August 22, 2000 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

On-the-job deaths due to falls in 1999

In 1999, deaths resulting from on-the-job falls increased slightly to 717.

Fatal occupational injuries due to falls by year, 1992-99
[Chart data—TXT]

This increase, coupled with a decline in homicides, made falls the second-leading cause of fatal work injuries for the first time since the fatality census began in 1992. (Highway crashes continued as the leading cause of on-the-job fatalities during 1999.)

About half of the fatal falls were from a roof, ladder, or scaffold, and slightly over half of the fatal falls occurred in the construction industry.

These data are a product of the BLS Safety and Health Statistics Program. Additional information is available from "National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 1999," news release USDL 00-236.