Fatal work injuries totaled 71 in 2011 for Maryland, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that while the 2011 count was preliminary, the number of work-related fatalities in Maryland remained the same over the year. Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 106 in 2006 to a low of 60 in 2008, slowly trending upward since the record low. (See chart 1.)

Nationwide, a preliminary total of 4,609 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2011, down from the final count of 4,690 fatalities recorded in 2010, according to results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program. Final 2011 CFOI data will be released in Spring 2013.

Of the 71 fatal work injuries reported in Maryland in 2011, 29 resulted from transportation incidents and 17 were the result of violence and other injuries by persons or animals; together these 2 major categories accounted for almost two-thirds of the state total. Within transportation incidents, more than half (17) were roadway incidents. In the violence and other injuries by persons or animals category, 10 deaths were the result of homicides and 5 were suicides. The third- and fourth-largest major fatal event categories in the state were contact with objects and equipment (accounting for nine fatalities) and falls, slips, and trips (accounting for eight). (See table 1.)

In the United States, transportation incidents were also the most frequent fatal workplace event in 2011; this category accounted for 41 percent of fatal work injuries both nationwide and in Maryland. (See chart 2.) Violence and other injuries by persons or animals was the second-most frequent type of event in the nation and in the state, with 17 and 24 percent of work-related fatalities, respectively. Contact with objects or equipment and falls, slips, and trips were the third- and fourth-most frequent events in the nation, as they were in Maryland.

Additional key characteristics in Maryland:

• The construction industry sector had the largest number of fatalities in the state with 13, down from 18 in the previous year. (See table 2.) The specialty trade contractor industry accounted for 11 of the worker deaths in 2011.
• Transportation and warehousing had the second-highest fatality count with 11, compared to 9 in 2010. Transportation incidents accounted for eight worker deaths in this sector in 2011.
• The administrative and support and waste management and remediation services sector followed with 10 work-related fatalities, up from 7 in the prior year. Half of these incidents in 2011 occurred in landscaping services.
• Transportation and material moving occupations had the highest number of workplace fatalities in Maryland with 20. (See table 3.) The majority of these fatalities (12) were heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers. Workers in construction and extraction occupations had the next-highest fatality count at 11.
• Men accounted for 65, or 92 percent, of the work-related fatalities in the state, the same percentage as the nation. (See table 4.) Transportation incidents made up 40 percent of fatalities among men in Maryland.
• In Maryland, 46 percent of those who died from a workplace injury were white non-Hispanics, lower than the 71 percent nationwide. However, 38 percent of fatally injured workers in the state were black or African-American non-Hispanics, while this group accounted for 9 percent of work-related deaths in the nation.
• Workers 25-54 years old—the prime working age group—accounted for 44, or 62 percent, of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2011. Nationally, workers in this group accounted for 60 percent of on-the-job fatalities.
• Of the 71 fatally injured workers in Maryland, 79 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed. The most frequent fatal event for wage and salary workers was transportation incidents, while for self-employed workers, it was violence and other injuries by persons or animals.
• The highest number of fatal workplace injuries in Maryland occurred on Wednesday with 16, or 23 percent, followed by Friday with 14, or 20 percent. Nationally, Wednesday was also the day of the week with the most fatalities with 18 percent; Friday was fifth with 15 percent.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200. Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

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 and definitions for the CFOI program, please go to the BLS Handbook of Methods on the BLS web site at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/homch9.pdf.

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 Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation 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.

Table 1. Fatal occupational injuries by selected* event or exposure, Maryland, 2011(1)

