Fatal Work Injuries in the Washington, DC Area — 2017

Fatal work injuries totaled 63 in 2017 for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 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 Washington metropolitan area decreased by three from the previous year. Fatal occupational injuries in the metropolitan area have ranged from a high of 99 in 2005 to a low of 43 in 2015. (See chart 1.)

Nationwide, a total of 5,147 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2017, down slightly from the 5,190 fatal injuries reported in 2016, according to the results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program.

Chart 1. Total fatal occupational injuries, Washington Metropolitan Statistical area, 2008-2017

In 2017, the Washington metropolitan area had the sixth-largest population nationally[1] and had the second-lowest 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 (215) in 2017. The smallest of the 10 metropolitan areas—Boston—had the seventh-highest fatality count with 74 deaths.

Chart 2. Total fatal occupational injuries in the 10 largest metropolitan areas, 2017

Type of incident

In the Washington metropolitan area, transportation incidents was the most frequent fatal event, resulting in 16 fatal work injuries during 2017, an increase of two from the previous year. (See table 1 and table 2.) The share of total fatalities due to transportation incidents in Washington (25 percent) ranked sixth among the 10 largest metropolitan areas during 2017.

Violence and other injuries by persons or animals and falls, slips, or trips were tied for the second-most frequent type of fatal incident in the Washington metropolitan area, accounting for 14 fatalities each. The Washington area’s share of total fatalities due violence and other injuries by persons or animals (22 percent) ranked third among the 10 largest areas behind Houston (24 percent) and Los Angeles (23 percent). Washington’s 22-percent share of total fatalities from falls, slips, or trips ranked sixth among the 10 largest areas.

Nationally, transportation incidents remained the most frequent fatal workplace event in 2017, accounting for 40 percent of fatal work injuries. (See chart 3.) Falls, slips, or trips was the second-most common fatal event (17 percent), followed by violence and other injuries by persons or animals (16 percent).

Chart 3. Fatal occupational injuries by selected event, United States and Washington metropolitan area, 2017

Industry

The private construction industry sector had the largest number of fatalities in the Washington metropolitan area with 24, compared to 19 in the previous year. (See table 3.) Falls to a lower level was the most frequent fatal event in the construction sector with eight worker deaths. Fifteen of those fatally injured in this sector worked in specialty trade contracting.

The private transportation and warehousing sector had nine workplace fatalities, similar to the count in the previous year. A third of the fatalities in this sector were in support activities for transportation.

Occupation

Construction and extraction occupations and transportation and material moving occupations had the highest numbers of workplace fatalities with 22 and 13, respectively. (See table 4.) Seven of the fatalities within the construction and extraction group were first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers accounted for 6 of the 13 fatalities among transportation and material moving workers.

Contracted Workers

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 2017, the Washington metropolitan area had nine fatally-injured workers identified as fitting the contractor criteria; of those, four were the result of falls to a lower level.

Additional highlights

Men accounted for 94 percent of the work-related fatalities in the Washington metropolitan area, similar to the 93-percent national share. (See table 5.) Transportation incidents and violence and other injuries by persons or animals each accounted for 24 percent of the fatalities for men in the Washington metropolitan area.
White, non-Hispanic workers accounted for 43 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 67 percent of work-related deaths. Hispanic or Latino workers accounted for 27 percent of fatal work injuries in the Washington metropolitan area, compared with 18 perecent nationwide.
Workers 25-54 years old accounted for 62 percent of the area’s work-related fatalities in 2017, compared to 55 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.
Of the 63 fatally-injured workers in the Washington metropolitan area, 78 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed. The most frequent fatal event for wage and salary workers was transportation incidents. Contact with objects and equipment accounted for four self-employed worker deaths.
Nearly fourty percent of workplace fatalities in the Washington metropolitan area occurred on a Wednesday or a Thursday during 2017, compared to 34 percent nationwide.

(1) Metropolitan area populations based on 2015 estimates from the Census Bureau.

Technical Note

Background of the program. The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), part of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (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 2017 national data, over 23,400 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 website at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/home.htm.

