 | The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(May 2017) |
An occupational fatality is a death that occurs while a person is at work or performing work related tasks. Occupational fatalities are also commonly called "occupational deaths" or "work-related deaths/fatalities" and can occur in any industry or occupation.
Worldwide
Among the most prevalent occupational risk factors, the highest attributable deaths in 2016 were long working hours (>50 hours per week) with over 745,000 deaths. In second place was occupational exposure to particulate matter, gases and fumes at over 450,000 deaths, followed by occupational injuries at over 363,000 deaths. In fourth place was occupational exposure to asbestos at over 209,000 deaths and in fifth place occupational exposure to silica at over 42,000 deaths [1]
Common causes of occupational fatalities include falls, machine-related incidents, motor vehicle accidents, exposure to harmful substances or environment, homicides, suicides, fires, and explosions. In 2021, 3.6 of every 100,000 full-time workers experienced a fatal workplace injury. [2] Oftentimes, occupational fatalities can be prevented.
United States
In the United States in 2021, there were 5,190 workplace fatalities across all sectors. Of these 5,190 fatalities 42% of occupational fatalities occurred as a result of roadway incidents, 16% occurred following a slip, trip, or fall in the workplace, 9% were the result of a homicide. [3] Logging workers have the highest fatality rate with 82.2 of every 100,000 full-time workers experiencing a fatal workplace injury, followed by fishing and hunting workers with 75.2 of every 100,000 full-time workers experiencing a fatal workplace injury. [2]
 |  |
|---|---|
Worldwide
Data on the number of occupational fatalities per 100,000 workers is available from the International Labor Organization for various countries; the ILO says for most countries the rate is less than ten per 100,000 each year. However, a 1999 paper says the ILO figures are underestimates—for example the agricultural sector, which has a higher than average fatality rate, is not reported by many countries. The paper estimates that the number of fatal occupational accidents in the world in 1994 was 335,000, or 14 per 100,000 workers. The paper also estimated there were 158,000 fatalities commuting between work and home; and 325,000 fatal occupational diseases; for a total of 818,000 fatalities. [4]
According to statistics from the International Labour Organization occupational fatalities per 100,000 workers ranges from 0.1 to 25, with a worldwide average of 4.0 per every 100,000 workers. Panama and El Salvador have the lowest occupational fatality rates at 0.2 and 0.1 per 100,000 respectively. The country of the highest occupational fatality rate is Cuba at 25 per every 100,000 workers. Followed by Burudi and Egypt at 13.8 and 10.7 per 100,000 respectively. [5] The World Health Organization and International Labour Organization estimate that over 1.9 million people died as a result of work-related injures and diseases in 2016. 81% of these deaths are contributed to a variety of non-communicable diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, stroke, and ischemic heart disease accounting for 1.2 million deaths. Over the course of 16 years (2000–2016) international workplace deaths fell by 14%. During the same period heart disease related deaths associated with long working hours increased by 41%. [6]
According to Bureau of Labor Statistics men made up 91.4 percent of all workplace fatalities and 85.5 percent of intentional injuries by a person in 2021. [7] In European Union men made up 92.5 percent of all workplace fatalities in 2020 and 66.5 percent of all injuries that required 4 or more days of absence. [8]
According to the WHO/ILO Joint Estimates of the Work-related Burden of Disease and Injury, 2000-2016: Global Monitoring Report, the majority of work-related deaths were due to respiratory and cardiovascular disease. We may not realize it but there are many workplaces in the world that are full of harmful products for people to inhale them. When this occurs, it leads to various diseases and illnesses that are fatal to humans.
According to the World Health Organization, they found that diseases that are non-communicable accounted for the majority of occupational fatalities. The actual percentage is said to be 81 percent. Some of the largest causes of death are things like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease that accounted for 450,00 deaths. Strokes accounted for 400,000 deaths and ischaemic heart disease was 350,000 deaths. The remaining 19 percent of deaths were related to occupational injuries that tallied to 360,000 deaths. The WHO did many studies and realized that there are many factors and reasons for these illnesses to be so prevalent. Most of them strictly come from being exposed in the workplace to things such as carcinogens, air pollution, asthmagens, and many more. Many of these deaths come from being exposed for long periods of time due to long work days. [6]
Occupational fatalities are preventable. Prevention of occupational fatalities depends on the understanding that worker safety is not only the responsibility of the worker, but is the primary responsibility of the employer. Employers must train all employees in the appropriate safety procedures and maintain a safe working environment so that fatalities are less likely to occur. [10] An occupational fatality is not just the fault of the deceased worker; instead, it is the combination of unsafe work environments, insufficient safety training, and negligible employee supervision that contribute fatal incidents. As a result, it is imperative that an employer address all the potential [risk] factors at the workplace and educate all employees in safe work practices and risk awareness.
