Fatal work injuries totaled 22 in 2015 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 the number of work-related fatalities in the Virginia Beach area was unchanged from the previous year. Fatal occupational injuries in the Virginia Beach area have ranged from a high of 36 in 2006 to a low of 17 in 2010. (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.

Type of incident

In the Virginia Beach area, transportation incidents resulted in seven fatal work injuries and exposure to harmful substances or environments accounted for six fatalities. These two major categories accounted for 59 percent of all workplace fatalities in the Virginia Beach area. (See table 1.) The number of worker deaths from transportation incidents declined by three over the year.

Violence and other injuries by persons or animals was the third-most frequent fatal work event with five fatalities, down from seven in 2014. Falls, slips, or trips resulted in three work-related deaths.

Nationally, transportation incidents was the most frequent fatal workplace event in 2015, accounting for approximately 42 percent of fatal work injuries. (See chart 2.) Falls, slips, or trips was the second-most frequent type of event, with 17 percent of work-related fatalities, followed by contact with objects and equipment (15 percent) and violence and other injuries by persons or animals (15 percent).

Industry

The private construction industry sector had the largest number of fatalities in the Virginia Beach area with six, up from four in the previous year. (See table 2.) Falls to a lower level was the most frequent fatal event in the construction sector with three worker deaths. Five of the six fatally injured in this sector worked in specialty trade contracting.

The private transportation and warehousing sector had four fatalities in 2015 compared to one fatality in 2014. Local general freight trucking accounted for two of these fatalities.  

Occupation

Construction and extraction occupations had the highest number of workplace fatalities with six, while installation, maintenance and repair occupations and transportation and material moving occupations each had four fatalities. (See table 3.) Half of the fatalities within the construction and extraction occupation group were roofers. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in the transportation and material moving group accounted for three of the four fatalities.

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, Virginia Beach had three fatally-injured workers identified as fitting the contracted worker criteria; of those, one was contracted by a firm in private automobile manufacturing.

Additional highlights

• Men accounted for all of the work-related fatalities in the Virginia Beach area, compared to the 93-percent national share. (See table 4.) Transportation incidents made up 32 percent of the fatalities for men in the Virginia Beach area.
• White, non-Hispanic workers accounted for 64 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 67 percent of work-related deaths. The share of fatalities among black or African-American non-Hispanic workers was 32 percent in the Virginia Beach area and 10 percent nationwide.
• Workers 25-54 years old accounted for 64 percent of the Virginia Beach area’s work-related fatalities in 2015, compared to 57 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.
• Of the 22 fatally-injured workers in the Virginia Beach area, 86 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed. The most frequent fatal event for wage and salary workers was exposure to harmful substances or environments, while for the self-employed, it was transportation incidents.

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 technical information and definitions for CFOI, please go to the BLS Handbook of Methods on the BLS web site at https://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 and the North Carolina Department of Labor 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 https://www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

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

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 Event, Virginia Beach, Va., 2014-2015

Event or exposure(1)	2014	2015
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	22	22	100
Violence and other injuries by persons or animals	7	5	23
Intentional injury by person	7	5	23
Homicides	5	2	9
Shooting by other person--intentional	5	1	5
Stabbing, cutting, slashing, piercing	-	1	5
Suicides	-	3	14
Transportation incidents	10	7	32
Roadway incident involving motorized land vehicle	4	3	14
Roadway collision with object other than vehicle	3	3	14
Vehicle struck object or animal on side of roadway	3	3	14
Nonroadway incident involving motorized land vehicle	-	4	18
Nonroadway noncollision incident	-	1	5
Jack-knifed or overturned, nonroadway	-	1	5
Fall, slip, trip	-	3	14
Fall to lower level	-	3	14
Other fall to lower level	-	3	14
Exposure to harmful substances or environments	-	6	27
Exposure to oxygen deficiency	-	2	9
Drowning, submersion, n.e.c.	-	2	9
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 revised and final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. CFOI fatal injury 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, Virginia Beach, Va., 2014-2015