Federal/State agency coverage. The CFOI includes data for all fatal work injuries, even those that may be outside the scope of other agencies or 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. More on the scope of CFOI can be found at www.bls.gov/iif/cfoiscope.htm and www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/concepts.htm.

Acknowledgments. BLS thanks the District of Columbia Department of Health; Virginia Department of Labor and Industry; 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, Bulletin Number 13-01, February 2013. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area consists of the Silver Spring-Frederick-Rockville, Md. Metropolitan Division (MD) and the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. Metropolitan Division (MD).

The Silver Spring-Frederick-Rockville, MD MD consists of Frederick and Montgomery Counties in Maryland.

The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV MD consists of the District of Columbia; Calvert, Charles, and Prince George's Counties in Maryland; Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren Counties in Virginia; Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park Cities in Virginia; and Jefferson County in West 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 selected event groups in the 10 largest metropolitan areas in 2017
Metropolitan Areas (1)	Total fatalities	Transportation incidents	Violence and other injuries by persons or animals	Fall, slip, trip	Exposure to harmful substances or environments	Contact with objects and equipment
United States (2)	5,147	2,077	807	887	531	695
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	215	51	43	63	36	18
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	102	30	19	17	16	18
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	101	24	24	28	11	11
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	95	22	13	33	12	15
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	94	19	22	29	12	12
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	80	24	15	21	12	7
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	74	20	11	15	22	5
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	70	30	13	13	6	7
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	63	16	14	14	9	9
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	45	12	9	7	7	9
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.

