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News Release Information

19-143-ATL
Tuesday, March 05, 2019

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (404) 893-4220

Fatal Occupational Injuries In Florida – 2017

Fatal work injuries totaled 299 in 2017 for Florida, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that the number of work-related fatalities in Florida was down from 309 in the previous year. Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 422 in 2004 to a low of 218 in 2012. (See chart 1.)

Nationwide, a total of 5,147 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2017, down slightly from the 5,190 fatal injuries in 2016, according to the results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program.

Type of incident

In Florida, transportation incidents resulted in 107 fatal work injuries and falls, slips, or trips accounted for 62 fatalities. These two major categories accounted for 57 percent of all workplace fatalities in Florida. (See table 1.) Worker fatalities from these two events were little changed from the previous year.

Exposure to harmful substances or environments was the third-most frequent fatal work event with 48 fatalities, also little changed from 2016. Violence and other injuries by persons or animals resulted in 43 work-related deaths, down from 48 in 2016.

Nationally, transportation incidents were the most frequent fatal workplace event in 2017, accounting for 40 percent of fatal work injuries. (See chart 2.) Falls, slips, or trips was the second-most common fatal event (17 percent), followed by violence and other injuries by persons or animals (16 percent).

Industry

The private construction sector had the largest number of fatalities in Florida with 75, similar to the count in the previous year. (See table 2.) The specialty trade contractors industry subsector accounted for 49, or 65 percent, of the fatal injuries in this industry.

The private administrative and waste services sector had 52 workplace fatalities compared to 48 in the previous year. Thirty-eight, or 73 percent, of those fatally injured in this sector worked in the services to buildings and dwellings industry group.

Occupation

Transportation and material moving occupations and construction and extraction occupations had the highest number of workplace fatalities with 76 and 63, respectively. (See table 3.) Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers accounted for 38 of the 76 fatalities in the transportation and material moving group. Construction laborers accounted for 22 of the 63 workplace fatalities within the construction and extraction group.

Additional highlights
  • Men accounted for 95 percent of the work-related fatalities in Florida, compared to the 93-percent national share. (See table 4.) Transportation incidents made up 36 percent of the fatalities for men in Florida.

  • White non-Hispanics accounted for 56 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 67 percent of work-related deaths.

  • Workers 25-54 years old accounted for 63 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2017, compared to 55 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.

  • Of the 299 fatally-injured workers in Florida, 85 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed. The most frequent fatal event for both groups of workers was transportation incidents.


Technical Note

Background of the program. The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), part of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (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 ensures counts are as complete and accurate as possible. For the 2017 national data, over 23,400 unique source documents were reviewed as part of the data collection process. For the Florida 2017 data, 1,144 unique source documents were reviewed. For technical information and definitions for CFOI, please go to the BLS Handbook of Methods on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/home.htm.

Federal/State agency coverage. The CFOI includes data for all fatal work injuries, even those that may be outside the scope of other agencies or 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. More on the scope of CFOI can be found at www.bls.gov/iif/cfoiscope.htm and www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/concepts.htm.

Acknowledgments. BLS thanks the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity for their efforts in collecting accurate, comprehensive, and useful data on fatal work injuries. BLS also appreciates the efforts of all federal, state, local, and private sector entities that provided 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 industrial relations and workers' compensation agencies; state and local police departments; and state farm bureaus.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Fatal occupational injuries by event or exposure, Florida, 2016–17
Event or exposure (1) 2016 2017
Number Number Percent

Total

309 299 100

Violence and other injuries by persons or animals

48 43 14

Intentional injury by person

45 42 14

Homicides (Intentional injury by other person)

28 34 11

Shooting by other person--intentional

22 25 8

Transportation incidents

105 107 36

Aircraft incidents

4 4 1

Rail vehicle incidents

-- 5 2

Pedestrian vehicular incident

26 19 6

Water vehicle incidents

-- 4 1

Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle

62 65 22

Roadway collision with other vehicle

43 40 13

Roadway collision with object other than vehicle

7 16 5

Roadway noncollision incident

12 9 3

Nonroadway incident involving motorized land vehicles

12 10 3

Fires and explosions

9 7 2

Explosions

7 7 2

Falls, slips, trips

64 62 21

Falls on same level

10 7 2

Falls to lower level

54 53 18

Exposure to harmful substances or environments

50 48 16

Exposure to electricity

23 19 6

Direct exposure to electricity

10 7 2

Indirect exposure to electricity

13 12 4

Exposure to temperature extremes

4 3 1

Exposure to other harmful substances

21 21 7

Nonmedical use of drugs or alcohol--unintentional overdose

17 16 5

Contact with objects and equipment

33 31 10

Struck by object or equipment

21 24 8

Struck by powered vehicle--nontransport

10 12 4

Struck by falling object or equipment--other than powered vehicle

7 10 3

Caught in or compressed by equipment or objects

8 5 2

Footnotes:
(1) Based on the BLS Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) 2.01 implemented for 2011 data forward.

NOTE: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.


