among others.  These major groups are further broken down into more detailed groups.  See the Occupational Injury & Illness Classification System (OIICS) Manual at www.bls.gov/iif/oshoiics.htm for detailed information on the categories of fatalities used in this census.

TECHNICAL NOTE

Background of the program


The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, part of the BLS occupational safety and health statistics program, compiles a count of all fatal work injuries occurring in the U.S. in each calendar year.  The program uses diverse State, federal, and independent data sources to identify, verify, and describe fatal work injuries.  This assures counts are as complete and accurate as possible.


For technical information about the CFOI program, please go to the BLS Handbook of Methods on the BLS Web site.  To get to that document, click on Workplace Injuries on the BLS home page, scroll down to IIF Documentation, and then click on “BLS Handbook of Methods.”  The technical information and definitions for the CFOI Program are in Chapter 9, Part 2 of the BLS Handbook of Methods.


Federal/State agency coverage


The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries includes data for all fatal work injuries, whether the decedent was working in a job covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or other federal or State agencies or was outside the scope of regulatory coverage.  Thus, any comparison between the BLS fatality census counts and those released by other agencies should take into account the different coverage requirements and definitions being used by each agency.


Several federal and State agencies have jurisdiction over workplace safety and health. OSHA and affiliated agencies in States with approved safety programs cover the largest portion of the nation's workers.  However, injuries and illnesses occurring in certain industries or activities, such as coal, metal, and nonmetal mining and highway, water, rail, and air transportation, are excluded from OSHA coverage because they are covered by other federal agencies, such as the Mine Safety and Health Administration and various agencies within the Department of Transportation.


Acknowledgments


BLS thanks the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene for its efforts in collecting accurate, comprehensive, and useful data on fatal work injuries. BLS appreciates the efforts of all federal, State, local, and private sector entities that submitted source documents used to identify fatal work injuries.  Among these agencies are the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; the National Transportation Safety Board; the U.S. Coast Guard; the Mine Safety and Health Administration; the Employment Standards Administration (Federal Employees' Compensation and Longshore and Harbor Workers' divisions); the Federal Railroad Administration; the Department of Energy; State vital statistics registrars, coroners, and medical examiners; State departments of health, labor and industries, and workers' compensation agencies; State and local police departments; and State farm bureaus.

Detailed statistics on fatal occupational injuries in Wisconsin can be obtained at www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/tgs/2007/iiffi55.htm.

 



 

Last Modified Date: December 2, 2008