Fatal work injuries totaled 91 in Oklahoma in 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that while the 2010 count was preliminary, the number of work-related fatalities in the State had risen by 9 from one year earlier. Oklahoma was one of 27 states and the District of Columbia to report higher numbers of fatal work injuries in 2010 than in 2009. Fatal occupational injuries in the State have ranged from a high of 200 in 1995, the year of the Murrah Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma City, to a low of 75 in 1998. (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 Oklahoma in 2010, accounting for 21 deaths. (See table 2.) Despite the increase in total work-related fatalities in the State, deaths resulting from highway incidents declined sharply from 2009 when 34 workers lost their lives as a result of this type of fatal event. Work-related deaths due to being struck by an object or equipment increased from 9 to 11 over the year. In 2010, there were 7 on-the-job fatalities due to falls to a lower level, up from 3. The 7 work-related deaths due to fires and explosions in 2010 accounted for 8 percent of the State’s worker fatalities, compared to the national share of 4 percent.

In the United States, highway incidents were also the most frequent fatal workplace event, accounting for 21 percent of fatal work injuries. Despite the decline in the number of work-related highway fatalities in Oklahoma in 2010, this event accounted for a slightly larger share of worker deaths, 23 percent. Nationwide, falls to a lower level and homicides were the next most frequent type of fatal event, each with 11 percent of total work-related fatalities; the Oklahoma shares were lower at 8 percent for falls and 4 percent for homicides. Fatal injuries caused by being struck by an object or equipment accounted for 9 percent of U.S. on-the-job deaths compared to 12 percent in Oklahoma.

Additional key characteristics:

• Men accounted for 88 of the 91 work-related fatalities in the state. (See table 3.) Transportation incidents, which include highway, nonhighway, pedestrian, air, water, and rail, made up 43 percent of these fatalities.
• In Oklahoma, 73 percent of those who died from a workplace injury were white non-Hispanics. Nationwide, this group accounted for 72 percent of work-related deaths.
• Workers 25-54 years old—the prime working age group—accounted for 60, or 66 percent, of the State’s work-related fatalities in 2010. Nationally, workers in this group also accounted for 60 percent of on-the-job fatalities.
• Of the 91 occupational fatalities in Oklahoma, 91 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remaining fatalities were among the self-employed. The leading cause of death for wage and salary workers was transportation incidents, accounting for 47 percent of fatal injuries. Among the self-employed, the leading cause of worker fatalities was being struck by an object or equipment, accounting for 50 percent of fatal injuries.
• The construction sector had the largest number of fatalities, 19, followed by transportation and warehousing with 13. In the construction industry, transportation incidents were responsible for 7 fatal injuries and exposure to harmful substances or environments, for 4. In the transportation and warehousing industry, transportation incidents were also the most prevalent cause of workplace deaths accounting for 9 worker deaths in 2010.
• Construction and extraction occupations had the highest number of workplace fatalities in the State with 24, of which construction laborers accounted for 6. Workers in transportation and material moving jobs had the second-highest fatality count at 23, followed by those employed in management occupations (including farmers and ranchers) at 9.

Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries data are available on the BLS Internet site at www.bls.gov/iif/ and detailed data may be accessed from http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/outside.jsp?survey=fi. Further information on the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries program, as well as other Bureau programs, is available on the Southwest Information Office web site at www.bls.gov/ro6/ or by contacting us at 972-850-4800 from 8:00 to 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. CT.

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 at 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 thanks the Oklahoma Department of Labor for their efforts in collecting accurate, comprehensive, and useful data on fatal work injuries. BLS also 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.