August 17, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Rate of fatal work injuries rises
with age
Workers age 65 and over had the
highest workplace fatality rate of any age group in 1997. There were 13.8 fatalities per
100,000 workers among those who were 65 years old and over, compared to an overall rate of
4.7 fatalities.
[Chart data—TXT]
The occupational fatality rate rose with each age group.
The youngest workers shown in the chart, age 16 to 17, had the lowest rate, at 1.5 fatal
injuries per 100,000 workers. For the next group, 18 and 19 year olds, the rate was nearly
twice as high (2.8). With each successive group the rate increased, with the biggest
change occurring between 55-to-64 year olds and those 65 and over. Differences in
industries and occupations accounted for some of the variation in risk among age groups.
These data are a product of the BLS Safety and
Health Statistics Program. Additional information is available from "Fatal
Workplace Injuries in 1997: A Collection of Data and Analysis," BLS Report 934.
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: National Hispanic Heritage Month
In this Spotlight, we take a look at the Hispanic labor force—including labor force participation, employment and unemployment, educational attainment, geographic location, country of birth, earnings, consumer expenditures, time use, workplace injuries, and employment projections.
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