Fatal work injuries totaled 141 in 2010 for Michigan, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that while the 2010 count was preliminary, the number of work-related fatalities in Michigan rose by 47 from one year earlier. In the 19-year history of the series, fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 182 in 1999 to a low of 94 in 2009. (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 total of 4,551 fatal work injuries recorded in 2009, according to results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program. Final 2010 CFOI data will be released in spring 2012.

Homicides were the most frequent type of workplace fatality in Michigan in 2010. (See table 2.) After a series low of 9 in 2009, homicides accounted for 24 deaths in 2010. Highway incidents were the next most frequent fatal event in 2010, with 20 incidents compared to 15 recorded in 2009. Workers falling to a lower level and workers struck by objects or equipment resulted in 18 and 14 fatalities, respectively in 2010. This was up from 9 and 12 incidents, correspondingly, in 2009.

In the United States, highway incidents were the most frequent fatal workplace event, accounting for 21 percent of fatal work injuries. Michigan’s share of on-the-job fatalities due to this event was lower, 14 percent. Nationwide, falls to a lower level and homicide were the next most frequent types of event, each with 11 percent of work-related fatalities. Falls to a lower level in Michigan accounted for 13 percent of occupational fatalities in the state while work-related homicides accounted for 17 percent in 2010.

Additional key characteristics:

• Men accounted for 129, or 91 percent, of the work-related fatalities in the state. Transportation incidents, which include highway, nonhighway, pedestrian, air, water, and rail, made up 3 out of every 10 of these fatalities.(See table 3.)
• In Michigan, 82 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 83, or 59 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 141 occupational fatalities in Michigan, 69 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remaining were self-employed. The leading cause of death for wage and salary workers was transportation incidents and assaults and violent acts for the self employed.
• The trade, transportation, and utilities sector had the largest number of fatalities, 38, followed by the agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting sector with 24. Transportation incidents accounted for 16 of the worker deaths in trade, transportation, and utilities. Contact with objects and equipment accounted for 9 deaths in agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting.
• Transportation and material moving occupations had the highest number of workplace fatalities with 31, the majority of which were driver/sales workers and truck drivers (17). Workers in management occupations had the second highest fatality count at 26, followed by those in construction and extraction, at 18. Within management occupations, more than one-half of the fatalities were among farmers and ranch operators.

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 Midwest Information Office web site at www.bls.gov/ro5/ or by contacting us at 312-353-1880 from 8:00 a.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 at 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 Michigan by selected event groups, 1992-2010

Year	Total fatalities	Homicides		Highway incidents		Falls to a lower level		Struck by object or equipment
		Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
1992	143	26	18	20	14	14	10	9	6
1993	160	25	16	33	21	8	5	18	11
1994	180	39	22	34	19	10	6	24	13
1995	149	23	15	39	26	12	8	16	11
1996	155	29	19	39	25	20	13	14	9
1997	174	26	15	21	12	21	12	13	7
1998	179	22	12	30	17	16	9	14	8
1999	182	20	11	37	20	22	12	11	6
2000	156	13	8	24	15	17	11	25	16
2001	175	24	14	28	16	21	12	15	9
2002	152	22	14	26	17	18	12	17	11
2003	152	14	9	27	18	13	9	19	13
2004	127	22	17	19	15	12	9	10	8
2005	110	14	13	20	18	17	15	13	12
2006	157	11	7	31	20	21	13	19	12
2007	120	20	17	24	20	14	12	14	12
2008	123	13	11	18	15	17	14	12	10
2009	94	9	10	15	16	9	10	12	13
2010	141	24	17	20	14	18	13	14	10
NOTE: Data for 2010 are preliminary.

 

Table 2. Fatal occupational injuries by event or exposure, Michigan, 2009-2010

Event or exposure(1)	2009	2010
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	94	141	100
Transportation incidents	27	42	30
Highway	15	20	14
Collision between vehicles, mobile equipment	13	10	7
Moving in same direction	--	3	2
Moving in opposite directions, oncoming	9	--	--
Moving in intersection	4	--	--
Vehicle struck object on side of road	--	7	5
Nonhighway (farm, industrial premises)	4	7	5
Overturned	--	4	3
Worker struck by a vehicle	5	9	6
Assaults and violent acts	23	35	25
Homicides	9	24	17
Shooting	5	22	16
Stabbing	3	--	--
Self-inflicted injuries	12	10	7
Contact with objects and equipment	22	22	16
Struck by object or equipment	12	14	10
Struck by falling object or equipment	10	9	6
Caught in or compressed by equipment or objects	8	3	2
Caught in running equipment or machinery	--	3	2
Caught in or crushed in collapsing materials	--	4	3
Falls	12	22	16
Fall to lower level	9	18	13
Fall from ladder	--	8	6
Fall from roof	5	--	--
Fall on same level	3	3	2
Exposure to harmful substances or environments	9	17	12
Contact with electric current	5	7	5
Exposure to caustic, noxious, or allergenic substances	3	8	6
Inhalation of substance	--	6	4
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 not 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, Michigan, 2009-2010

Worker characteristics	2009	2010
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	94	141	100
Employee Status
Wage and salary workers(1)	67	97	69
Self-employed(2)	27	44	31
Gender
Men	84	129	91
Women	10	12	9
Age(3)
20 to 24 years	5	3	2
25 to 34 years	10	20	14
35 to 44 years	23	23	16
45 to 54 years	24	40	28
55 to 64 years	15	30	21
65 years and over	13	21	15
Race or Ethnic Origin(4)
White, non-Hispanic	85	115	82
Black, non-Hispanic	5	15	11
Hispanic or Latino	4	10	7
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 not 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.