Fatal work injuries totaled 70 in 2015 for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. Metropolitan Statistical Area, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that the number of work-related fatalities in the Philadelphia metropolitan area decreased by four from the previous year. Fatal occupational injuries in the metropolitan area have ranged from a high of 93 in 2004 and 2007 to a low of 63 in 2013. (See chart 1.)

Nationwide, a total of 4,836 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2015, a slight increase from the 4,821 fatal injuries in 2014, according to the results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program.

In 2015, the Philadelphia area had the seventh-largest population nationally[1] and placed seventh in the number of work-related fatalities among the 10 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the United States. (See table 1 and chart 2.) The most populated metropolitan area in the country—New York—had the highest number of workplace fatalities (221) in 2015. The smallest of the 10 metropolitan areas—Boston—had the second-lowest fatality count with 48 deaths.

Type of incident

In the Philadelphia metropolitan area, transportation incidents resulted in 22 fatal work injuries and violence and other injuries by persons or animals accounted for 17 fatalities during 2015. (See table 1 and table 2.) These two major categories accounted for 56 percent of all workplace fatalities in the Philadelphia area. The share of total fatalities due to transportation incidents in Philadelphia (31 percent) was exceeded by Dallas (40 percent) and New York (32 percent). The Philadelphia area’s share of total fatalities due to violence and other injuries by persons or animals (24 percent) ranked third among the 10 largest areas in the nation behind Houston (37 percent) and Chicago (25 percent).

Falls, slips, or trips was the third-most frequent fatal work event in the Philadelphia area with 13 fatalities (19 percent). Among the 10 largest areas, only Houston’s share (16 percent) was lower than Philadelphia’s. Contact with objects and equipment resulted in 10 work-related deaths in the Philadelphia area. Philadelphia’s 14-percent share in this category was only exceeded by Chicago (16 percent).

Nationally, transportation incidents was the most frequent fatal workplace event in 2015, accounting for approximately 42 percent of fatal work injuries. (See chart 3.) Falls, slips, or trips were the second-most frequent type of event, with 17 percent of work-related fatalities. Contact with objects and equipment and violence and other injuries by persons or animals were the third- and fourth-most frequent events in the nation, representing 15 percent each.

Industry

The private construction and manufacturing industry sectors had the largest numbers of fatalities in the Philadelphia area with 12 each, down from 20 in construction and up from 5 in manufacturing the previous year. (See table 3.) Falls to a lower level was the most frequent fatal event in the construction sector with four worker deaths, while transportation incidents was the most frequent event in manufacturing with four fatalities. Two-thirds of those fatally injured in the construction sector worked in specialty trade contracting and one-third of the manufacturing sector fatalities were in chemical manufacturing.

Occupation

Transportation and material moving occupations and construction and extraction occupations had the highest numbers of workplace fatalities with 18 and 13, respectively. (See table 4.) One-third of the fatalities within the transportation and material moving group were heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (6). Construction trades workers accounted for 11 of the 13 fatalities among construction and extraction workers.

Contracted Workers

A contracted worker 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 2015, the Philadelphia area had 13 fatally-injured workers identified as fitting the contracted worker criteria; of those, 4 were the result of falls to a lower level.

Additional highlights:

• Men accounted for 97 percent of the work-related fatalities in the Philadelphia area, higher than the 93-percent national share. (See table 5.) Transportation incidents made up nearly one-third of the fatalities for men in the Philadelphia area.
• White, non-Hispanic workers accounted for 60 percent of those who died from a workplace injury in the Philadelphia area. Nationwide, this group accounted for 67 percent of work-related deaths.
• Workers 25-54 years old accounted for 61 percent of the area’s work-related fatalities in 2015, compared to 57 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.
• Of the 70 fatally-injured workers in the Philadelphia area, 91 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed. Transportation incidents was the most frequent fatal event for wage and salary workers, while falls, slips, or trips was most frequent for the self-employed.

¹ Metropolitan area populations based on 2011 estimates from the Census Bureau.

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 ensures counts are as complete and accurate as possible. For the 2015 data, over 21,400 unique source documents were reviewed as part of the data collection process. For technical information and definitions for CFOI, 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 Pennsylvania Department of Health; New Jersey Department of Health; Delaware Department of Labor; and Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation 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.