Table 2. Fatal occupational injuries by industry, Florida, 2016–17
Industry (1) 2016 2017
Number Number Percent

Total

309 299 100

Private industry

286 282 94

Natural resources and mining

17 13 4

Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting

17 13 4

Crop production

9 10 3

Construction

76 75 25

Construction

76 75 25

Heavy and civil engineering construction

11 19 6

Specialty trade contractors

61 49 16

Foundation, structure, and building exterior contractors

21 22 7

Building equipment contractors

13 14 5

Building finishing contractors

18 6 2

Other specialty trade contractors

9 7 2

Manufacturing

14 17 6

Trade, transportation, and utilities

68 67 22

Utilities

2 2 1

Wholesale trade

10 3 1

Retail trade

19 16 5

Transportation and warehousing

37 46 15

Truck transportation

18 32 11

General freight trucking

10 14 5

Specialized freight trucking

8 18 6

Support activities for transportation

11 8 3

Information

6 -- --

Financial activities

7 6 2

Professional and business services

53 58 19

Administrative and waste services

48 52 17

Administrative and support services

46 46 15

Services to buildings and dwellings

37 38 13

Landscaping services

33 29 10

Educational and health services

11 7 2

Leisure and hospitality

21 27 9

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

6 9 3

Accommodation and food services

15 18 6

Food services and drinking places

14 14 5

Other services, except public administration

12 10 3

Government (2)

23 17 6

Federal government

1 -- --

State government

4 3 1

Local government

18 14 5

Footnotes:
(1) Industry data are based on the North American Industry Classification System, 2012.
(2) Includes fatal injuries to workers employed by governmental organizations regardless of industry.

NOTE: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.


Table 3. Fatal occupational injuries by occupation, Florida, 2016–17
Occupation (1) 2016 2017
Number Number Percent

Total

309 299 100

Management occupations

7 13 4

Other management occupations

5 7 2

Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers

4 3 1

Business and financial operations occupations

-- 4 1

Financial specialists

-- 4 1

Computer and mathematical occupations

-- -- --

Architecture and engineering occupations

-- 3 1

Life, physical, and social science occupations

1 -- --

Community and social service occupations

-- -- --

Legal occupations

-- -- --

Education, training, and library occupations

3 -- --

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations

3 3 1

Entertainers and performers, sports and related workers

-- 3 1

Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations

3 -- --

Healthcare support occupations

-- -- --

Protective service occupations

14 20 7

Supervisors of protective service workers

1 4 1

Law enforcement workers

6 5 2

Other protective service workers

7 10 3

Food preparation and serving related occupations

5 8 3

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations

43 39 13

Supervisors of building and grounds cleaning and maintenance workers

7 7 2

Building cleaning and pest control workers

6 7 2

Grounds maintenance workers

30 25 8

Personal care and service occupations

7 4 1

Sales and related occupations

21 8 3

Supervisors of sales workers

8 3 1

Office and administrative support occupations

6 4 1

Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations

12 7 2

Agricultural workers

10 6 2

Construction and extraction occupations

68 63 21

Supervisors of construction and extraction workers

5 4 1

Construction trades workers

57 56 19

Carpenters

9 4 1

Construction laborers

10 22 7

Construction equipment operators

6 4 1

Electricians

8 8 3

Painters and paperhangers

6 4 1

Roofers

11 8 3

Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations

31 34 11

Supervisors of installation, maintenance, and repair workers

3 3 1

Vehicle and mobile equipment mechanics, installers, and repairers

6 7 2

Other installation, maintenance, and repair occupations

19 20 7

Production occupations

12 7 2

Transportation and material moving occupations

65 76 25

Air transportation workers

2 3 1

Motor vehicle operators

49 54 18

Driver/sales workers and truck drivers

43 49 16

Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers

34 38 13

Light truck or delivery services drivers

3 9 3

Taxi drivers and chauffeurs

6 4 1

Material moving workers

12 13 4

Laborers and material movers, hand

5 7 2

Military specific occupations (2)

-- -- --

Footnotes:
(1) Occupation data are based on the Standard Occupational Classification system, 2010.
(2) Includes fatal injuries to persons identified as resident armed forces regardless of individual occupation listed.

NOTE: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.


Table 4. Fatal occupational injuries by selected demographic characteristics, Florida, 2016–17
Worker characteristics 2016 2017
Number Number Percent

Total

309 299 100

Employee status

Wage and salary workers (1)

263 255 85

Self-employed (2)

46 44 15

Gender

Men

279 283 95

Women

30 16 5

Age (3)

20 to 24 years

21 14 5

25 to 34 years

46 53 18

35 to 44 years

58 61 20

45 to 54 years

77 74 25

55 to 64 years

74 61 20

65 years and over

32 35 12

Race or ethnic origin (4)

White, non-Hispanic

165 168 56

Black or African-American, non-Hispanic

44 44 15

Hispanic or Latino

91 81 27

Asian, non-Hispanic

8 4 1

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) Information may not be available for all age groups.
(4) Persons identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. The race categories shown exclude Hispanic and Latino workers.

NOTE: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, March 05, 2019