U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Mountain-Plains Information Office

Fatal work injuries totaled 80 in 2010 for Colorado, 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 Colorado decreased by 3 from one year earlier. In fact, the 80 fatalities in 2010 was the second-lowest total in the 19-year history of the series. Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 139 in 2001 to a low of 77 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 fatal work injuries in 2009. These fatal injury counts were the lowest U.S. annual totals since the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program was first conducted in 1992.

Highway incidents were the most frequent type of workplace fatality in Colorado in 2010, accounting for 17 deaths, down from 24 in 2009. (See table 2.) This year's total was the lowest recorded since publication of the series began in 1992. After reaching a series high of 42 fatalities in 2006, the number of fatal work injuries from highway incidents has decreased each year. Fatalities due to self-inflicted injuries rose to 11 in 2010, up from 9 a year ago. Work fatalities resulting from being struck by an object or equipment rose from 5 in 2009 to 10 in 2010, while falls to a lower level were responsible for 10 deaths in 2010 compared to 9 a year earlier.

In the United States, highway incidents were also the most frequent fatal workplace event, accounting for 21 percent of fatal work injuries. Colorado's share of on-the-job fatalities due to highway incidents was the same as the nation. Nationwide, homicides and falls to a lower level were the next most frequent type of event, each with 11 percent of work-related fatalities. In Colorado, homicides at work accounted for 11 percent of occupational fatalities and falls to a lower level, 13 percent.

Additional key characteristics:

• Men accounted for 72, or 90 percent, of the work-related fatalities in the state. (See table 3.) Transportation incidents, which include highway, nonhighway, pedestrian, air, water, and rail, made up one out of every three of these fatalities.
• In Colorado, 74 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 43, or 54 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 80 workers that suffered occupational fatalities in Colorado, 74 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remaining were self-employed.
• Two sectors, agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting and retail trade, had the largest number of fatalities, 12 each. Construction had the next highest number of worker deaths with 10. Transportation incidents and contact with objects and equipment each accounted for 5 of the worker deaths in agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting. Assaults and violents acts were the most frequent event in retail trade with 8 workplace fatalities. Falls were responsible for 3 deaths in the construction industry.
• Transportation and material moving occupations had the highest number of workplace fatalities with 18, the majority of which were heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (13). Workers in sales and related occupations had the second highest fatality count at 12, followed by those in management, at 10.

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 Mountain-Plains Information Office Web site at www.bls.gov/ro7/ or by contacting us at 816-285-7000 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. 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 here: 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: October 28, 2011

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