Fatal work injuries totaled 64 in 2010 for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. Metropolitan Statistical Area, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that while the 2010 count is preliminary, the number of work-related fatalities in the Washington metropolitan area increased from the 48 deaths recorded a year earlier. Still, the 2010 count was the second-lowest in the eight-year history of the series. (See table 1.) Eleven homicides, 10 highway incidents, and 9 pedestrian incidents made up nearly half of the work-related fatalities in the Washington area in 2010. (See chart 1 and table 2.) Final 2010 fatality data will be released in Spring 2012.

The Washington metropolitan area had the 7th-largest population nationally ¹ and recorded the 7th-highest fatality count among the 10 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the United States. (See chart 2.) The most populated area in the country—New York—had the highest number of workplace fatalities (145) in 2010. The smallest metropolitan area in this group—Boston—had the lowest fatality count with 32 deaths.

In the Washington area, workplace homicides decreased from 13 in 2009 to 11 in 2010. (See table 3.) Totals for this event have remained within a narrow range from 11 to 13 since the series began in 2003. Homicides were the most frequent fatal occupational injury in 8 of the 10 largest metropolitan areas in 2010, including Washington, where they accounted for 17 percent of total fatalities. Among the 10 largest metropolitan areas, Washington tied Chicago and Houston for the 7th-highest share of fatal workplace homicides. All of the 10 largest metropolitan areas had a higher percentage of occupational fatalities from homicides than the national share of 11 percent.

Highway incidents accounted for 10 of the fatal occupational injuries in the Washington metropolitan area in 2010, up from 3 in 2009. With highway incidents representing 16 percent of their totals, Washington and Miami tied for the 2nd-largest share of fatalities among the 8 metropolitan areas with publishable data in this category. All eight of these areas had lower shares of occupational fatalities from highway incidents than the 21 percent recorded for the nation. Highway incidents were the most frequent fatal workplace event in the nation during 2010.

The third-most frequent fatal event in the Washington area in 2010 was workers being struck by vehicles, which accounted for nine of the fatalities, up from seven the year before. Washington had a greater percentage of fatalities attributable to this event—14 percent—than the 6-percent national share and the shares for the six other metropolitan areas with publishable data in this category.

Additional key characteristics:

• Men accounted for 59, or 92 percent, of the work-related fatalities in the metropolitan area in 2010. Transportation incidents, which include highway, nonhighway, pedestrian, air, water, and rail, accounted for 20, or 34 percent, of these fatalities. Five women were fatally injured at work in the Washington area. (See table 4.)
• In the Washington area, 48 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 44, or 69 percent, of the work-related fatalities in the Washington metropolitan area in 2010; this was higher than the 60-percent share of worker deaths for this age group nationwide.
• Of the 64 occupational fatalities in the Washington area, 78 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remaining workers were self-employed. Transportation incidents made up the largest number of deaths among wage and salary workers. Among the self-employed, 9 of the 14 fatalities were caused by assaults and violent acts.
• The construction sector accounted for the largest portion of the Washington area’s fatal workplace injuries with 18 deaths, followed by government with 15. Transportation incidents were the leading cause of death for both groups, accounting for five fatalities in construction and nine in government. Together, these two industry sectors accounted for 52 percent of the area’s work-related fatalities.
• Construction and extraction occupations had the highest number of on-the-job fatalities in the metropolitan area with 16; construction laborers accounted for 5 of these fatalities and electricians for 4. Transportation and material moving occupations had the second-highest fatality count at nine with heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers accounting for two-thirds of these.

Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries data are available on the BLS Internet site at www.bls.gov/iif. For personal assistance or further information on the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries program, as well as other Bureau programs, contact the Mid-Atlantic Information Office at 215-597-3282 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET. Information on the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries and other programs and surveys are available on our Web site at www.bls.gov/ro3.

Footnotes

¹ Metropolitan area populations based on 2010 estimates from the Census Bureau: www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-01.pdf

Technical Note

Background of the program. The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), part of the BLS Occupational Safety and Health Statistics (OSHS) program, compiles a count of all fatal work injuries occurring in the U.S. during the calendar year. The CFOI 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 and definitions for the CFOI program, please go to the BLS Handbook of Methods on the BLS web site here: www.bls.gov/opub/hom/homch9_a1.htm.

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.

Acknowledgments. BLS thanks the District of Columbia Department of Health; Virginia Department of Labor and Industry; Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation; and West Virginia Division 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 Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (Federal Employees' Compensation and Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation divisions); the Federal Railroad Administration; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; 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.

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, dated February 2005. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) consists of the Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, Md. Metropolitan Division (MD) and the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. Metropolitan Division (MD).