Table 2. Fatal occupational injuries by event or exposure, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, 2016-2017
Event or exposure (1)	2016	2017
Event or exposure (1)	Number	Number	Percent
Total	66	63	100
Violence and other injuries by persons or animals	19	14	22
Intentional injury by person	15	14	22
Homicides	8	7	11
Shooting by other person—intentional	3	6	10
Suicides	7	7	11
Shooting—intentional self-harm	3	6	10
Transportation incidents	14	16	25
Aircraft incidents	3	1	2
Other in-flight crash	-	1	2
Other in-flight crash into structure, object, or ground	-	1	2
Rail vehicle incidents	-	3	5
Rail vehicle collision	-	1	2
Collision between rail and roadway vehicles	-	1	2
Pedestrian struck by rail vehicle—transportation incident	-	2	3
Pedestrian vehicular incident	4	4	6
Pedestrian struck by vehicle on side of road	-	1	2
Pedestrian struck by forward-moving vehicle on side of road	-	1	2
Pedestrian struck by vehicle in nonroadway area	1	1	2
Pedestrian struck by forward-moving vehicle in nonroadway area	1	1	2
Roadway incident involving motorized land vehicle	6	8	13
Roadway collision with other vehicle	4	4	6
Roadway collision moving in opposite directions, oncoming	-	3	5
Roadway collision moving and standing vehicle on side of roadway	-	1	2
Roadway collision with object other than vehicle	2	4	6
Vehicle struck object or animal on side of roadway	2	4	6
Fire or explosion	-	1	2
Fire	-	1	2
Other structural fire without collapse	-	1	2
Fall, slip, trip	16	14	22
Fall to lower level	13	12	19
Fall from collapsing structure or equipment	-	1	2
Fall from collapsing structure or equipment 16 to 20 feet	-	1	2
Other fall to lower level	9	10	16
Other fall to lower level 11 to 15 feet	-	3	5
Other fall to lower level 26 to 30 feet	-	2	3
Other fall to lower level more than 30 feet	-	2	3
Exposure to harmful substances or environments	8	9	14
Exposure to electricity	-	1	2
Indirect exposure to electricity	-	1	2
Indirect exposure to electricity, greater than 220 volts	-	1	2
Exposure to other harmful substances	5	6	10
Nonmedical use of drugs or alcohol unintentional overdose	4	6	10
Exposure to oxygen deficiency	-	1	2
Drowning, submersion, n.e.c.	-	1	2
Contact with objects and equipment	9	9	14
Struck by object or equipment	6	5	8
Struck by falling object or equipment	5	3	5
Caught in or compressed by equipment or objects	1	1	2
Caught in running equipment or machinery	1	1	2
Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation	-	1	2
Struck, caught, or crushed in collapsing structure, equipment, or material	2	2	3
Excavation or trenching cave-in	1	2	3
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, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, 2016-2017
Industry (1)	2016	2017
Industry (1)	Number	Number	Percent
Total	66	63	100
Private industry	61	57	90
Goods producing	23	27	43
Natural resources and mining	-	3	5
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	-	3	5
Animal production and aquaculture	-	3	5
Cattle ranching and farming	-	3	5
Construction	19	24	38
Construction of buildings	-	6	10
Residential building construction	-	6	10
Residential building construction	-	6	10
New single-family housing construction (except for-sale builders)	-	4	6
Heavy and civil engineering construction	3	3	5
Utility system construction	1	1	2
Water and sewer line and related structures construction	1	1	2
Highway, street, and bridge construction	-	1	2
Highway, street, and bridge construction	-	1	2
Other heavy and civil engineering construction	-	1	2
Specialty trade contractors	14	15	24
Foundation, structure, and building exterior contractors	7	7	11
Structural steel and precast concrete contractors	-	1	2
Nonresidential structural steel and precast concrete contractors	-	1	2
Roofing contractors	-	-	-
Residential roofing contractors	-	1	2
Building equipment contractors	4	3	5
Building finishing contractors	1	-	-
Drywall and insulation contractors	-	1	2
Nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors	-	1	2
Other specialty trade contractors	-	3	5
Site preparation contractors	-	-	-
Nonresidential site preparation contractors	-	1	2
Service providing	38	30	48
Trade, transportation, and utilities	16	13	21
Retail trade	3	4	6
Health and personal care stores	-	1	2
Health and personal care stores	-	1	2
Pharmacies and drug stores	-	1	2
Clothing and clothing accessories stores	-	1	2
Clothing stores	-	1	2
Family clothing stores	-	1	2
Miscellaneous store retailers	-	1	2
Other miscellaneous store retailers	-	1	2
Pet and pet supplies stores	-	1	2
Transportation and warehousing	10	9	14
Rail transportation	-	2	3
Rail transportation	-	2	3
Rail transportation	-	2	3
Line-haul railroads	-	2	3
Transit and ground passenger transportation	-	1	2
Taxi and limousine service	-	1	2
Taxi service	-	1	2
Support activities for transportation	1	3	5
Support activities for air transportation	1	1	2
Warehousing and storage	-	1	2
Warehousing and storage	-	1	2
General warehousing and storage	-	1	2
Professional and business services	12	8	13
Professional, scientific, and technical services	4	2	3
Professional, scientific, and technical services	4	2	3
Computer systems design and related services	-	2	3
Computer systems design and related services	-	2	3
Custom computer programming services	-	2	3
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services	8	6	10
Administrative and support services	8	5	8
Services to buildings and dwellings	7	5	8
Landscaping services	5	3	5
Waste management and remediation services	-	1	2
Waste collection	-	1	2
Waste collection	-	1	2
Solid waste collection	-	1	2
Leisure and hospitality	5	5	8
Accommodation and food services	4	5	8