Industry(1)	2014	2015
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	22	22	100
Private industry	12	20	91
Goods producing	6	8	36
Natural resources and mining	-	1	5
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	-	1	5
Crop production	-	1	5
Construction	4	6	27
Specialty trade contractors	-	5	23
Foundation, structure, and building exterior contractors	-	3	14
Roofing contractors	-	3	14
Manufacturing	-	1	5
Transportation equipment manufacturing	-	1	5
Ship and boat building	-	1	5
Ship and boat building	-	1	5
Ship building and repairing	-	1	5
Service providing	6	12	55
Trade, transportation, and utilities	3	5	23
Retail trade	1	1	5
Motor vehicle and parts dealers	-	1	5
Other motor vehicle dealers	-	1	5
Motorcycle, boat, and other motor vehicle dealers	-	1	5
Boat dealers	-	1	5
Transportation and warehousing	1	4	18
Truck transportation	1	4	18
General freight trucking	1	3	14
General freight trucking, local	-	2	9
Professional and business services	-	-	-
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services	-	1	5
Administrative and support services	-	1	5
Investigation and security services	-	1	5
Investigation, guard, and armored car services	-	1	5
Security guards and patrol services	-	1	5
Leisure and hospitality	2	3	14
Arts, entertainment, and recreation	-	1	5
Amusement, gambling, and recreation industries	-	1	5
Other amusement and recreation industries	-	1	5
Accommodation and food services	2	-	-
Food services and drinking places	2	1	5
Restaurants and other eating places	1	1	5
Restaurants and other eating places	1	1	5
Limited-service restaurants	-	1	5
Other services, except public administration	-	2	9
Repair and maintenance	-	1	5
Automotive repair and maintenance	-	1	5
Automotive body, paint, interior, and glass repair	-	1	5
Automotive body, paint, and interior repair and maintenance	-	1	5
Personal and laundry services	-	1	5
Personal care services	-	1	5
Hair, nail, and skin care services	-	1	5
Barber shops	-	1	5
Government(2)	10	2	9
Federal government	8	2	9
Service providing	8	2	9
Public administration	8	2	9
National security and international affairs	8	2	9
National security and international affairs	8	2	9
National security	8	2	9
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 revised and final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. CFOI fatal injury 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, Virginia Beach, Va., 2014-2015

Occupation(1)	2014	2015
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	22	22	100
Management, business, science, and arts occupations	2	-	-
Management, business, and financial occupations	2	1	5
Management occupations	2	1	5
Other management occupations	2	1	5
Agricultural managers	-	1	5
Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers	-	1	5
Service occupations	4	4	18
Personal care and service occupations	-	2	9
Supervisors, personal care and service workers	-	1	5
First-line supervisors/managers of personal service workers	-	1	5
First-line supervisors of personal service workers	-	1	5
Personal appearance workers	-	1	5
Barbers and cosmetologists	-	1	5
Barbers	-	1	5
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations	4	10	45
Construction and extraction occupations	3	6	27
Construction trades workers	-	6	27
Roofers	-	3	14
Roofers	-	3	14
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	-	4	18
Production, transportation, and material moving occupations	3	4	18
Transportation and material moving occupations	3	4	18
Motor vehicle operators	3	3	14
Driver/sales workers and truck drivers	3	3	14
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	2	3	14
Material moving workers	-	1	5
Industrial truck and tractor operators	-	1	5
Industrial truck and tractor operators	-	1	5
Military occupations(2)	8	2	9
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 revised and final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. CFOI fatal injury 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 Worker Characteristics, Virginia Beach, Va., 2014-2015

Worker characteristics	2014	2015
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	22	22	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers(1)	18	19	86
Self-employed(2)	4	3	14
Gender
Men	22	22	100
Age(3)
18 to 19 years	-	1	5
25 to 34 years	5	4	18
35 to 44 years	1	7	32
45 to 54 years	6	3	14
55 to 64 years	4	5	23
65 years and over	-	1	5
Race or ethnic origin(4)
White (non-Hispanic)	13	14	64
Black or African-American (non-Hispanic)	7	7	32
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 revised and final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.