U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Mountain-Plains Information Office

News Release Information

Thursday, October 6, 2011

PDF

PDF version of the Utah Workplace Fatalities

Contacts

Technical information:

Media contact:

(816) 285-7000

Utah Workplace Fatalities – 2010

Fatal work injuries totaled 42 in 2010 for Utah, 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 Utah decreased by 6 from one year earlier. In fact, the 42 fatalities in 2010 was the lowest total in the 19-year history of the series. Fatal occupational injuries in the state reached a series high of 78 in 2007. (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.

Chart 1. Total work-related fatalities and selected events, Utah 1992-2010

Highway incidents were the most frequent type of workplace fatality in Utah in 2010, accounting for 7 deaths but down from 14 in 2009. (See table 2.) This year's total was the lowest recorded since publication of the series began in 1992. The number of fatal work injuries from highway incidents reached a series high of 26 in 1997. Fatalities due to falls to a lower level rose to 6 in 2010, up from 4 a year earlier. Work fatalities resulting from being struck by an object or equipment were responsible for 5 worker deaths in 2010, the same count as in 2009.

In the United States, highway incidents were also the most frequent fatal workplace event, accounting for 21 percent of fatal work injuries. Utah's share of on-the-job fatalities due to highway incidents was lower than the national percentage, at 17 percent. Nationwide, homicides and falls to a lower level were the next most frequent type of event, each with 11 percent of the work-related fatalities. In Utah, homicides at work accounted for 7 percent of occupational fatalities and falls to a lower level, 14 percent.

Additional key characteristics:

Men accounted for 35, or 83 percent, of the work-related fatalities in the state. (See table 3.) Transportation incidents, which include highway, nonhighway, pedestrian, air, water, and rail, were responsible for 12 of these fatalities.
In Utah, 81 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 26, or 62 percent, of the state's work-related fatalities in 2010. Nationally, workers in this group accounted for 60 percent of the on-the-job fatalities.
Of the 42 workers that suffered occupational fatalities in Utah, 90 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remaining were self-employed.
The construction sector had the largest number of fatalites, 7, followed by local government with 5. Falls accounted for 3 worker deaths in construction. Transportation incidents were responsible for 3 deaths in local government.
Transportation and material moving occupations had the highest number of workplace fatalities (11), with heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers accounting for 4 of these deaths. Workers in construction and extraction occupations had the second highest fatality count 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.

Table 1. Fatal occupational injuries in Utah by selected event groups, 1992-2010
Year	Total fatalities	Highway incidents		Falls to a lower level		Struck by object or equipment
Year	Total fatalities	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
1992	59	10	17	--	--	5	8
1993	66	21	32	7	11	11	17
1994	66	18	27	7	11	11	17
1995	51	17	33	4	8	4	8
1996	64	16	25	4	6	8	13
1997	66	26	39	4	6	10	15
1998	67	23	34	10	15	3	4
1999	54	21	39	5	9	9	17
2000	61	21	34	5	8	5	8
2001	65	20	31	4	6	10	15
2002	52	18	35	--	--	3	6
2003	54	24	44	3	6	7	13
2004	50	23	46	6	12	5	10
2005	54	22	41	3	6	5	9
2006	60	16	27	6	10	6	10
2007	78	22	28	3	4	4	5
2008	64	15	23	4	6	5	8
2009	48	14	29	4	8	5	10
2010 (1)	42	7	17	6	14	5	12
Footnotes: (1) Totals for 2010 are preliminary.
NOTE: Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

Table 2. Fatal occupational injuries by event or exposure, Utah, 2009-2010
Event or exposure(1)	2009	2010
Event or exposure(1)	Number	Number	Percent
Total	48	42	100
Transportation incidents	27	15	36
Highway	14	7	17
Collision between vehicles, mobile equipment	5	--	--
Moving in opposite directions, oncoming	4	--	--
Noncollision	7	4	10
Jack-knifed or overturned-no collision	5	3	7
Worker struck by a vehicle	5	3	7
Aircraft accident	6	--	--
Assaults and violent acts	--	7	17
Homicides	--	3	7
Self-inflicted injuries	--	3	7
Contact with objects and equipment	7	8	19
Struck by object or equipment	5	5	12
Struck by falling object or equipment	4	4	10
Caught in or compressed by equipment or objects	--	3	7
Falls	4	8	19
Fall to lower level	4	6	14
Fall from roof	--	3	7
Exposure to harmful substances or environments	--	4	10
Fires and explosions	6	--	--
Footnotes: (1) Based on the 2007 BLS Occupational Injury and Illness Classification Manual. Includes other events and exposures, such as bodily reaction, in addition 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 2010 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 3. Fatal occupational injuries by worker characteristics, Utah, 2009-2010
Worker characteristics	2009	2010
Worker characteristics	Number	Number	Percent
Total	48	42	100
Employee Status
Wage and salary workers(1)	40	38	90
Self-employed(2)	8	4	10
Gender
Men	45	35	83
Women	3	7	17
Age(3)
20 to 24 years	3	--	--
25 to 34 years	7	14	33
35 to 44 years	7	6	14
45 to 54 years	11	6	14
55 to 64 years	11	8	19
65 years and over	8	5	12
Race or Ethnic Origin(4)
White, non-Hispanic	39	34	81
Hispanic or Latino	8	4	10
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 exclude 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 2010 are preliminary. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, in cooperation with state and federal agencies, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.

Last Modified Date: October 28, 2011