Fatal work injuries totaled 215 in 2010 for Florida, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Janet S. Rankin, the Bureau's regional commissioner, noted that while the 2010 count was preliminary, this year’s fatality count was the lowest annual total for the State since the Bureau began tracking workplace fatalities in 1992. Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 422 in 2004 to this year’s all-time low. (See table 1 and chart 1.)

Nationwide, a preliminary total of 4,547 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2010, about the same as the final count of 4,551 fatalities recorded in 2009, according to results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program. Final 2010 CFOI data will be released in Spring 2012.

Highway incidents were the most frequent type of workplace fatality in Florida in 2010, accounting for 55 deaths. (See table 2.) One year earlier, fatalities due to this event reached a series low of 44. There were 35 homicides in 2010, an increase of 5 from the previous year. Fatalities resulting from falling to a lower level and being struck by an object or equipment declined to 21 and 13, respectively, in 2010, both series lows for their respective categories.

In the United States, highway incidents were also the most frequent fatal workplace event, accounting for 21 percent of fatal work injuries. Florida’s share of on-the-job fatalities due to this event accounted for a larger share, 26 percent. Nationwide, falls to a lower level and homicides were the next most frequent events, each with 11 percent of the total work related fatalities. In Florida, falls to a lower level, with 10 percent of the total, accounted for a similar share as that for the nation, while homicides, at 16 percent of the total, represented a greater share than nationwide. Being struck by an object or equipment accounted for 9 percent of work related fatalities in the United States compared to 6 percent in Florida.

Additional key characteristics:

• Men accounted for 189, or 88 percent, of the work-related fatalities in the state. Transportation incidents, which include highway, nonhighway, pedestrian, air, water, and rail, made up two out of every five of these fatalities.
• In Florida, 69 percent of those who died from a workplace injury were white non-Hispanics. Nationwide, this group accounted for 72 percent of work-related deaths. (See table 3.)
• Workers 25-54 years old—the prime working age group—accounted for 132, or 61 percent, of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2010. Nationally, workers in this group accounted for a similar percent of on-the-job fatalities.
• Of the 215 occupational fatalities in Florida, 87 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remaining workers were self-employed. The leading cause of death for wage and salary workers was transportation incidents; for the self-employed, it was assaults and violent acts.
• The trade, transportation, and utilities sector had the largest number of fatalities, 52, followed by construction with 40. Transportation incidents accounted for 28 of the worker deaths in trade, transportation, and utilities. Exposure to harmful substances or environments led to 12 on-the-job fatalities in construction.
• Transportation and material moving occupations had the highest number of workplace fatalities with 48, the majority of which were motor vehicle operators (36). Workers in construction and extraction occupations had the second highest fatality count at 35, followed by those in sales and related occupations, at 22.

Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries data are available on the BLS Internet site at www.bls.gov/iif/. Further information on the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries program, as well as other Bureau programs, is available on the Southeast Information Office Web site at www.bls.gov/ro4/ or by contacting us at 404-893-4222 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET.

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. during the 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 here: http://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/homch9_a1.htm. The technical information and definitions for the CFOI Program are in Chapter 9, Part III 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. The Bureau of Labor Statistics 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.