Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities

Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries

August 19, 2010

The preliminary count of fatal work injuries in the U.S. 2009 was 4,340, down from a revised total of 5,214 in 2008. Economic factors played a major role in the fatal work injury decrease in 2009, continuing a trend that began in 2007. Overall, fatal work injuries are down 26 percent since 2006. More »

Occupational Injuries and Illnesses by Selected Characteristics for State and Local Government

February 24, 2010

National data for State and local government on the case circumstances and worker characteristics for nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses requiring days away from work are available for the first time. In 2008, service occupations, including health care support and protective service workers, comprised 50 percent of the cases. More »

Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (Annual)

November 12, 2009

The nonfatal injury and illness rate among private industry employers in 2008 (3.9 cases per 100 workers) was at its lowest level since 2002 when recordkeeping requirements were revised. National public sector estimates covering State and local governments are available for the first time for 2008. More »

Current

• Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries
  • Final Data (PDF) (Revised Tables)  
  • Preliminary Data (HTML) (PDF 118K) 
• Nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses from the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses
• Industry counts and frequency rates (HTML) (PDF 62K) 
• Nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses requiring days away from work, State and local government workers (HTML) (PDF) 
• Nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses requiring days away from work (HTML) (PDF)

Archived

• Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries 
• Nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses from the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses
• Industry counts and frequency rates 
• Nonfatal injuries and illnesses requiring days away from work 
• Survey of Workplace Violence Prevention, 2005 (TXT) (PDF 187K)
• Charts and detailed tables
• Survey of Respirator Use and Practices (TXT) (PDF)
• Time of Lost-Workday Injuries and Illnesses, 2002 - First Results Announced By BLS (PDF)

Schedule

• Schedule of upcoming releases

Databases

Database Name	Special Notice	Top Picks	One Screen	Multi- Screen	Tables	Text Files
Tutorials: For help, try these tutorials.
Workplace Injuries & Illnesses
Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (2003 forward)
Nonfatal cases involving days away from work: selected characteristics (2003 forward)
Occupational Injuries and Illnesses: Industry Data

Calculators

Customized Injuries & Illnesses Tools		Tutorial
Occupational Injuries and Illnesses and Fatal Injuries Profiles Allows users to search nonfatal and fatal data for the nation and for States from the most current Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses and the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries programs. Users can search by industry, demographic characteristics, and case characteristics. Historical data for years prior to the current year are also available.
Incidence Rate Calculator and Comparison Tool Allows users to calculate injury and illness incidence rates for their specific establishment or firm and to compare them with the averages for the Nation, for States, and for the industry in which the establishment is found.

More Tools

• Series Report—Already know the series identifier for the statistic you want? Use this shortcut to retrieve your data.
• Flat files (FTP)—For those who want it all. Download a flat file of the entire database or large subset of the database.

Much of our data are already included in tables and articles. You can Search for those tables and articles that have a specific word or phrase included in their titles.

You can download an electronic version of any article or table from the BLS FTP site.

All IIF Databases »

Select a subject area

• OSHA recordable case rates (TXT) (PDF 95K) - latest incidence rates, by industry, for nonfatal work-related injuries and illnesses.
• NEW Fatal injuries – 2009 data now available
• Nonfatal (OSHA recordable) injuries and illnesses
• Industry incidence rates and counts
• Case and demographic characteristics
• Survey of Workplace Violence Prevention, 2005

