Fatal work injuries totaled 95 in 2010 for West Virginia, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that while the 2010 count is preliminary, the number of work-related fatalities in West Virginia increased by 54 from one year earlier. In fact, while the fatality count of 41 in 2009 was the second-lowest total in the 19-year history of the series, the 2010 count was the highest. Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from 2010’s high of 95 to a low of 40 in 2002. (See table 1 and chart 1.) The 2010 total includes the 29 fatalities from the Upper Big Branch Mine incident on April 5, 2010.

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, according to results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program. Final 2010 CFOI data will be released in Spring 2012.

Fires were the most frequent type of workplace fatality in West Virginia in 2010, accounting for 33 deaths, including the 29 fatalities from the Upper Big Branch mining disaster. (See table 2.) Since 1992 when fatality data were first reported, workplace deaths due to fire were not frequent enough to be published in any other year except for 2006, when nine fatalities were reported. Fatalities due to highway incidents increased from 11 in 2009 to 20 in 2010, which is the highest count since 2001 when an identical number was reported. Work-related fatalities resulting from being struck by an object or equipment increased from seven to eight over the year.

In West Virginia, fires accounted for 35 percent of on-the-job fatalities in 2010. While the number of work-related deaths in the United States resulting from fires more than doubled over the year, this event still represented just 2 percent of the national total in 2010. Highway incidents, the second-most frequent fatal workplace event in West Virginia and the most frequent nationwide, accounted for 21 percent of fatal work injuries both in the state and throughout the nation. Being struck by an object or equipment accounted for 8 percent of occupational fatalities in West Virginia and 9 percent across the United States.

Additional key characteristics:

• Men accounted for 89, or 94 percent, of the work-related fatalities in the state. Fires and explosions made up more than one-third of these fatalities. Transportation incidents, which include highway, nonhighway, pedestrian, air, water, and rail, accounted for about one-third of the fatalities for men. (See table 3.)
• In West Virginia, 96 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 62, or 65 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 95 occupational fatalities in West Virginia, 85 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remaining workers were self-employed. The leading cause of death for wage and salary workers was fires and explosions, followed by transportation incidents.
• The mining industry had the largest number of fatalities in West Virginia with 37, followed by construction with 10. Fires and explosions accounted for 30 of the worker deaths in mining. In the construction industry, exposure to harmful substances or environments was the leading event with five fatalities.
• Construction and extraction occupations had the highest number of workplace fatalities with 35 deaths. Transportation and material moving occupations had the second-highest count with 21 fatalities.
• Among West Virginia’s metropolitan areas, Huntington-Ashland, W.Va.-Ky.-Ohio registered the highest number of work-related fatalities at 10, followed by Charleston, W.Va., at 8. (See chart 2.)

Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries data are available on the BLS Internet site at www.bls.gov/iif. For personal assistance or further information on the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries program, as well as other Bureau programs, contact the Mid-Atlantic Information Office at 215-597-3282 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET. Information on the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries and other programs and surveys are available on our Web site at www.bls.gov/ro3.

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 about and definitions for 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.

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 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 in West Virginia by selected event groups, 1992–2010

Year	Total fatalities	Fire Fatalities		Highway incidents		Struck by an object or equipment
		Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
1992	77	--	--	16	21	20	26
1993	66	--	--	14	21	11	17
1994	61	--	--	12	20	7	11
1995	56	--	--	17	30	12	21
1996	66	--	--	21	32	10	15
1997	53	--	--	10	19	16	30
1998	57	--	--	13	23	14	25
1999	57	--	--	13	23	13	23
2000	46	--	--	12	26	4	9
2001	63	--	--	20	32	6	10
2002	40	--	--	12	30	5	13
2003	51	--	--	17	33	5	10
2004	58	--	--	16	28	10	17
2005	46	--	--	15	33	5	11
2006	79	9	11	16	20	7	9
2007	61	--	--	15	25	10	16
2008	53	--	--	12	23	7	13
2009	41	--	--	11	27	7	17
2010	95	33	35	20	21	8	8
NOTE: Data for 2010 are preliminary. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, in cooperation with state and federal agencies, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.

Table 2. Fatal occupational injuries by event or exposure, West Virginia, 2009–2010

Event or exposure(1)	2009	2010
	Number		Percent
Total	41	95	100
Transportation incidents	19	32	34
Highway	11	20	21
Collision between vehicles, mobile equipment	4	6	6
Moving in opposite directions, oncoming	3	3	3
Vehicle struck object on side of road	5	12	13
Overturned	3	--	--
Nonhighway (farm, industrial premises)	5	4	4
Worker struck by a vehicle	--	4	4
Water vehicle accident	--	3	3
Contact with objects and equipment	11	14	15
Struck by object or equipment	7	8	8
Struck by falling object or equipment	3	7	7
Caught in or compressed by equipment or objects	3	5	5
Falls	--	5	5
Exposure to harmful substances or environments	4	8	8
Contact with temperature extremes	--	3	3
Fires and explosions	4	34	36
Fires	--	33	35
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, West Virginia, 2009–2010

Worker characteristics	2009	2010
	Number		Percent
Total	41	95	100
Employee Status
Wage and salary workers(1)	38	81	85
Self-employed(2)	3	14	15
Gender
Men	40	89	94
Women	--	6	6
Age(3)
20 to 24 years	5	--	--
25 to 34 years	10	18	19
35 to 44 years	4	18	19
45 to 54 years	11	26	27
55 to 64 years	6	24	25
65 years and over	5	4	4
Race or Ethnic Origin(4)
White, non-Hispanic	34	91	96
Black, non-Hispanic	4	4	4
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 18, 2011