Fatal work injuries totaled 86 in 2010 for Alabama, 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, the number of work-related fatalities in Alabama rose by 11 from one year earlier. Still, the 2010 total was the second-lowest in the 19-year history of the series. Fatal occupational injuries in the State have ranged from a high of 155 in 1996 to last year’s all-time low of 75. (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.

Homicides were the most frequent type of workplace fatality in Alabama in 2010, accounting for 16 deaths. (See table 2.) This is the first time since 1996 that homicides were the leading cause of on-the-job fatalities in the State. Fatalities due to highway incidents declined from 19 to 13 in 2010. Highway incidents have been the most prevalent cause of workplace deaths for 16 of the 19 years in the series. Workplace fatalities resulting from falls to a lower level and being struck by an object or equipment both increased in 2010. Falls to a lower level increased from 4 to 13, and fatal injuries resulting from being struck by an object or equipment rose from 5 to 7 in 2010.

In the United States, highway incidents were the most frequent fatal workplace event, accounting for 21 percent of fatal work injuries in 2010. Alabama’s share of on-the-job fatalities due to this event, however, was below the national average, at 15 percent. Nationwide, falls to a lower level and homicides were the next most frequent types of events, each with 11 percent of the work-related fatalities. Both of these events accounted for a higher share in the State, 15 percent each. Shares of workplace fatalities due to being struck by an object or equipment for the nation and Alabama were nine and eight percent, respectively.

Additional key characteristics:

• Men accounted for 80, or 93 percent, of the work-related fatalities in the State. Transportation incidents, which include highway, nonhighway, pedestrian, air, water, and rail, made up 36 percent of these fatalities. (See table 3.)
• In Alabama, 58 percent of those who died from a workplace injury were white non-Hispanics, while black non-Hispanics accounted for 30 percent. Nationwide, these groups accounted for 72 and 8 percent of work-related deaths, respectively.
• Workers 25-54 years old—the prime working age group—accounted for 56, or 65 percent, of the State’s work-related fatalities in 2010. Nationally, workers in this group accounted for 60 percent of on-the-job fatalities.
• Of the 86 occupational fatalities in Alabama, 83 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remaining were self-employed. The leading cause of death for wage and salary workers was transportation incidents. Homicides accounted for more than half of the deaths for the self-employed.
• The construction and trade, transportation, and utilities industry sectors had the largest number of fatalities, each with 15. Falls accounted for six of the worker deaths in construction. Transportation incidents resulted in nine worker fatalities in the trade, transportation, and utilities industry sector.
• Transportation and material moving occupations had the highest number of workplace fatalities with 20, the majority of which were motor vehicle operators (13). Workers in construction and extraction occupations had the second-highest fatality count at 17, followed by installation, maintenance, and repair occupations with 12.

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.

Last Modified Date: November 1, 2011