In order to perform adequate risk assessment of injuries that occur in the workplace, health and safety professionals use resources such as the Haddon Matrix. This model assesses the risks leading up to, during, and after a death in order to prevent future incidents of a similar nature. Employers and employees can learn how to identify risk factors in their work environment in order to avoid incidents that may result in death.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires that all employers maintain a record of occupational injuries, illnesses and fatalities. Occupational fatalities must be reported to OSHA within eight hours of the incident. Failure to do so can result in legal action against the employer including citations and fines. [11] Employers are responsible for staying current on OSHA standards and enforcing them in their own workplace. State OSHA organizations exist in twenty-eight states and are required to have the same or more rigorous standards than the federal OSHA standards. In these states, employers must abide by their state's regulations. It is not the responsibility of the employee to stay current on the OSHA standards.
In addition to OSHA, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) analyzes workplace injury and illness data from all fifty states as well as provides support for state-based projects in occupational health and safety. Under NIOSH, the Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program tracks and investigates occupational fatalities in order to provide recommendations for prevention. A voluntary program for individual states created in 1989, FACE is active in California, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Washington. The primary responsibilities of the state FACE programs are to track occupational fatalities in their state, investigate select fatalities, and provide recommendations for prevention. [12] As part of the prevention efforts, FACE programs also produce extensive prevention education materials that are disseminated to employees, employers, unions, and state organizations.
The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), within the U.S. Department of Labor, compiles national fatality statistics and is the key, comprehensive system in the surveillance of occupational fatalities in the United States.
Many other non-governmental organizations also work to prevent occupational fatalities. Trade associations and unions play an active role in protecting workers and disseminating prevention information. The National Safety Council also works to prevent occupational fatalities as well as provide resources to employers and employees.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is a regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor that originally had federal visitorial powers to inspect and examine workplaces. The United States Congress established the agency under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which President Richard M. Nixon signed into law on December 29, 1970. OSHA's mission is to "assure safe and healthy working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education, and assistance." The agency is also charged with enforcing a variety of whistleblower statutes and regulations. OSHA's workplace safety inspections have been shown to reduce injury rates and injury costs without adverse effects on employment, sales, credit ratings, or firm survival.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 is a US labor law governing the federal law of occupational health and safety in the private sector and federal government in the United States. It was enacted by Congress in 1970 and was signed by President Richard Nixon on December 29, 1970. Its main goal is to ensure that employers provide employees with an environment free from recognized hazards, such as exposure to toxic chemicals, excessive noise levels, mechanical dangers, heat or cold stress, or unsanitary conditions. The Act created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
A work accident, workplace accident, occupational accident, or accident at work is a "discrete occurrence in the course of work" leading to physical or mental occupational injury. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), more than 337 million accidents happen on the job each year, resulting, together with occupational diseases, in more than 2.3 million deaths annually.
An occupational injury is bodily damage resulting from working. The most common organs involved are the spine, hands, the head, lungs, eyes, skeleton, and skin. Occupational injuries can result from exposure to occupational hazards, such as temperature, noise, insect or animal bites, blood-borne pathogens, aerosols, hazardous chemicals, radiation, and occupational burnout.
Construction site safety is an aspect of construction-related activities concerned with protecting construction site workers and others from death, injury, disease or other health-related risks. Construction is an often hazardous, predominantly land-based activity where site workers may be exposed to various risks, some of which remain unrecognized. Site risks can include working at height, moving machinery and materials, power tools and electrical equipment, hazardous substances, plus the effects of excessive noise, dust and vibration. The leading causes of construction site fatalities are falls, electrocutions, crush injuries, and caught-between injuries.
An occupational hazard is a hazard experienced in the workplace. This encompasses many types of hazards, including chemical hazards, biological hazards (biohazards), psychosocial hazards, and physical hazards. In the United States, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conduct workplace investigations and research addressing workplace health and safety hazards resulting in guidelines. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) establishes enforceable standards to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses. In the EU, a similar role is taken by EU-OSHA.
A roofer, roof mechanic, or roofing contractor is a tradesperson who specializes in roof construction. Roofers replace, repair, and install the roofs of buildings, using a variety of materials, including shingles, bitumen, and metal. Roofing work includes the hoisting, storage, application, and removal of roofing materials and equipment, including related insulation, sheet metal, vapor barrier work, and green technologies rooftop jobs such as vegetative roofs, rainwater harvesting systems, and photovoltaic products, such as solar shingles and solar tiles.