• NEW Fatal Workplace Injuries in 2006, a Collection of Data and Analysis, Report 1015 -- Includes 27 charts, 7 tables, and 3 articles highlighting data gathered from the 2006 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.
• Occupational Injuries and Illnesses: Counts, Rates, and Characteristics, 2006, Report 1014 -- Includes 37 charts and accompanying text highlighting summary and case and demographic data gathered from the 2006 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses
• Fatal Workplace Injuries in 2005: A Collection of Data and Analysis, Bulletin 2593 -- Includes 27 charts, 8 tables, and 3 articles highlighting data gathered from the 2005 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries
• Occupational Injuries and Illnesses: Counts, Rates, and Characteristics, 2005, Bulletin 2592 — Includes 37 charts and accompanying text highlighting summary and case and demographic data gathered from the 2005 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses.
• Fatal Workplace Injuries in 2004: A Collection of Data and Analysis, Bulletin 2587 -- Includes 29 charts, 32 tables, and 5 articles highlighting data gathered from the 2004 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.
• Occupational Injuries and Illnesses: Counts, Rates, and Characteristics, 2004, Bulletin 2584 — includes 38 charts and accompanying text highlighting summary and case and demographic data gathered from the 2004 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses.
• Occupational Safety and Health Statistics Program - July 2006 - Program Brochure (PDF 3MB)
• National Summary report, Nonfatal Injuries and Illnesses, 2003 – detailed industry incidence rates and case counts (PDF 239K)
• National Summary report, Nonfatal Injuries and Illnesses, 2002 – detailed industry incidence rates and case counts (PDF 111K)
• The Compensation and Working Conditions (CWC) Online - includes articles that relate to occupational safety and health issues
• The Monthly Labor Review (MLR) publication online
• Fatal Occupational Injuries in the United States, 1995-1999: A Chartbook
• Use of Workers' Compensation Data for Occupational Injury and Illness Prevention

• History of the current BLS Safety and Health Statistics Programs
• Reliability of BLS Survey data
• Using Survey data to evaluate your firm's injury and illness experience
• BLS Handbook of Methods - documentation about our Safety and Health Programs
• Report on the Youth Labor Force
• Occupational Injuries and Illnesses Classification Manual

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How complete are BLS counts of workplace injuries and illnesses?
2. How many fatal occupational injuries occur in the United States each year that involve cranes?
3. How widespread is violence in the workplace? Homicides?
4. When is the next news release of work-related injury, illness, or fatality data?
5. I am a safety specialist interested in the types of injuries and illnesses that are occurring in my industry. I would like to know which employees are most likely to be injured, and what events are causing most of the injuries and illnesses. Do you have data that can help me?

All IIF FAQs »

• Hours-based fatality rates
• Corrections to "Nonfatal Occupational Injuries and Illnesses Requiring Days Away From Work 2007" News Release and Database
• Notice about Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Database (FI)
• Correction to news release "Nonfatal Occupational Injuries and Illnesses Requiring Days Away From Work, 2005" and to CH database
• Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses 2003 - Revised Published Employment Data
• Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Revised Data
• Recordkeeping changes affect the Occupational Injury and Illness data
• Occupational Safety and Health Statistics Changes to NAICS and SOC

• Census of fatal occupational injuries
• Survey of Occupational injuries and illnesses

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is responsible for the administration and interpretation of issues related to record keeping and safety standards. Here are links to assist you with these subjects:

• OSHA home page
• Record keeping (including the revised forms for January 2004)

Other Useful Links

• Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) - information related to safety and health issues in coal, metal, and non-metal mining industries
• The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)- a government organization that is part of the HHS.
• National Safety Council (NSC) a quasi government organization that was created by Act of Congress and publishes data related to safety, injuries, and fatalities that are both work-related and non-work related.
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) a government organization that is part of DOT.
• The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) a government organization that is an independent government commission.
• SIC (Standard industrial classification) Manual
• NAICS (North American Industry Classification System)
• Current Population Survey - Occupational Employment and absences from work
• Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages - ES-202 program

What BLS does not have

• We consider data provided by individual companies to be confidential and not for public release. Costs are not available from the BLS Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities statistical program.

Office of Safety, Health and Working Conditions Contacts

Telephone: (202) 691-6170
Fax: (202) 691-6196 or (202) 691-7862
E-mail: Staff

Written inquiries should be directed to:

U.S. Department of Labor
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Office of Safety, Health and Working Conditions
Postal Square Building - Suite 3180
2 Massachusetts Ave., NE
Washington, D.C. 20212