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 February 28, 2013. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

The Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. Metropolitan Statistical Area consists of the Camden, N.J. Metropolitan Division (MD); the Montgomery County-Bucks County-Chester County, Pa. Metropolitan Division (MD); the Philadelphia, Pa. Metropolitan Division (MD); and the Wilmington, Del.-Md.-N.J. Metropolitan Division (MD).

The Camden, N.J. MD consists of Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties in New Jersey.
The Montgomery County-Bucks County-Chester County, Pa. MD consists of Bucks, Chester, and Montgomery Counties in Pennsylvania.
The Philadelphia, Pa. MD consists of Delaware and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania.
The Wilmington, Del.-Md.-N.J. MD consists of New Castle County in Delaware, Cecil County in Maryland, and Salem County in New Jersey.

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

Table 1. Fatal occupational injuries by selected event groups in the 10 largest metropolitan areas in 2015

Metropolitan Areas(1)	Total fatalities	Transportation incidents	Violence and other injuries by persons or animals	Falls, slips, trips	Contact with objects and equipment	Exposure to harmful substances or environments
United States(2)	4,836	2,054	703	800	722	424
New York-Newark-Jersey City, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa.	221	70	46	53	26	20
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, Calif.	96	23	16	38	8	8
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Ill.-Ind.-Wis.	99	20	25	24	16	11
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas	78	31	9	20	10	5
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas	92	22	34	15	8	13
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md.	70	22	17	13	10	7
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va.	43	10	10	11	6	6
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Fla.	55	15	13	14	7	6
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Ga.	94	28	16	23	10	15
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Mass.-N.H.	48	14	9	12	4	7
Footnotes: (1) Metropolitan areas used in this table are Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) based on definitions from the Office of Management and Budget Bulletin Number 13-01, February 2013. (2) Also includes fatalities occurring in nonmetropolitan areas.
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 event or exposure, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, 2014-2015

Event or exposure (1)	2014	2015
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	74	70	100
Violence and other injuries by persons or animals	16	17	24
Intentional injury by person	14	17	24
Homicides	3	12	17
Shooting by other person—intentional	2	9	13
Stabbing, cutting, slashing, piercing	-	2	3
Hitting, kicking, beating, shoving	1	1	1
Suicides	11	5	7
Shooting—intentional self-harm	4	3	4
Transportation incidents	25	22	31
Aircraft incidents	1	1	1
Aircraft crash during takeoff or landing	1	1	1
Aircraft crash during takeoff or landing—due to mechanical failure	-	1	1
Rail vehicle incidents	-	3	4
Derailment	-	3	4
Pedestrian vehicular incident	5	5	7
Pedestrian struck by vehicle in work zone	2	2	3
Pedestrian struck by vehicle propelled by another vehicle in work zone	-	1	1
Pedestrian struck by forward-moving vehicle in work zone	2	1	1
Pedestrian struck by vehicle in nonroadway area	2	3	4
Pedestrian struck by vehicle backing up in nonroadway area	2	2	3
Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle	15	13	19
Roadway collision with other vehicle	9	9	13
Roadway collision moving in opposite directions, oncoming	1	3	4
Roadway collision moving and standing vehicle in roadway	3	2	3
Roadway collision moving and standing on side of roadway	1	1	1
Roadway collision with object other than vehicle	6	3	4
Vehicle stuck object or animal on side of roadway	6	3	4
Roadway non-collision incident	-	1	1
Jack-knifed or overturned, roadway	-	1	1
Fall, slip, trip	15	13	19
Falls to lower level	14	11	16
Fall from collapsing structure or equipment	2	1	1
Fall through surface or existing opening	-	-	-
Fall through surface or existing opening more than 30 feet	-	1	1
Other fall to lower level	10	6	9
Other fall to lower level 26 to 30 feet	-	1	1
Exposure to harmful substances or environments	7	7	10
Exposure to electricity	2	1	1
Direct exposure to electricity	-	1	1
Direct exposure to electricity, greater than 220 volts	-	1	1
Exposure to other harmful substances	5	6	9
Nonmedical use of drugs or alcohol unintentional overdose	4	5	7
Contact with objects and equipment	7	10	14
Struck by object or equipment	5	7	10
Struck by falling object or equipment	-	4	6
Struck, caught, or crushed in collapsing structure, equipment, or material	2	2	3
Struck, caught, or crushed in other collapsing structure or equipment	1	1	1
Engulfment in other collapsing material	1	1	1
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 3. Fatal occupational injuries by industry, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, 2014-2015