A recommended exposure limit (REL) is an occupational exposure limit that has been recommended by the United States National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The REL is a level that NIOSH believes would be protective of worker safety and health over a working lifetime if used in combination with engineering and work practice controls, exposure and medical monitoring, posting and labeling of hazards, worker training and personal protective equipment. To formulate these recommendations, NIOSH evaluates all known and available medical, biological, engineering, chemical, trade, and other information. Although not legally enforceable limits, RELS are transmitted to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) of the U.S. Department of Labor for use in promulgating legal standards.
North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week is an annual celebration that happens during the first full week of May. The aim of the event is to raise awareness about occupational safety, health, and the environment (OSH&E) in order to avoid workplace injuries and illnesses.
Around the world, nearly 250 million children, about one in every six children, ages 5 through 17, are involved in child labor. Children can be found in almost any economic sector. However, at a global level, most of them work in agriculture (70%). Approximately 2.4 million adolescents aged 16 to 17 years worked in the U.S. in 2006. Official employment statistics are not available for younger adolescents who are also known to work, especially in agricultural settings.
Workplace health surveillance or occupational health surveillance (U.S.) is the ongoing systematic collection, analysis, and dissemination of exposure and health data on groups of workers. The Joint ILO/WHO Committee on Occupational Health at its 12th Session in 1995 defined an occupational health surveillance system as "a system which includes a functional capacity for data collection, analysis and dissemination linked to occupational health programmes".
Prevention through design (PtD), also called safety by design usually in Europe, is the concept of applying methods to minimize occupational hazards early in the design process, with an emphasis on optimizing employee health and safety throughout the life cycle of materials and processes. It is a concept and movement that encourages construction or product designers to "design out" health and safety risks during design development. The process also encourages the various stakeholders within a construction project to be collaborative and share the responsibilities of workers' safety evenly. The concept supports the view that along with quality, programme and cost; safety is determined during the design stage. It increases the cost-effectiveness of enhancements to occupational safety and health.
The Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program's goal is the prevention of occupational fatality. Program elements include:
A physical hazard is an agent, factor or circumstance that can cause harm with contact. They can be classified as type of occupational hazard or environmental hazard. Physical hazards include ergonomic hazards, radiation, heat and cold stress, vibration hazards, and noise hazards. Engineering controls are often used to mitigate physical hazards.
Fall protection is the use of controls designed to protect personnel from falling or in the event they do fall, to stop them without causing severe injury. Typically, fall protection is implemented when working at height, but may be relevant when working near any edge, such as near a pit or hole, or performing work on a steep surface. Many of these incidents are preventable when proper precautions are taken, making fall protection training not only critical, but also required for all construction workers. Fall Protection for Construction identifies common hazards and explains important safety practices to help ensure every team member is prepared to recognize fall hazards on the job and understand how to keep themselves and others safe.
Occupational safety and health (OSH) or occupational health and safety (OHS) is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at work. OSH is related to the fields of occupational medicine and occupational hygiene and aligns with workplace health promotion initiatives. OSH also protects all the general public who may be affected by the occupational environment.
People who are driving as part of their work duties are an important road user category. First, workers themselves are at risk of road traffic injury. Contributing factors include fatigue and long work hours, delivery pressures, distractions from mobile phones and other devices, lack of training to operate the assigned vehicle, vehicle defects, use of prescription and non-prescription medications, medical conditions, and poor journey planning. Death, disability, or injury of a family wage earner due to road traffic injury, in addition to causing emotional pain and suffering, creates economic hardship for the injured worker and family members that may persist well beyond the event itself.
There are a number of occupational hazards of grain facilities. These hazards can be mitigated through diligence and following proper safety procedures. Grain facility occupation exposure is the quantifiable expression of workplace health and safety hazards to which a grain-handling facility employee is vulnerable in performing their assigned duties. Exposure represents the probability that a given hazard will have some level of effect of a receptor of interest. This page uses data and information about grain facility occupational exposure in the United States.
The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, or the CFOI Program is a Federal/State cooperative program that publishes data on fatal cases of work-related injuries for all States, Territories, and New York City. The CFOI has detailed information on those who died at work due to a traumatic injury. CFOI data include all fatalities that occurred in the reference year that were the result of a workplace injury, regardless of when the injury occurred.
The Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses or the SOII program is a Federal/State cooperative program that publishes annual estimates on nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses. Each year, approximately 200,000 employers report for establishments in private industry and the public sector. In-scope cases include work-related injuries or illnesses to workers who require medical care beyond first aid. See the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for the entire record-keeping guidelines. The SOII excludes all work-related fatalities as well as nonfatal work injuries and illnesses to the self–employed; to workers on farms with 11 or fewer employees; to private household workers; to volunteers; and to federal government workers.
Aspects of occupations | |
|---|---|
