Fatal work injuries totaled 19 in 2012 for the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C. Metropolitan Statistical Area, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that while the 2012 total was preliminary, this was the second-lowest count of fatal work injuries since area data were first published in 2003. Fatal occupational injuries in the area have ranged from a high of 36 in 2006 to a low of 17 in 2010. (See chart 1.)

Nationwide, a preliminary total of 4,383 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2012, down from a revised count of 4,693 fatal work injuries in 2011, according to results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program. Revised 2012 CFOI data will be released in the late Spring of 2014.

Of the 19 fatal work injuries reported in the Virginia Beach area in 2012, 8 resulted from falls, slips, and trips, accounting for 42 percent of the area’s fatality total in 2012. (See table 1.) Within this category, falls to lower levels accounted for all of the incidents. The violence and other injuries by persons or animals, exposure to harmful substances or environments, and contact with objects and equipment categories each accounted for three worker fatalities in 2012.

In the United States, transportation incidents was the most frequent fatal workplace event in 2012, accounting for 41 percent of fatal work injuries. (See chart 2. Note that transportation counts presented are expected to rise when updated 2012 data are released in Spring 2014 because key source documentation detailing specific transportation-related incidents has not yet been received.) Violence and other injuries by persons or animals was the second-most frequent type of event nationally with 17 percent of workplace fatalities; the share in Virginia Beach was similar at 16 percent. Contact with objects and equipment was the third-most frequent event in the nation, representing 16 percent of total workplace fatalities; this event represented a similar share in Virginia Beach.

 

Additional key characteristics in the Virginia Beach area:

• The construction sector had the largest number of fatalities in the Virginia Beach area with nine, little changed from the 2011 count. (See table 2.) Falls to a lower level accounted for six of these worker deaths.
• The transportation and warehousing sector had the second-highest fatality count in the area with four.
• Construction and extraction occupations had the highest number of workplace fatalities in the Virginia Beach area with 10. Three of these fatalities were construction laborers. (See table 3.) Workers in the transportation and material moving occupational group had the next-highest fatality count with three.
• Men accounted for 18 of 19 (95 percent) of the work-related fatalities in the Virginia Beach area. (See table 4.) Men made up 92 percent of the total nationwide.
• In the Virginia Beach area, 63 percent of those who died from a workplace injury were white non-Hispanics; nationally this group made up 68 percent. Non-Hispanic black or African-American workers accounted for 16 percent of the area’s fatal injuries, higher than the 10-percent share across the United States.
• Workers 25-54 years old—the prime working age group—accounted for 74 percent of the area’s work-related fatalities in 2012. Nationally, this age group made up 59 percent of on-the-job fatalities.
• Of the 19 fatally-injured workers in the area, 17, or 89 percent worked for wages and salaries. The most frequent fatal event for wage and salary workers was falls to a lower level, accounting for seven of these fatalities.
• In 2011, CFOI began identifying if a fatally-injured worker was working as a contractor and recording the industry of both the worker and the contracting firm. A contractor is defined as a worker employed by one firm but working at the behest of another firm that exercises overall responsibility for the operations at the site of the fatal injury. In 2012, Virginia Beach had seven fatally-injured workers identified as fitting the contractor criteria; all were in the private sector. Of these, four fatalities occurred at the location of contracting firms in the residential building construction industry.

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.

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 and definitions for the CFOI program, please go to the BLS Handbook of Methods on the BLS web site at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/homch9.pdf.

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 thanks the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry 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 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.

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, dated December 2009. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at https://www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

The Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) consists of Currituck County in North Carolina; Gloucester, Isle of Wight, James City, Mathews, Surry, York Counties in Virginia; and Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, and Williamsburg Cities in Virginia.