Event or exposure(2)	Number	Percent
Total	71	100
Violence and other injuries by persons or animals	17	24
Intentional injury by person	15	21
Homicides	10	14
Suicides	5	7
Injury by person—unintentional or intent unknown	1	1
Injury by person—unintentional or intent unknown	1	1
Transportation incidents	29	41
Aircraft incidents	1	1
Other in-flight crash	1	1
Pedestrian vehicular incident	4	6
Pedestrian struck by vehicle in roadway	1	1
Pedestrian struck by vehicle on side of road	1	1
Water vehicle incident	5	7
Fall or jump from water vehicle	1	1
Roadway incident involving motorized land vehicle	17	24
Roadway collision with other vehicle	8	11
Roadway collision with object other than vehicle	7	10
Nonroadway incident involving motorized land vehicle	-	-
Nonroadway collision with object other than vehicle	1	1
Fire or explosion	3	4
Fire	1	1
Other structural fire without collapse	1	1
Fall, slip, trip	8	11
Fall to lower level	6	8
Other fall to lower level	5	7
Exposure to harmful substances or environments	4	6
Exposure to electricity	4	6
Contact with objects and equipment	9	13
Struck by object or equipment	6	8
Struck by powered vehicle nontransport	1	1
Struck by falling object or equipment	4	6
Caught in or compressed by equipment or objects	2	3
Caught in running equipment or machinery	1	1
Struck, caught, or crushed in collapsing structure, equipment, or material	1	1
Struck, caught, or crushed in other collapsing structure or equipment	1	1
* For full table detail, see www.bls.gov/ro3/cfoimdtables.htm#event
Footnotes: (1) Data are preliminary. Revised and final 2011 data are scheduled to be released in Spring 2013. (2) Based on the BLS Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) 2.01 implemented for 2011 data forward.
NOTE: Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, in cooperation with State, New York City, District of Columbia, and Federal agencies, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.

Table 2. Fatal occupational injuries by selected* industry, Maryland, 2010-2011

Industry(1)	2010(2)	2011(3)
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	71	71	100
Private industry	61	63	89
Natural resources and mining	4	4	6
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	3	4	6
Fishing, hunting and trapping	-	3	4
Fishing	-	3	4
Construction	18	13	18
Specialty trade contractors	13	11	15
Building equipment contractors	6	4	6
Electrical contractors	-	2	3
Plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning contractors	4	1	1
Other specialty trade contractors	-	4	6
Site preparation contractors	-	3	4
All other specialty trade contractors	-	1	1
Manufacturing	4	3	4
Trade, transportation, and utilities	14	21	30
Wholesale trade	-	6	8
Merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods	-	3	4
Grocery and related product merchant wholesalers	-	1	1
Miscellaneous nondurable goods merchant wholesalers	-	2	3
Book, periodical, and newspaper merchant wholesalers	-	1	1
Flower, nursery stock, and florists' supplies merchant wholesalers	-	1	1
Retail trade	5	4	6
Food and beverage stores	-	2	3
Grocery stores	-	2	3
Convenience stores	-	2	3
Sporting goods, hobby, book, and music stores	-	1	1
Sporting goods, hobby, and musical instrument stores	-	1	1
Sporting goods stores	-	1	1
Transportation and warehousing	9	11	15
Rail transportation	-	1	1
Truck transportation	6	7	10
General freight trucking	3	6	8
General freight trucking, long-distance	-	4	6
Professional and business services	8	12	17
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services	7	10	14
Administrative and support services	7	8	11
Services to buildings and dwellings	5	5	7
Landscaping services	3	5	7
Education and health services	-	3	4
Educational services	-	1	1
Educational services	-	1	1
Technical and trade schools	-	1	1
Leisure and hospitality	6	5	7
Accommodation and food services	5	5	7
Food services and drinking places	4	4	6
Limited-service eating places	-	3	4
Government(4)	10	8	11
State government	-	2	3
Local government	5	6	8
* For full table detail, see www.bls.gov/ro3/cfoimdtables.htm#industry
Footnotes: (1) Industry data are based on the North American Industry Classification System, 2007. Total may include other industries not shown. (2) Preliminary data reported a total of 69 fatal work injuries in Maryland for 2010. Since then, an additional 2 job-related fatal injuries were identified, bringing the final job-related fatal injury count for 2010 to 71. (3) Data are preliminary. Revised and final 2011 data are scheduled to be released in Spring 2013. (4) Includes fatal injuries to workers employed by governmental organizations regardless of industry.
NOTE: Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, in cooperation with State, New York City, District of Columbia, and Federal agencies, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries

