CF AR 1/15/97 Fatl's Invlving Youths '92-95 Job-related Fatalities Involving Youths, 1992-95 by Blaine Derstine More than 700 workers aged 19 or younger were victims of work-related fatalities between 1992-95, an average of 180 deaths each year./1 Work-related deaths occurred primarily in farming and retail establishments. The hazards encountered during the operation of tractors and other farm machinery on the family farm are killers of many youths. Also, retail jobs where workers interact with the public and handle money and merchandise put young workers in vulnerable positions for violence. Job-related fatalities by year The youth fatality total of 720 in 1992-95 accounted for about 3 percent of the Nation's job-related fatalities. For 1992-94, youths accounted for slightly less than 3 percent of these fatalities. However, in 1995, for the first time, youths accounted for more than 3 percent of all job-related fatalities. That year witnessed the highest number of youth fatalities, or 11 percent more than averaged in 1992-94. (See table 1.) Fatalities in the 18- to 19- year-old group accounted for the largest increase over the 1193-95 period. Occupations Young farm workers, except managers, lead all other youths in job-related fatalities (table 2). The primary event that caused these fatalities was nonhighway vehicular incidents, in which a youth operated or helped to operate a vehicle on a farm or parking lot. Workers in occupations that interact with the public also had high numbers of job-related fatalities, most often due to assaults and violent acts. Homicide was the leading manner of death among sales workers, retail and personal services, and food preparation occupations. Homicide accounted for between 70 percent and 81 percent of the job- related deaths in those occupations. Construction occupations also took their toll on youths. Over the 4-year period, construction laborers and construction trades, except supervisor, comprised 13 percent of the total, or 93 job-related fatalities. Event Transportation incidents and assault and violent acts were more than 60 percent of all job-related youth fatalities. Transportation incidents alone comprised 40 percent of them. Of the transportation incidents, 145 involved a single vehicle; 79 of these jackknifed or overturned. Another 45 workers were pedestrians struck by a vehicle. Assault and violent acts were involved in 157 job- related fatalities. (See chart 1.) Of the 138 homicides, firearms were used in 109. Worker characteristics Among young women, over 50 percent of job-related deaths were due to homicides. Among Asian or Pacific Islanders, 72 percent were victims of homicide; and among black youths, 46 percent were victims of homicide. Industry Job-related deaths for young workers was slightly higher in the retail industry than in agriculture, forestry, and fishing industries. Retail jobs require minimal levels of skill and often employ teens. Overall, retail sales workers are subject to high rates of assaults and violent acts, and young workers in such establishments are no exception. Those aged 18 to 19 have the largest number of job-related fatalities in the retail industry. The highest number of fatalities among 14- and 15-year olds and those under 14 were in agriculture, forestry, and fishing occupations. Forty-seven of the fatalities in these two age groups were for youths working on a family farm. Eighty percent of fatalities among youths under 14 were in agriculture, while in the 14- to 15-year age group agricultural fatalities comprised 46 percent of all fatalities. Table 1. Job-related fatalities by age, 1992-95 Year Number of fatalities Under 14- to 16- to 18- to All Total Per- 14 year 15 year 17 year 19 year Fatalities Youth cent olds olds olds olds ---------------------------------------------------------------- Total 25,390 720 2.8 51 56 162 451 1992 6,217 175 2.8 14 13 41 107 1993 6,331 170 2.7 13 16 39 102 1994 6,632 181 2.7 11 14 42 114 1995 6,210 194 3.1 13 13 40 128 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table 2. Occupations with the most job-related fatalities among youth, and primary event, 1992-95 Occupation/1 Number of fatalities Total Primary event (n) ------------------------------------------------------------ Total 720 Homicide (138), Highway (135) Farm, except managerial 115 Nonhighway (37) Sales workers, retail and personal services 71 Homicide (50) Laborers, except construction 57 Caught in or compressed by equipment (7) Highway (7) Construction Laborers 55 Pedestrian (14) Motor vehicle operators 50 Highway (33) Military 41 Highway (6) Construction trades, except supervisor 38 Contact with electric (11) Food preparation and service 33 Homicide (27) Mechanics and repairers 19 Highway (4) Freight stock, and material handlers 18 Homicide (5) Machine operators, and ten- ders, except precision 16 Caught in or compressed by equipment (4) ------------------------------------------------------------ 1 Based on the Census Bureau's 1990 occupation classification system. Table 3. Job-related fatalities and primary event, by selected characteristics, 1992-95 Characteristic Fatalities Primary Number Percent event ------------------------------------------------------------ Total 720 100 Homicide (138), Highway (135) Wage and salary workers 611 85 Homicide (128) Self-employed 21 3 Highway (7) Family business/1 88 12 Highway (14) Men 652 91 Highway (122) Women 68 9 Homicide (39) White 594 83 Highway (122) Black 62 9 Homicide (29) Asian or Pacific Islander 22 3 Homicide (16) American Indian, Aleut, Eskimo 7 1 Other or unknown 35 5 Homicide (8) Hispanic/2 119 17 Homicide (32) ------------------------------------------------------------ 1 Includes paid and unpaid family workers. 2 Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race. Table 4. Job-related fatalities by industry and age group, 1992-95 Number of fatalities Industry/1 Total Under 14- to 15- 16- to 17- 18- to 19- youth 14 years year olds year olds year olds --------------------------------------------------------------------- Total 720 51 56 162 451 Retail 159 4 10 45(5)/2 100(4) Agriculture, forestry, and fishing 155 40(31) 26(16) 42(11) 47(6) Construction 102 - - 25 72 Services 90 - - 19 63 Manufacturing 74 3 4 9 58 Public Administration 59 - - 4 53 Other/nonclassifiable 81 - - 18 58 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Standard Industrial Classification Manual, 1987 edition. 2 Numbers in parenthesis are the number of youths working in a family business. NOTE: Dashes indicate data that are not available or do not meet publication criteria. -Endnotes- 1 The Bureau of Labor's Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries program has collected a census of occupational fatality data nation wide for 1992-1995. The BLS CFOI program uses diverse data sources to identify, verify and profile fatal work injuries. Information about each workplace fatality (occupation and other worker characteristics, equipment being used, and circumstances of the event) is obtained by cross-referencing source documents, such as death certificates, workers' compensation records, and reports to federal and state agencies. This method assures counts are as complete and accurate as possible. The data in this article are from CFOI, 1992-1995 For more information concerning the CFOI program, access the World Wide Web (http://stats.bls.gov/oshfat1.htm) or e-mail (cfoistaff@bls.gov).