Industry (1)	2014	2015
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	74	70	100
Private industry	66	65	93
Goods-producing	26	25	36
Construction	20	12	17
Construction	20	12	17
Heavy and civil engineering construction	4	-	-
Utility system construction	-	1	1
Water and sewer line and related structures construction	1	1	1
Specialty trade contractors	14	8	11
Foundation, structure, and building exterior contractors	5	4	6
Poured concrete foundation and structure contractors	-	1	1
Nonresidential poured concrete foundation and structure contractors	-	1	1
Building equipment contractors	4	-	-
Electrical contractors and other wiring installation contractors	4	1	1
Nonresidential electrical contractors and other wiring installation contractors	2	1	1
Building finishing contractors	-	-	-
Painting and wall covering contractors	-	1	1
Nonresidential painting and wall covering contractors	-	1	1
Manufacturing	5	12	17
Manufacturing	5	12	17
Food manufacturing	-	-	-
Animal slaughtering and processing	-	-	-
Animal slaughtering and processing	-	-	-
Rendering and meat byproduct processing	-	1	1
Beverage and tobacco product manufacturing	-	1	1
Beverage manufacturing	-	1	1
Wineries	-	1	1
Chemical manufacturing	-	4	6
Soap, cleaning compound, and toilet preparation manufacturing	-	2	3
Soap and cleaning compound manufacturing	-	2	3
Polish and other sanitation good manufacturing	-	2	3
Transportation equipment manufacturing	-	1	1
Motor vehicle parts manufacturing	-	1	1
Other motor vehicle parts manufacturing	-	1	1
Service-providing	40	40	57
Trade, transportation, and utilities	16	17	24
Wholesale trade	-	6	9
Merchant wholesalers, durable goods	-	3	4
Lumber and other construction materials merchant wholesalers	-	1	1
Brick, stone, and related construction material merchant wholesalers	-	1	1
Miscellaneous durable goods merchant wholesalers	-	1	1
Recyclable material merchant wholesalers	-	1	1
Merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods	1	3	4
Grocery and related product merchant wholesalers	-	3	4
Dairy product (except dried or canned) merchant wholesalers	-	1	1
Retail trade	5	3	4
Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers	-	1	1
Building material and supplies dealers	-	1	1
Hardware stores	-	1	1
Food and beverage stores	2	1	1
Grocery stores	1	1	1
Convenience stores	1	1	1
Transportation and warehousing	9	7	10
Truck transportation	5	5	7
General freight trucking	2	4	6
General freight trucking, long-distance	2	4	6
General freight trucking, long-distance, less than truckload	-	2	3
Specialized freight trucking	3	1	1
Specialized freight (except used goods) trucking, long-distance	-	1	1
Transit and ground passenger transportation	2	2	3
Taxi and limousine service	1	2	3
Limousine service	-	2	3
Information	-	2	3
Information	-	2	3
Motion picture and sound recording industries	-	1	1
Sound recording industries	-	1	1
Integrated record production/distribution	-	1	1
Other information services	-	1	1
Other information services	-	1	1
News syndicates	-	1	1
Professional and business services	12	11	16
Professional, scientific, and technical services	-	-	-
Professional, scientific, and technical services	-	-	-
Architectural, engineering, and related services	-	1	1
Engineering services	-	1	1
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services	10	9	13
Administrative and support services	9	8	11
Investigation and security services	-	1	1
Investigation, guard, and armored car services	-	1	1
Armored car services	-	1	1
Services to buildings and dwellings	6	7	10
Landscaping services	4	7	10
Waste management and remediation services	-	1	1
Remediation and other waste management services	-	1	1
All other waste management services	-	1	1
Educational and health services	1	4	6
Educational services	-	-	-
Educational services	-	-	-
Technical and trade schools	-	1	1
Technical and trade schools	-	1	1
Flight training	-	1	1
Health care and social assistance	1	2	3
Ambulatory health care services	-	1	1
Office of physicians	-	1	1
Office of physicians	-	1	1
Office of physicians, mental health specialists	-	1	1
Social assistance	-	1	1
Individual and family services	-	1	1
Child and youth services	-	1	1
Other services, except public administration	3	4	6
Other services, except public administration	3	4	6
Repair and maintenance	-	4	6
Automotive repair and maintenance	-	3	4
Automotive mechanical and electrical repair and maintenance	-	1	1
General automotive repair	-	1	1
Other automotive repair and maintenance	-	1	1
Car washes	-	1	1
Government (2)	8	5	7
Federal government	-	2	3
Service-providing	-	2	3
Public administration	-	2	3
Public administration	-	2	3
National security and international affairs	-	2	3
National security and international affairs	-	2	3
National security	-	2	3
State government	3	1	1
Service-providing	2	1	1
Public administration	1	1	1
Public administration	1	1	1
Justice, public order, and safety activities	1	1	1
Justice, public order, and safety activities	1	1	1
Police Protection	1	1	1
Local government	5	2	3
Service-providing	5	2	3
Other services, except public administration	-	1	1
Other services, except public administration	-	1	1
Personal and laundry services	-	1	1
Other personal services	-	1	1
Parking lots and garages	-	1	1
Public administration	4	1	1
Public administration	4	1	1
Justice, public order, and safety activities	4	1	1
Justice, public order, and safety activities	4	1	1
Police Protection	3	1	1
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 4. Fatal occupational injuries by occupation, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, 2014-2015