Table 3. Fatal occupational injuries by selected* occupation, Maryland, 2010-2011

Occupation(1)	2010(2)	2011(3)
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	71	71	100
Management occupations	8	3	4
Top executives	-	1	1
Chief executives	-	1	1
Life, physical, and social science occupations	-	1	1
Physical scientists	-	1	1
Chemists and materials scientists	-	1	1
Education, training, and library occupations	-	1	1
Primary, secondary, and special education school teachers	-	1	1
Secondary school teachers	-	1	1
Protective service occupations	6	6	8
Fire fighting and prevention workers	-	1	1
Fire fighters	-	1	1
Law enforcement workers	3	2	3
Police officers	3	2	3
Other protective service workers	-	3	4
Security guards and gaming surveillance officers	-	3	4
Food preparation and serving related occupations	-	1	1
Supervisors, food preparation and serving workers	-	1	1
First-line supervisors/managers, food preparation and serving workers	-	1	1
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations	6	7	10
Grounds maintenance workers	3	6	8
Sales and related occupations	4	6	8
Retail sales workers	-	2	3
Cashiers	-	1	1
Retail salespersons	-	1	1
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations	-	3	4
Fishing and hunting workers	-	3	4
Fishers and related fishing workers	-	3	4
Construction and extraction occupations	14	11	15
Construction trades workers	9	7	10
Construction laborers	5	3	4
Pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	-	1	1
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	10	5	7
Other installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	6	4	6
Line installers and repairers	-	1	1
Production occupations	-	3	4
Supervisors of production workers	-	1	1
First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers	-	1	1
Transportation and material moving occupations	16	20	28
Air transportation workers	-	1	1
Aircraft pilots and flight engineers	-	1	1
Motor vehicle operators	12	16	23
Driver/sales workers and truck drivers	11	15	21
Material moving workers	-	3	4
Industrial truck and tractor operators	-	1	1
* For full table detail, see www.bls.gov/ro3/cfoimdtables.htm#occupation
Footnotes: (1) Occupation data for 2010 are based on the Standard Occupational Classification system, 2000. Occupation data for 2011 are based on the Standard Occupational Classification system, 2010. Total may include occupations not shown. (2) Preliminary data reported a total of 69 fatal work injuries in Maryland for 2010. Since then, an additional 2 job-related fatal injuries were identified, bringing the final job-related fatal injury count for 2010 to 71. (3) Data are preliminary. Revised and final 2011 data are scheduled to be released in Spring 2013.
NOTE: Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, in cooperation with State, New York City, District of Columbia, and Federal agencies, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries

Table 4. Fatal occupational injuries by worker characteristics*, Maryland, 2010-2011

Worker characteristics	2010(1)	2011(2)
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	71	71	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers(3)	54	56	79
Self-employed(4)	17	15	21
Gender
Men	69	65	92
Women	-	6	8
Age(5)
20 to 24 years	6	4	6
25 to 34 years	13	14	20
35 to 44 years	12	17	24
45 to 54 years	21	13	18
55 to 64 years	13	13	18
65 and over	5	10	14
Race or ethnic origin(6)
White (non-Hispanic)	44	33	46
Black or African-American (non-Hispanic)	13	27	38
Hispanic or Latino	12	8	11
Asian or Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic)	-	3	4
* See www.bls.gov/ro3/cfoimdtables.htm#characteristic
Footnotes: (1) Preliminary data reported a total of 69 fatal work injuries in Maryland for 2010. Since then, an additional 2 job-related fatal injuries were identified, bringing the final job-related fatal injury count for 2010 to 71. (2) Data are preliminary. Revised and final 2011 data are scheduled to be released in Spring 2013. (3) May include volunteers and workers receiving other types of compensation. (4) 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. (5) Information may not be available for all age groups. (6) Persons identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. The race categories shown exclude Hispanic and Latino workers.
NOTE: Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, in cooperation with State, New York City, District of Columbia, and Federal agencies, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries

Last Modified Date: January 3, 2013

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