Food services and drinking places	4	5	8
Restaurants and other eating places	2	5	8
Restaurants and other eating places	2	5	8
Full-service restaurants	1	3	5
Government(2)	5	6	10
Federal government	-	-	-
Goods producing	-	1	2
Construction	-	1	2
Specialty trade contractors	-	1	2
Building equipment contractors	-	1	2
Plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning contractors	-	1	2
Nonresidential plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning contractors	-	1	2
State government	-	1	2
Service providing	-	1	2
Public administration	-	1	2
Justice, public order, and safety activities	-	1	2
Justice, public order, and safety activities	-	1	2
Fire protection	-	1	2
Local government	3	3	5
Service providing	3	3	5
Professional and business services	-	1	2
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services	-	1	2
Waste management and remediation services	-	1	2
Waste collection	-	1	2
Waste collection	-	1	2
Solid waste collection	-	1	2
Public administration	3	-	-
Justice, public order, and safety activities	3	1	2
Justice, public order, and safety activities	3	1	2
Police protection	2	1	2
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, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, 2016-2017
Occupation (1)	2016	2017
Occupation (1)	Number	Number	Percent
Total	66	63	100
Management, business, science, and arts occupations	7	9	14
Management, business, and financial occupations	3	8	13
Management occupations	-	7	11
Operations specialties managers	-	1	2
Computer and information systems managers	-	1	2
Computer and information systems managers	-	1	2
Other management occupations	-	6	10
Agricultural managers	-	3	5
Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers	-	3	5
Service occupations	14	11	17
Protective service occupations	3	4	6
First-line supervisors/managers, protective service workers	-	1	2
First-line supervisors of fire fighting and prevention workers	-	1	2
First-line supervisors of fire fighting and prevention workers	-	1	2
Law enforcement workers	2	1	2
Detectives and criminal investigators	1	1	2
Detectives and criminal investigators	1	1	2
Other protective service workers	1	2	3
Security guards and gaming surveillance officers	1	1	2
Security guards	1	1	2
Miscellaneous protective service workers	-	1	2
Lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers	-	1	2
Food preparation and serving related occupations	4	1	2
Supervisors, food preparation and serving workers	-	1	2
First-line supervisors/managers, food preparation and serving workers	-	1	2
First-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers	-	1	2
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations	7	4	6
Grounds maintenance workers	5	3	5
Grounds maintenance workers	5	3	5
Tree trimmers and pruners	1	2	3
Sales and office occupations	8	5	8
Sales and related occupations	4	5	8
Supervisors, sales workers	-	2	3
First-line supervisors/managers, sales workers	-	2	3
First-line supervisors of retail sales workers	-	2	3
Other sales and related workers	-	-	-
Sales engineers	-	1	2
Sales engineers	-	1	2
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations	20	23	37
Construction and extraction occupations	13	22	35
Supervisors of construction and extraction workers	-	7	11
First-line supervisors/managers of construction trades and extraction workers	-	7	11
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers	-	7	11
Construction trades workers	11	14	22
Construction laborers	4	5	8
Construction laborers	4	5	8
Insulation workers	-	1	2
Insulation workers, floor, ceiling, and wall	-	1	2
Pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	-	3	5
Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	-	3	5
Production, transportation, and material moving occupations	16	14	22
Production occupations	4	1	2
Metal workers and plastic workers	-	1	2
Welding, soldering, and brazing workers	-	1	2
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	-	1	2
Transportation and material moving occupations	12	13	21
Air transportation workers	2	1	2
Aircraft pilots and flight engineers	2	1	2
Commercial pilots	2	1	2
Motor vehicle operators	9	8	13
Driver/sales workers and truck drivers	8	7	11
Driver/sales workers	-	1	2
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	8	6	10
Taxi drivers and chauffeurs	-	1	2
Taxi drivers and chauffeurs	-	1	2
Rail transportation workers	-	2	3
Railroad conductors and yardmasters	-	2	3
Railroad conductors and yardmasters	-	2	3
Material moving workers	-	2	3
Laborers and material movers, hand	-	1	2
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	-	1	2
Refuse and recyclable material collectors	-	1	2
Refuse and recyclable material collectors	-	1	2
Footnotes: (1) Occupation data are based on the Standard Occupational Classification system, 2010.
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, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, 2016-2017
Worker characteristics	2016	2017
Worker characteristics	Number	Number	Percent
Total	66	63	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers (1)	55	49	78
Self-employed (2)	11	14	22
Gender
Men	57	59	94
Women	9	4	6
Age (3)
20 to 24 years	3	6	10
25 to 34 years	15	18	29
35 to 44 years	18	7	11
45 to 54 years	16	14	22
55 to 64 years	7	11	17
65 and over	7	5	8
Race or ethnic origin (4)
White (non-Hispanic)	35	27	43
Black or African-American (non-Hispanic)	10	13	21
Hispanic or Latino	15	17	27
Asian (non-Hispanic)	5	4	6
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.

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, July 09, 2019

Mid-Atlantic Information Office

Fatal Work Injuries in the Washington, DC Area — 2017