• The Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, Md. MD consists of Frederick and Montgomery Counties in Maryland.
• The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. MD consists of the District of Columbia; Calvert, Charles, and Prince George's Counties in Maryland; Arlington, Clarke, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren Counties in Virginia; Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas and Manassas Park Cities in Virginia; and Jefferson County in West Virginia.

Table 1. Fatal occupational injuries in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV by selected event groups, 2003-2010

Year	Total fatalities	Homicides		Highway Incidents		Workers struck by vehicles
		Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
2003	80	12	15	12	15	8	10
2004	84	11	13	22	26	7	8
2005	99	11	11	19	19	7	7
2006	68	12	18	9	13	8	12
2007	76	13	17	16	21	12	16
2008	66	11	17	9	14	5	8
2009	48	13	27	3	6	7	15
2010	64	11	17	10	16	9	14
NOTE: Data for 2010 are preliminary. Data for 2009 are revised and final. Preliminary data issued August 19, 2010, reported a total of 47 fatal work injuries in the Washington, D.C., area for calendar year 2009. Since then, 1 additional job-related fatal injury was identified, bringing the total job-related fatal injury count for 2009 to 48.

Table 2. Fatal occupational injuries by selected event groups in the 10 largest metropolitan areas in 2010

Metropolitan Areas(1)	Total fatalities(2)	Homicides	Highway incidents	Workers struck by vehicles
United States(3)	4,547	506	968	277
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa.	145	29	15	11
Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill.-Ind.-Wis.	123	21	16	7
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas	82	14	12	9
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas	80	14	14	--
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif.	74	13	6	3
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md.	70	14	8	7
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va.	64	11	10	9
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach, Fla.	51	18	8	--
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga.	43	15	--	4
Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H.	32	4	--	--
Footnotes: (1) Metropolitan areas used in this table are Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) based on definitions from the Office of Management and Budget Bulletin Number 05-02, February 2005. (2) Data are based on a preliminary total of 4,547 fatal work injuries for 2010. (3) Also includes fatalities occurring in nonmetropolitan areas.
Note: Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

Table 3. Fatal occupational injuries by event or exposure, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, 2009-2010

Event or exposure(1)	2009	2010
	Number		Percent
Total	48	64	100
Transportation incidents	12	21	33
Highway	3	10	16
Collision between vehicles, mobile equipment	--	5	8
Vehicle struck object on side of road	--	4	6
Worker struck by a vehicle	7	9	14
Assaults and violent acts	17	18	28
Homicides	13	11	17
Shooting	8	9	14
Self-inflicted injuries	4	7	11
Contact with objects and equipment	5	8	13
Struck by object or equipment	--	4	6
Caught in or compressed by equipment or objects	3	3	5
Falls	10	9	14
Fall to lower level	10	8	13
Fall from ladder	--	3	5
Fall from roof	3	--	--
Exposure to harmful substances or environments	4	7	11
Contact with electric current	3	5	8
Contact with overhead power lines	--	3	5
Footnotes: (1) Based on the 2007 BLS Occupational Injury and Illness Classification Manual. Includes other events and exposures, such as bodily reaction, in addtion to those shown separately.
NOTE: Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do meet publication criteria. Data for 2009 are preliminary. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, in cooperation with state and federal agencies, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.

Table 4. Fatal occupational injuries by worker characteristics, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, 2009-2010

Worker characteristics	2009	2010
	Number		Percent
Total	48	64	100
Employee Status
Wage and salary workers(1)	36	50	78
Self-employed(2)	12	14	22
Gender
Men	43	59	92
Women	5	5	8
Age(3)
20 to 24 years	--	5	8
25 to 34 years	4	14	22
35 to 44 years	13	14	22
45 to 54 years	13	16	25
55 to 64 years	12	9	14
65 years and over	5	5	8
Race or Ethnic Origin(4)
White, non-Hispanic	25	31	48
Black, non-Hispanic	13	17	27
Hispanic or Latino	5	11	17
Asian	5	5	8
Footnotes: (1) May include volunteers and workers receiving other types of compensation. (2) Includes self-employed workers, owners of unincorporated businesses and farms, paid and unpaid family workers, and may include some owners of incorporated businesses or members of partnerships. (3) Because there may have been no incidents reported for some ages or because the data do not meet publication criteria, information is not available for all age groups. In addition, some fatalities may have had insufficient information with which to determine the age of the decedents. (4) Persons identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. The race categories shown exlcude Hispanic and Latino workers.
NOTE: Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do meet publication criteria. Data for 2009 are preliminary. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, in cooperation with state and federal agencies, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.