Table 1. Fatal occupational injuries by event or exposure, Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC, 2011-2012

Event or exposure(1)	2011(2)	2012(p)
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	21	19	100
Violence and other injuries by persons or animals	-	3	16
Intentional injury by person	-	3	16
Intentional injury by other person	-	1	5
Shooting by other person—intentional	-	1	5
Transportation incidents	13	-	-
Rail vehicle incidents	-	1	5
Rail vehicle collision	-	1	5
Collision between rail and roadway vehicles	-	1	5
Falls, slips, trips	-	8	42
Falls to lower level	-	8	42
Other fall to lower level	-	5	26
Exposure to harmful substances or environments	1	3	16
Exposure to oxygen deficiency	1	1	5
Drowning, submersion, n.e.c.	1	1	5
Contact with objects and equipment	5	3	16
Struck by object or equipment	3	2	11
Struck by falling object or equipment	-	2	11
Struck by object falling from vehicle or machinery other than vehicle part	-	1	5
Footnotes: (1) Based on the BLS Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) 2.01 implemented for 2011 data forward. (2) Data for 2011 are revised and final. (p) Data for 2012 are preliminary. Revised and final 2012 data are scheduled to be released Spring 2014.
NOTE: Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 2. Fatal occupational injuries by industry, Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC, 2011-2012

Industry(1)	2011(2)	2012(p)
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	21	19	100
Private industry	14	17	89
Goods-producing	3	9	47
Construction	1	9	47
Construction	1	9	47
Specialty trade contractors	-	6	32
Foundation, structure, and building exterior contractors	-	-	-
Roofing contractors	-	-	-
Residential roofing contractors	-	1	5
Building equipment contractors	-	3	16
Service-providing	11	8	42
Trade, transportation, and utilities	7	6	32
Retail trade	-	-	-
Food and beverage stores	-	1	5
Grocery stores	-	1	5
Convenience stores	-	1	5
Transportation and warehousing	6	4	21
Truck transportation	1	1	5
General freight trucking	-	1	5
General freight trucking, long-distance	-	1	5
Footnotes: (1) Industry data are based on the North American Industry Classification System, 2007. Total may include other industries not shown. (2) Data for 2011 are revised and final. (p) Data for 2012 are preliminary. Revised and final 2012 data are scheduled to be released in Spring 2014.
NOTE: Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 3. Fatal occupational injuries by occupation, Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC, 2011-2012

Occupation(1)	2011(2)	2012(p)
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	21	19	100
Sales and related occupations	-	1	5
Supervisors of sales workers	-	1	5
First-line supervisors of sales workers	-	1	5
First-line supervisors of retail sales workers	-	1	5
Construction and extraction occupations	-	10	53
Construction trades workers	-	9	47
Construction laborers	-	3	16
Construction laborers	-	3	16
Roofers	-	1	5
Roofers	-	1	5
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	-	1	5
Other installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	1	1	5
Miscellaneous installation, maintenance, and repair workers	-	1	5
Commercial divers	-	1	5
Transportation and material moving occupations	6	3	16
Footnotes: (1) Occupation data are based on the Standard Occupational Classification system, 2010. Total may include occupations not shown. (2) Data for 2011 are revised and final. (p) Data for 2012 are preliminary. Revised and final 2012 data are scheduled to be released in Spring 2014.
NOTE: Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 4. Fatal occupational injuries by worker characteristics, Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC, 2011-2012

Worker characteristics	2011(1)	2012(p)
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	21	19	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers(2)	18	17	89
Gender
Men	16	18	95
Women	5	1	5
Age(3)
20 to 24 years	3	1	5
25 to 34 years	2	3	16
35 to 44 years	7	6	32
45 to 54 years	4	5	26
55 to 64 years	5	4	21
Race or ethnic origin(4)
White (non-Hispanic)	13	12	63
Black or African-American (non-Hispanic)	5	3	16
Footnotes: (1) Data for 2011 are revised and final. (2) May include volunteers and workers receiving other types of compensation. (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. (p) Data for 2012 are preliminary. Revised and final 2012 data are scheduled to be released Spring 2014.
NOTE: Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.