Occupation (1)	2014	2015
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	74	70	100
Management occupations	-	4	6
Top executives	-	1	1
Chief executives	-	1	1
Chief executives	-	1	1
Advertising, marketing, promotions, public relations, and sales managers	-	-	-
Sales managers	-	1	1
Sales managers	-	1	1
Other management occupations	-	1	1
Social and community service managers	-	1	1
Social and community service managers	-	1	1
Computer and mathematical occupations	-	-	-
Computer specialists	-	-	-
Software developers and programmers	-	1	1
Software developers, applications	-	1	1
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations	-	1	1
Media and communication equipment workers	-	1	1
Broadcast and sound engineering technicians and radio operators	-	1	1
Sound engineering technicians	-	1	1
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	-	1	1
Health diagnosing and treating practitioners	-	1	1
Physicians and surgeons	-	1	1
Psychiatrists	-	1	1
Protective service occupations	8	4	6
Law enforcement workers	3	2	3
Police officers	3	2	3
Police and sheriff's patrol officers	3	2	3
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations	8	7	10
Grounds maintenance workers	6	5	7
Grounds maintenance workers	6	5	7
Landscaping and groundskeeping workers	4	3	4
Sales and related occupations	3	2	3
Retail sales workers	-	2	3
Cashiers	-	1	1
Cashiers	-	1	1
Retail salespersons	-	1	1
Retail salespersons	-	1	1
Construction and extraction occupations	17	13	19
Construction trades workers	14	11	16
Carpenters	-	3	4
Carpenters	-	3	4
Construction equipment operators	1	1	1
Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators	1	1	1
Electricians	3	1	1
Electricians	3	1	1
Painters and paperhangers	-	-	-
Painters, construction and maintenance	-	1	1
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	4	6	9
Supervisors of installation, maintenance, and repair workers	-	1	1
First-line supervisors/managers of mechanics, installers, and repairers	-	1	1
First-line supervisors of mechanics, installers, and repairers	-	1	1
Other installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	-	3	4
Production occupations	3	5	7
Other production occupations	-	-	-
Miscellaneous production workers	-	1	1
Transportation and material moving occupations	19	18	26
Air transportation workers	1	1	1
Aircraft pilots and flight engineers	1	1	1
Commercial pilots	1	1	1
Motor vehicle operators	12	12	17
Driver/sales workers and truck drivers	9	10	14
Driver/sales workers	-	3	4
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	7	6	9
Light truck or delivery services drivers	-	1	1
Taxi drivers and chauffeurs	2	2	3
Taxi drivers and chauffeurs	2	2	3
Other transportation workers	-	1	1
Parking lot attendants	-	1	1
Parking lot attendants	-	1	1
Material moving workers	4	4	6
Laborers and material movers, hand	3	3	4
Cleaners of vehicles and equipment	-	1	1
Military Occupations (2)	-	2	3
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 5. Fatal occupational injuries by worker characteristics, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, 2014-2015

Worker characteristics	2014	2015
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	74	70	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers (1)	63	64	91
Self-employed (2)	11	6	9
Gender
Men	67	68	97
Women	7	2	3
Age (3)
16 to 17 years	1	-	-
20 to 24 years	8	4	6
25 to 34 years	9	13	19
35 to 44 years	11	19	27
45 to 54 years	18	11	16
55 to 64 years	17	17	24
65 and over	10	6	9
Race or ethnic origin (4)
White, non-Hispanic	45	42	60
Black or African-American, non-Hispanic	11	13	19
Hispanic or Latino	15	13	19
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. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.